AAD 086 FA23 – Learning Journal

Thinking of my final

This past week I have been thinking about what I want to do for my final.

Wk 11-12: Sass, Parallax, Bootstrap

The end of the semester is near! It’s only long-term projects for me from here on out, and I hope I can manifest the time management necessary to get everything done on time. Anyways, here’s what we learned these past two weeks: Sass, Parallax, and Bootstrap.

Gwa gwa

Parallax and Bootstrap in CSS

Week 12 of this semester focused on utilizing CSS parallax and Bootstrap. Both are valuable features that enhance website aesthetics and streamline the design process. I’ve discovered that parallax is particularly effective for storytelling and product presentation, as it adds a visually appealing element to the website. However, it’s crucial to exercise moderation, as excessive use can lead to monotony and repetition.

Parallax, Bootstrap, and Sass

Over the last couple weeks, we learned a few new tools. Parallax adds to the visual stylizing of a page. Bootstrap is a tool that gives shortcuts to html, and Sass is like CSS shortcuts.

Sass, Parallax & Bootstrap oh my!

There has been lots of opportunity to learn in the last couple weeks.

AAD86 – Weeks 11 & 12

Similarly to past weeks, Weeks 11 and 12 were fun but challenging in their own ways! Week 11 was our introduction to Sass alongside getting the solutions to the Sacramento Writer’s and Zen Music Festival pages. Week 12 was simple and straightforward, and focused on our introduction to Parallax and the beginnings of our final project.

Bootstrap’n websites

Last week we dove into the world of Parallax and Bootstrap. Both super useful tools to add to our toolkit.

Weeks 11 & 12 AAD 86

Over the past two weeks, we’ve been introduced to several new techniques used in modern web design. We covered Sass, Parallax and Bootstrap.

Sass and Parallax

Over the past two weeks we have gone over some pretty interesting stuff with

EVERYONE HOLD ON

Finals are almost here…..

As finals season approaches its important to remember a few things.

Be kind to yourself. This is a stressful time for most students and we need to make sure were kind to ourselves and remember how capable we are.
Give yourself a break. It is important when it becomes grind time and we are all inevitably drowning in schoolwork, to give ourselves time. Burnout is real and not giving yourself the space to decompress can be detrimental to your workflow and retention!
Drink water. Because hydrate or diedrate.
Dont be afraid to ask for help. At Sierra College we have many supportive professors and tutors that are only an email away! If you feel lost or stuck, please reach out and get some help!
Do your best! I know you will!

Good luck friends on the last few weeks of school and I wish y’all good times and good grades this semester.

Move, but not too much

Using parallax well

In week 12 of this course, we were introduced to techniques to introduce movement into our websites. The use of parallax techniques to provide a sense of depth and dynamic motion to entice the user to interact with the material of the site is exciting to learn. What I found interesting is that as with all components of design, these techniques need to be used thoughtfully with the intent to enhance your user’s experience and not to distract from it. One resource website suggests that these techniques are best used for product or portfolio websites verses informational websites. As we mature as designers, need to consider how people interact with the material we are presenting and how people learn verses just using all the cool techniques we know on one site.

Developing the Final Project

As we round the far turn into the home stretch our final project is foremost on our minds, the finish line, and all the preparations and learning we have put into this second course in web development.

Lisa’s Learning Journal: Week 12

When does a tool become a gimmick? (And when does a gimmick become a headache…)

The last couple of weeks have flown by a bit faster than I expected. Last week, we got to play around with Sass, which I actually had some fun with. It reminded me of my time tackling object-oriented programming a few semesters ago. Sass came more naturally to me than I thought it would. That being said, I don’t know how often I will implement Sass in my own web coding career.

Something I learned

One of the things that I have really learned and that has helped me a lot is

AAD86 – Weeks 9 & 10

Per expectations, the content has definitely ramped up in difficulty. These past few weeks have definitely been challenging, but thankfully I’ve been able to enjoy the challenge rather than get overly frustrated over it.

Wk 9-10: CSS Challenges (Not Haunted)

These past few weeks, I completed my Midterm design. It took me a long time but I’m really proud of how it turned out. After that, I learned that writing CSS from scratch to copy a design is really hard. In comparison, responsive design isn’t that bad.

Boooo

Responsive Design

Mobile First is our mantra. How we arrive at the goal of adaptation to the many viewports in the firmament is our struggle as we enter the home stretch.

Over the last two weeks we studied the building blocks of responsive design, which is intimately tied to positioning. The three main tools for positioning are grid, flexbox and the relationship of relative and absolute positioning. We had many fine tutorials and practice sessions with a number of websites.

We also worked on or Portal Page and our mid-term design. The many movements of our sixteen week symphony will culminate in the crescendo of our final project where we will employ the many tools we have studied so far.

I find myself circling back often through the weeks to listen again to the tutorials to refresh the information in my mind and apply it to our work. Due to family circumstances another considerable challenge for me is budgeting time. I’m playing catchup, but I haven’t given up.

Do you even media query?

The last couple weeks we went over Responsive Design. We learned how to work with media queries and design for mobile up to desktop screen sizes.

Lisa’s Learning Journal: Week 10

Ten weeks down, six more to go…

The last two weeks of web design have gone by smoothly. I’m enjoying the design challenges, even though they sometimes leave me with a headache. It’s fun to try and figure out how to do the CSS coding correctly. I feel more confident with my coding abilities than I did at the beginning of the semester even though I feel like I don’t know how to do much. Each step is another hurdle I am slowly tripping upon. However, I am happy with how I am progressing through the class.

Responsive Design Challenges

Designing from the ground up

When we began this adventure with Responsive Design, I had the misnomer that we would be creating the most intricate design and then pair down the design to the barebones version for the smaller screens. Once we started to code, I realized just how much it made sense to go the other way! It has been really helpful to challenge ourselves with the recent projects and then find the solution later. It allows me to be wrong, try and learn as long as I am trying. I am finding that walking through these solutions once I have researched and fought a little with the material, I then have a deeper understanding of the answer. Starting from the ground and working up is much more manageable and approachable overall.