Designing for Dynamic Content

The Brief

You are required to design and build a thematic gallery website to showcase original visual work. To read the full brief please click here.

Proposal

For this brief I had to design and build a thematic gallery website that showcased original visual work. This had to be created by using php and MySQL.

Planning

The first thing I did was to decide what to have as my theme for the site. I decided to theme the site around my own original artwork which I have produced over the years at college and university and in the work place. I decided to do this so I could showcase my work to the outside world. Once I had the idea for the theme of the site I began to draw out a framework of how I wanted the site to look. After coming up with the framework for the site I began to design it in Photoshop. I decided I wanted the background to be a montage of my work and each page to have a different header with artwork faded out. I decided to call the site CDesign because the CD is my initials and design is what I do. So this site will showcase my work in a gallery format with a thematic design when finished.

Finished Website

View my finished CDesign website below:

My Evaluation

I have to admit I struggled with this brief because I found it hard to get my head around php at first. However it did start to register after a while bit by bit. I wouldn't say I'm confident in using php at this time however I am starting to come to grips with it. Considering all this I am pleased with my finshed site because there were times when I thought I would have a finished site to show. I think I have covered everything in the brief to the best of my abilities at this time. In this brief I have learnt to build a table using php MyAdmin and MySQL. I have also learnt how to build a gallery site that displays pictures using a thematic design. I intend to keep on developing my skills in php and reading books on php so I can improve in it.

Could the site be improved?

If I had more time and I was more confident using php I would have added a search bar. This would anable the user to search for a particular image on the site by typing the name of the image in the search bar. I would have also added a contact management system so I could update information on the site on a weekly basis. I would have also added a form so people could leave comments about my artwork. Also they could send me information if they wanted any design work doing by myself.