Weekly Update: Issue #07 - The 6 Days Late Edition

I desperately needed a break from working on the site, and ended up taking one. I think we can all relate--no matter how much you like something, if it's all you're working on day-in and day-out, you can get a bit bored. So I've rested up over the last couple weeks and am feeling refreshed and ready to pick it back up! That's not to say that I haven't done anything though, so let's take a look:

The episode guide is finished through season 3 now, which is a touch over halfway done. I was also lucky in that I met face-to-face with my coder over the weekend, giving us a chance to touch bases and get to know each other better. After all, what kind of progress can be made if I don't like who I'm working with?

There won't be an update tomorrow, but I should be able to pick up the weekly updates again starting on Friday, October 4.

Thanks for your patience, and sorry for disappearing without notice!

Weekly Update: Issue #06

Surprise! Actually, my surprises aren't quick as creepy as Callisto's. I don't intend on poisoning your friends and family, and even if I did, I wouldn't do it on your birthday! How cruel!

Alright, I admit, I've been kind of bad about updating recently. However, I think you'll all forgive me when you remember that I spend so much time doing actual site work that this doesn't really matter much. Still, as my apology, I'm going to go ahead and show you what the newest layout looks like, and maybe talk a bit about it. Before I do, allow me to actually say what I'm supposed to, my actual progress. I made a complete pass through the functional episode guide over the week, and now every episode has a page with an air date, cast/crew information, a gallery, and the episode's disclaimer. I'll be making another pass through it this week to add the logline and summaries.

Alright, now that the boring part is over, take a look at the current layout:

(Click for full size)

This is a screenshot taken from Firefox of the site. As you can see, there are still blanks that need to be filled, but I figured you'd rather see the news skeleton than just a blank white space... Now, the left side navigation, if you look over it closely, differs from the section lists I've given out before. I've made some adjustments for best overall navigation at the moment. Some sections are being prepared, but won't be added until a little ways after I open the site.

The entire design is centered around the concept of beauty balancing functionality. Above all else, a website's goal is to inform. If you wanted art and design, you'd go to an art show or something--but ignoring the design element completely makes it hard to enjoy the information, so a balance is needed. I'd like to think I've accomplished something thats quick to load, easy to navigate and easy on the eyes. The best part though? I'll be offering a button to switch around web layouts if you don't like that one above*.

Really, while you can't see some of the coolest features in action yet, I've got to thank my new coder, Sage Volta, for his help. He's really taken the coding out of my hands and really just allowed me to produce content and make the best site I believe I have it in me to create. So Sage, this post is dedicated to you man, you rock.

I won't make a promise that I'll update between now and next Friday, but if I happen to think of something cool to show you, count on it! Till next time!

* Feature may not be implemented until after launch. After all, content before design, right?

**Feel free to ask any questions or comment on the design, functionality, or categories at this point!

Evolution of Design

So I figured in a blog where I do so much talking about things working on a website, I should at least share some information about the said site. So let's take a look at the layout revisions it took to get me to one that I was happy with. However, before we begin, allow me stress something: I detest these designs. I think they are very poorly done! So if you look at them and laugh to yourself and think "Wow, these are horrible," just remind yourself that I agree with you and that I worked hard to get something visually appealing.

So, the first one! Click the thumbnail below to get a look at the full image.


This was just a first pass, I wasn't sure how big a site I wanted, nor was I even sure I wanted to tackle the project. This, I believe, was created on the first day I conceived the site. Just playing around with the design, but thrown out simply because, well, not only is it hideous, but I don't think it's very functional either.

I was a little happier with the second one:


Now, with this one, it was actually being built as the final design of the site. I wanted an overall green design since that was one of the predominant colors of the show. Looking at it now, the most significant problem with the layout is the logo! I can't believe I slapped that thing on the top of the page. The colors don't even match, which is shameful. Obviously, as you can see at the top of the blog page here, I've developed a much better rendition of the logo.

Taking a look at the menu on that design, you can see it's pretty sparse. A total of 12 possible selections, with possible submenus below those. The final design ended up using 23 selections and numerous submenus! The green was eventually scrapped too. The disclaimer at the top was envisioned to randomly display one of the disclaimers every time you come to the site. I'll admit that's cool, but I dropped it with the latest design.

Today, while I'm not willing to show you the final design just yet, I can say that it uses red, sepia, white and gold for the color scheme. Also, it's highly inspired by the look of a certain Hercules postcard I've always liked.

There are a few other things that have evolved over time, and I might post a few of those later this week. So laugh at these designs if you must, at least you're laughing!

Extra tidbit: I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I try to make most of my topical images relevant to the topic. For instance, the picture above is from the fashion show in "Greece is Burning."

Weekly Update: Issue #05

I'm exhausted! Long day at work today. DIdn't quite make the Friday deadline for the update, but I'm sure you'll forgive me, right?

Every week is leaps and bounds at this point. The skeleton of the episode guide is now up and running, the website is actually functional as well. Forums are up, gallery is nearing completion... Things are looking great! As I said, every week from this point out will probably be "leaps and bounds" of progress.

I'll post a few goodies in the coming days, but at the moment, I'm much too tired to go into those details. See you tomorrow with something, promise!