As part of my development I came up with some design mock ups for apps based and Web based design it was through this that I  could see what worked well and what didn’t. Below are some the designs I came up with:

This design was test to see who the idea of a swiping left and right interface would look like. As it is a swiping interface the ease of use is very low meaning that any one could easily use the design. I do how ever like the simplistic design style and would really like to incorporate it into my final design.

On the other hand, the orange design features a more rigid menu style similar to blackboards. I like the formal layout of this but unlike the green design it lacks ingenuity.

This design in particular was my attempt at a layout for dashboard design. I took into consideration the results from my survey on what features are regarded as most important. For my website I am likely to take most inspiration from this design into my final design.

My second and last design for the web side of my project features a style commonly found on photography blogs as it features a large open space for a graphic of some sort and a drop down menu to the left. This design promotes a simplistic and modern feel to compared to the cubic dashboard design.

Another key aspect of my design is what the icon for the application side of my project will look like. I designed different variation’s both for Apple and also Android. Apple icons are all enclosed inside the curved square so this had to be taken into consideration when i was designing the icon, where as Android apps have no restriction on shape so I was free to leave the logo as it is. The logo works actually quite well as a Android logo as it is basically a circle which works as a application icon.

The icon is customisable once you have downloaded it you have the option to choose which colour you like which then picks out a theme that matches it.

Choosing the font style that will go with my logo was a big task as I needed something that not only keeps with the style of my logo but also with the flat design style my project is following.

Example 1

This first example struck me as it is very bold whilst still being very futuristic. In addition to this I like who some of if doesn’t fully join up.

Example 2

The second font style stood out as i liked how it consisted of few straight edges which appear to give it a fluid look. I feel this will would work well with the logo as well that has fluid and simplistic feel. Once again the font style will also fit in with that of the flat design style.

Example 3

Example number has a lot of similarities to example 2 but there are some features that stand it above it for example the glitch like cut on the letter ‘e’ gives it an edgy feel which I like, in addition to this what not many other font styles did was have the tittle (dot) of the letter ‘i’ visible this improves the design as i feel that it gives the text a bit of shape rather than it fitting all into a rectangle. Also my final reasoning behind choosing the font style is that compared to number two it has an actual dash rather that a cross like symbol.

After asking numerous individual of my target audience they all feel that example number three would fit my design the most. As they feel that it is an accurate representation of the project whilst also still looking slightly futuristic.

Below is how the text looks with the variations of the logos. I am happy with how they all turned out as the logo and font go well together alongside the colours used.

The logo is a vital component of my design as it is what users will associate with the project. As the name of the project is Uni-verse I wanted to link it to space and education at he same time in a way which is still suitable for university students. I went through a few variations of designs before I came to my final conclusion.

1st Draft

My first draft of my design focused around one of the most common thing people think about when they think of a universe. I liked the style of as it was quite dynamic and stood out quite a lot from some of the other logos i had seen. In addition to this liked the blue as it felt that it was a gender neutral colour so it didn’t influence one side of my target audience more than the other.

However I do feel that this design was somewhat lacking detail that made it visually interesting. I also felt that it didn’t illustrate my technical skill level and creativity that I am putting into this project. It was this decision that i decided to develop a new variation of logo for my Uni-verse.

2nd Draft

The image below is my second draft. It is completely different as I wanted to try out a planet instead of a entire galaxy. There were a few main reasonings behind this as i felt that i could add more details into a planet as they are never just one colour throughout there is normally a few different shades to give it depth and texture. I also was able to use a flat Ui colour palette in my new development of my logo as this once again is commonly used to create depth and detail. Even though I was happy with this design and how it linked to space i still felt that there wasn’t any links to education. It was at this stage that i developed my idea further.

3rd and Final Draft

My third and final variation of my logo represented the style and theme I was going for in my project as not only did it have link visual links to space and also education. I feel that this logo is also not to childish either as it features quite a modern simplistic style, which is down to the influences from flat Ui’s

For this design i took inspiration from hitchhikers guide to the galaxy opening graphics. The reason behind this is that i like how it is a simple design but still has a strong effect

I have also came up with multiple colour variations of my logo so that there is the customisation option for users to choose which icon they like and then in-relation to which icon they choose a theme will be set that matches the style. 

Frog is an educational portal aimed at institution ranging from primary schools – high schools. It uses the idea of blended learning in the classroom environment to develop and promote learning. It is also multi-platform as it is available on tablet as an application. I researched into an articles from a IT co-ordinator at Blackheath primary school who summarise the key point in detail.

Frog Pros

• Smooth transition between pages
• Pinpoint multimedia resources from Google images, Flickr, Youtube and Vimeo
• Quick launch your calendar, documents, email and loads more
• Changes to widgets make it easier to edit pages
• Booking timetables
• Compatible with most (if not all) browsers! No more Internet Explorer!
• Compatible with tablets
• Professional and fun looking themes to cater for all users.

Items to consider

• The structure has completely changed. There are no longer Me, Classes and School areas which means that you can work how ever you want to within Frog. If these areas worked for you then you can create the same kind of structure in the school dashboard. If you wanted to organise your platform to suit you and your setting then that is now possible with the simplified structure which offers more versatility.

• Frog will support your current primary platform for the next 3 years so that you can develop FrogOS while still using Frog 3.0. This gives you loads of time to develop your new platform and to make sure it is just how you want it before you launch.

• If you are anything like me, you will want to dive right in and get started. Think carefully about how you can use the new features and flexibility to create new areas, join areas together from your existing platform or simply add the whole area to the school dashboard so that it can’t be missed. Some areas may no longer be needed as the new features, such as booking calendars and quizzes and polls, may eliminate the need for them.

How i’m going to use the data to further research and design (inform my own work)

From looking at Frog critically i am going to take away from this the key points that interest me, which are: i really like the idea that all aspects of learning are in one location meaning as a user everything is easily accessible in one place on either one browser or application. It is a feature like this that i would very much like to incorporate into my own design. The huge customisation option that are available for institutions allowing them to stylise to match existing house branding thus creating the service to appear as an extension of the institution. The idea of customisation is a very close aspect of my project as like i mentioned previously in the critical review of blackboard the ability to customise allows the user to feel as if the service is personal to them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyR4QH0R0dM

Sources 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyR4QH0R0dM

http://blog.frogeducation.com/2013/02/26/review-of-frogos-from-an-existing-school/