For this project I created a week by week schedule that has what needs to be done week by week and also a predicted plan using a Gantt chart. In addition to this there is also a a percentage factor of how much of one aspect is done or not.
I feel that by having a schedule it will keep me on track and highlight if i begin to slip behind or not.
Dashboard Design is going to be a large factor in my design process as the concept of my project is to create a central source of information that students would need to carryout their studies.
Most Dashboard designs consist of a very modular style with a limited colour palette built up of complimentary colours and which tend to also be in pastel shade.
Example of existing websites that use dashboard design are a website called Tweetdeck, this was service that took people twitter feed and streamlined it into a constantly updating interface. Tweet deck is commonly used by individual that live stream events or activities such as video game as the interface allows for viewer interaction. The other existing product that uses dashboard design is blackboard. Education portal are commonly designed with dashboard design as alot of information is needed to be provided with out tonnes of link to other pages.
Sources
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b2/9c/a9/b29ca96e67856186367d372511b348b3.jpg
http://assets.materialup.com/uploads/ff8c4e30-39ba-40d1-a51a-d9cc57bc054f/colorize-small.png
http://www.fastvue.co/tmgreporter/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Dashboard1.png
https://forrstlive.s3.amazonaws.com/multiposts/images/59775/original.png?1381902139
http://www.contentfac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/tweetdeck-dashboard7.gif
Further Development
After a break over christmas i came back to looking at my proposal with a fresh new mindset and realised that by limiting my self to lectures alone i had potentially reduced my final concept by a large amount. So it was at this point i decided to look at seminars and out of contact hour support.
My Research developed further as i began to look into more detail about the use of E-learning being used in education such as sites like Adobe Education Exchange and student portals like Blackboard which is targeted towards university students and then sites such as Frog whose audience are middle to upper school students.
In todays workshop we looked at the content covered in the lecture on Monday which was how the use of of: focus, depth, balance and structure is used on a compositional level.
The theme we had to follow was that the image had to convey the narrative of an epic adventure. I began by looking at a genre that I love which is the post apocalyptic genre of Films. The image below is my final image i created.
I feel that my image portrays the idea of a epic journey as it follows the conventions of basic compositional guidelines. For example the size of the figure in comparison to the size of the city in the background especially to the left highlights how the use of depth can generate meaning by showing how small the figure would be against a city. Depth is also created by the multiple layers that seems to fade as into the atmosphere as the further they get back.
I also considered the use of structure when composing this image as i took balance into consideration by have an asymmetrical balance which once again helps create the illusion of depth and focus. In addition to this my image also follows the intersecting thirds grid which means that it allows narrative to develop and just like the asymmetrical balance it creates focus.
I found this seminar really interesting as it not only taught me new skills of composition that can be used to creates images like the one above, but this knowledge of the basic rules will help me in my final work and in the work to come. I especially enjoyed this work as i am a huge fan of this art style commonly seen on posters for video games or films such as the ones below designed for star wars by Olly Moss in 2010. 
Source
Olly Moss – http://io9.gizmodo.com/of-course-these-excellent-new-spaceballs-posters-spoof-1746873165
As part of my research I had to fill in an proposal form outlining potentially what my project could consist of:
What is the intended idea / concept behind the proposed project?
Design new ways of students to learn in contact and out of contact time, to encourage students to carry out the extended reading and also to take an active part in seminars, whilst keeping studying efficient and rewarding.
Justify the idea / concept in terms of the needs for its existence (if purely for entertainment, state this and how the output will be innovative/original and creative):
The project’s main goal is to be educational whilst incorporating the idea of gamification and playbour in learning at a university level standard.
It is needed as majority of lectures are delivered verbally with little visual cues. Studied carried out found that only 10% of students find this method effective. So creating the obvious need for a service that caters to the other 90% of students who may learn from visual cues or active participation.
The intended final project will be innovative as it is building upon the currently existing university service that is in place called ‘Blackboard’ it develops on this by making the experience much more user friendly and personal to the individual. This will be done by including colour customization options, easy to use home page with all aspects of university life such as, Modules information, Required Reading, Assessments deadlines / Grades, Weekly Timetable, Email and progress graphs.
Describe the intended audience:
The intended target audience for this project is University students across the United Kingdom of either gender ranging from their first year to the last (including students undertaking; Masters and PhD). The project is also aimed at the majority of courses catered at university.
How will this project extend your or your team’s creative and technical skills?
This project will extend my skills, as I will experiment with new ways to showcase my project using new techniques I have learnt in workshops and lectures such as 3D illustration and in situational presentation. It will also push my creativity as I am tasked with designing a new and exciting project that is heavily influenced by modern culture.
Outline how the practical work will be carried out by you / the team (division of labour) and the time-scales involved for each task:
I will create all practical work. This will be accomplished by using software included in the Adobe Creative Cloud package such as Photoshop, After Effects and potentially the use of Dreamweaver. The use of these software is so that I can achieve a professional and other people can get a clear understanding of the project.
What other work (by animators, designers, film-makers, writers, digital media producers, etc.) is relevant to your project? (This work may either be relevant for its conceptual or technical similarity):
Example of existing that either inspired or helped me develop my idea further include, Blackboard as it enabled me to build upon some of the existing features it offers. In addition to this Adobe generations also appealed to me in how they use the online lectures and live chat functionality to which creates the lectures environment from the space of someone’s own bedroom. Finally I found the design style of Tweet Deck to be appealing in it very simplistic and easy to use design style with consistent live updates.
List any critical texts that are relevant to your conceptual intentions:
