Whether you are a photographer who needs a showcase online for  his work, need a portfolio, are a retailer of products with image displays, or have anything visual you wish to display then the new Semiomantics Evo 2012 photoblog  may be for you.

I am just in the process of completing a project using the latest photo blog development  by Semiomantics, to display a series of photos that show the different stages of a Loft conversion, adding a dormer to provide more space in the house. An interesting project in itself,  married with photos taken during the construction makes interesting browsing.

Semiomantics Evo 2012

This particular Semiomantics development combines categories and galleries,  (galleries that expand), background slider, sidebars if desired, blog, social networking icons as well as being mobile friendly and a pleasing visual experience. Combining the latest developments from WordPress, HTML5,CSS3 and the mobile web makes it an attractive and easy photo blog to use. Shoot, post and share your latest news.

It has been a busy month one way or another and now we start on a brand new project, developing a website for a local business that sells Medals & Trophies. This local business has never had on an online presence before so it’s an exciting new development for the business and an interesting project to work on.

Local Business Web Presence

The first step in developing a web presence for a local business begins with a face to face meeting with the business owner to get to understand his business and his business goals. Armed with this information we can then discuss his aspirations and how these can be achieved online. The discussions are an ongoing process until a satisfactory solution is found. Most small business are limited by budget, time and resources therefore any website design has to be cost-effective and efficient, turning visitors into customers. With this in mind I will be utilising the Semiomantics XO2012 and developing a Semiomantics powered website known for its high performance and high visibility.

For further developments of this local business project please watch this space or subscribe to the mailing list.

Lots of construction work going on here so life is a bit hectic but it doesn’t hinder the preparations for the forthcoming seminar run by Ycademy, Shoot – Share – Sell!

As the market expands to mobile devices so must the sites that market products be mobile efficient, whether you sell photography, auto-parts or collectibles.  Semiomantics latest development the EVO – replaces the outdated version from 2 years ago which supported flash, great on desktop computers but not mobile compatible.

Now you will be able to access your new EVO directly from your mobile upload your product then share it on the social networks and direct them to your ecommerce portal. Shoot it, share it, sell it.

Under construction

Shoot – Share – Sell Seminar

As always the Ycademy seminars are run every month online; attend from the comfort of your own armchair and computer of course. Pre-seminar calls have already taken place with some preliminary information regarding the set-up and  materials. I am really looking forward to lots of hands-on workshops and as always lots of fun! When you are wrapped up in what you do – a new website under construction - its amazing how quickly the seminar weekend flies by.

This seminar will be just the begining of this years project for me so there will be more posts and information regarding this topic in the coming months.

Technology is going mobile, therefore the focus for a web designer  means making sure that the designs implemented are lightweight and fast loading and clearly seen and navigated on any mobile device. What looks good on your desktop pc may not necessarily impress a visitor on a mobile.  So, a theme must be flexible and responsive, across browsers and cross-platform compatible. What you see in the IE browser is not always what you see in Firefox! How a site looks on a smartphone is not the same as on an iPad.

I am still working and experimenting with the new Semiomantics features and exploring the possibilities. As the theme is tuned to CSS3 and HTML5 cutom design can make the theme more visually stimulation for a visitor. Included here is a first draft of a demo site undergoing some customisation.

With CCS3 its also possible to add new elements to create more visually stimulating  web designs.

Sunday will be another stimulating day packed full of information and workshops on creating content and design with CSS3 and HTML5. This is just the begining of an exciting year ahead at Ycademy, and more exciting, stimulating and cleaner designs for our customers. More coming soon.

With each training call one becomes more familiar with the various features and how to use them successfully.  As with any new tool that one uses there is always a big learning curve if one is to become proficient. I have never used AE before so this is quite an exciting step  forward to put motion into graphics that you create. At the training call tonite we covered  some good basics, how to create an animation, keying, scaling, positioning, transparency, rendering just to name a few of the functions, enough to create a short 3 second video clip ! Not perfect by any means but a great start to learning Adobe After effects.

Of course there will be more to follow especially after the seminar this weekend. Watch this space…

Preparations have already begun for the Ycademy Media Design Seminar which focuses entirely on working with Adobe After Effects with registered participants attending preliminary sessions. The advantage of attending the preliminary training is you become familiar with what is required at the actual seminar.

Participating in live trainings gives every participant the opportunity to ask questions, sort out any problems and acquire some background knowledge relating to the subject matter.

Using After Effects is a way to create a motion graphic or animation, from a variety of individual media objects; importing them into the software and creating a composition, adding selective effects to produce a dynamic end product. It’s a way of bringing to life the story you want to tell and visually stimulating  your audience.

Anyone familiar with Photoshop or any other Adobe related products will not find After Effects too dissimilar, just an addition to any existing workflow. Creating a clip for Christmas will be a  very festive way to end the year at Ycademy.

We are all looking forward to a very informative and productive Media Design seminar on After Effects by Adobe.

Original Photo

Part of the planning of a any website is deciding on a suitable font. There are so many beautiful fonts to choose from these days its often difficult to decide. However, one must take into consideration the subject matter of the project. In this instance the subject is a wedding album. This indicates a certain style and elegance. The font should also convey this message. The colour of the font to be used is also an important factor, as the whole must create a harmonious ambience.

Online Wedding Album Fonts

For the online wedding album I have decided to use 2 different fonts, one for the logo and headings and another for any content that I will add. For the headings I will use the Scriptina font, classic elegance with a flourish, to illustrate the style.

For content I am using the Hoefler text italic – a modern classic font.  Although I use these two fonts here on the wedding album to create impact I would not use these when designing a ‘normal’ website or blog. Where there are large portions of text to be read on the screen, a good crisp clear sans serif font provides the easiest reading experience.