It appears as though members of congress have yet to get accustomed to new social media tools and the immediacy with which they allow us to communicate. As illustrated in this short news clip from CNN.com, it is of paramount importance to think twice prior to sending words which you think are wise…at the time.
Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category
Greetings and salutations everyone and thanks for dropping in. As it has officially been eons since my last entry, I sincerely hope there’s no animosity, which may reslult in unreasonable gestures of frustration such a vegetable throwing or anonymous postings of my mobile number in online chat rooms across the web.
Rather than bore the living &%#! out of you with a long, rambling post, I thought I’d keep it short and sweet with a short list of what’s new here at MonjesMedia.
MONJESMEDIA.COM REDESIGN
Over the past few weeks or so, I’ve been busy here in my hidden digs pushing pixels into what is now, MonjesMedia.com V. 2. While staying with the same color palette, you’ll notice a cleaner, more user friendly interface, navigation and newly designed logo.
Upon further exploring (if you’re a code junky) you may have noticed the use of PHP include files for the top nav, side nav and footer sections of the site. In addition I’ve incorporated a nifty little accordian menu in the portfolio section, which utilizes the JQuery JavaScript library (I think I’m addicted).
Did I mention portfolio? It appears as though I did. As you’ll see, the portfolio section is divided into five sections (Web, Print, Multimedia, Banner Ads and Promotions and Photogrpahy.)
Some featured pieces you may want to check out include the following-
Web Design:
MSN Real Estate
MSN Autos – Maserati Center
Tucson Bridal Expo
Learn and Save
Iview Studios
Print:
Logos
92.9 The Mountain
Banner Ads and Promos:
300 x 250 Banners
Cadillac Giveaway
Suzuki Giveaway
ESCAPE FROM THE DESERT
As many of you may have noticed, I did indeed make a speedy getaway, re-locating from the desert city of Tucson, AZ to the Pacific Northwest. The reasons for doing so were many. I’ve settled in quite nicely and am quite frankly, super-glad to call Seattle home.
I spent the first 5 months here working as a UX Designer with Miscrosoft’s MSN division and am now taking on freelance projects in Web Design and Online Media.
THAT’S ALL
In closing this first post in over, well, let’s just say WAY too long, let me say that I’ll do my best to post much more frequently. Keep your eyes open for posts on topics ranging from design and photography to marketing and media - in all it’s various channels.
Until next time!
While with the Online department at Tucson Newspapers, I had the opportunity to work on various sections of Tucson.com, AZStarnet.com and TucsonCitizen.com. The scope of projects varied quite a bit, however, one common theme threads throughout each: create an engaging, user friendly experience while working within the framework of the existing site. My last major project involving a redesign of the Food section on AZStarnet.com, serves as a nice illustration of this.
The primary goal of the redesign was to create compelling points of entry into deep pages within the site. I’ve posted a mockup to provide a sneak peek prior to launch. Upon comparison to the existing layout, we should see a significant increase in page views throughout the section, adding value for not only our readers, but also our valued advertisers.
One of the many benefits of working for an organization like Tucson Newspapers, is that their focus on continuing education often affords staff members exposure to the latest research findings in journalism and related topics.
Recently we were introduced to Poynter Institute’s online learning center, NewsU.org via a one hour course entitled “Eyetracking the News.” The course briefly covered a study of newspaper readers and their eye movements. Recorded data sets included how much of each news article was read, how many articles were read, and reader comprehension among other items. Unfortunately I’m unable to go into the findings of the study at this time. I will try to post a supplemental entry at a later date.
Most importantly, I would like to recommend giving NewsU.org a visit to see if any topics are of inerest to you. The courses on my short list include:
-Color in News Design
-Typography in News Design
-Writing Headlines for the Web
-Online Project Development
-Tellng Stories with Sound
-New Habits of News Consumers
and possibly a few others.
The site is very user friendly and categorizes the courses into broader sections which makes finding content of interest quite simple. If you decide to take a course, please don’t hesitate to email me. I’d love to hear your thoughts and perceptions. Enjoy!
Links: Tucson Newspapers | Poynter Online | NewsU.org
I’ve made a few updates to my portfolio, adding pieces for Sage Point Financial as well as Tucson Newspapers. The Sage Point Financial piece reflects my user interface design style with well organized layout and user friendly navigation.
The pieces created for Tucson Newspapers include Tucson.com and one of my latest projects, TucsonBridalMagazine.com. I’m responsible for much of the CSS coding on Tucson.com as well updating the site’s primary content areas with photos and headlines. TucsonBridalMagazine.com represents my latest design work. As you will see, this content rich page brings many links to front in an effort to drive users deep into the site. The project is under development and scheduled for launch in January 2008.
Below is a photo gallery featuring photos from my latest trip to Bunos Aires.
Well, I’ve decided to switch to a new blogging platform. Sorry Blogger, your time has come and gone. My explorations in blogging software have led me to the very trusty WordPress platform. Thus far I’m very impressed with it’s robust feature set and wide array of options. Stay tuned to the blog to learn about my latest projects and commentary on any interesting developments in the areas of New Media, Photography and beyond.
