Studio 6 (week 09)

This week we are continuing with the design process of the website and we will begin creating the website next week during the mid semester break. Our design has been chosen and we are now looking for css and page layouts. We have decided to go with one from noodle incident and are now about to begin creating the website.  

Studio 6 (week 08)

This week we intend to finalise our design and navigation of the website. The design process will take the next two weeks to ensure that the design we choose is appropriate and stylish. We want to keep the webpage simple and plain, so therefore the major background colour will probably be white and to ensure a plain and simple website that is easy to navigate we will implement the three slick principle and allow for easy display, so that anybody can use the site.

Studio 6 (week 07)

This week we submitted our project plan and timetable. We have stated the progress and process that we intend to follow and implement over the next few weeks. This week we will get in contact with the charity and gather and information, details and pics that they might like to display on the website. We will also be creating a sitemap so that we can allow the charity to see how the site will be layed out. This weeks main objectives is to show the charity our ideas and intentions and to see if they agree and like the ideas we have.  

Studio 6 (Week 06)

This week we presented our idea of the juice product, with our assignment based upon the selling and commercialising of the product. The assignment will take into account our idea of creating a website, a poster and a small comercial.

After discussions with Ralf we have decided to change our assignment from the selling of the juice drink to creating a website, poster and ad for a non profit charity organisation. The charity we have chosen is the Ipswich Community Youth Services or ICYS.

Studio 6 (week 05)

This week we came up with our idea for the assignment this semester. Our assignment is an advertising campaign for a fruit juice called “Diminish”. Our campaign will focus upon the healthinest of the drink and its ingredients. We will also focus it upon the fact that it is Australian made and that it is a healthy alternative for the youth. It will also prvide the target audience with a energy revilitisation, allowing us to advertise it as an enery drink as well.

Individual Contribution

For the first assignment of studio six my contribution to the group project was creating and designing the flyer as well as editing the presentation in after affects. My limited experience with flash meant that my contribution to the presentation itself was limited so I could only help in a manner that I was able. So I created the flyer using Photoshop and gathered together the pieces of the presentation and edited and constructed it in the manner in which it was displayed.

Surfers Paradise

A few weeks ago a group of my mates and I went to surfers paradise for the night to celebrate a few peoples birthdays. Over the Saturday night we went to four clubs and through one hundred and twenty dollars on drinks and entry (that was just me). The first place we went to was O’Malley’s pub were most of the patrons are either there for a meal or a drinking session, not to dance or socialize.  O’Malley’s is in Cavil Ave just up stairs from Mc Donald’s on the corner. It is free entry, cheap meals and cheap drinks, a good place to start off the night.

The second place we moved to was called the Rose and the Thorne. This is a large night club upstairs next to pizza hut. It has two rooms one for dancing with a stage and bar and the second for talking with a bar and patio that goes out over cavil. This was a really nice club with drinks being average price and free entry before a certain time. The music is main stream and there are always plenty of people dancing. This club could be the place where you could easily stay all night. If you get there around ten on a Saturday night the tour party is there where there are heaps of people and free pizza, which is always a plus.

The third place we hit was a night club called the Drink, which is popular with some but entry and drinks are expensive. This club is nothing fancy and can be hard to find, it has three levels and a lot of stairs; I suggest you avoid this place when you have had a few. The second level is where most people are and there are two bars on either side of the room and a massive dance floor in between. The music here is also main stream with R&B and dance and overall this place was not my favorite.

The final place we went to is the hottest and most popular night club on the coast. It is called Melbas which is very popular with the locals and has a bar and dance floor downstairs and a night club up stairs. We stayed downstairs where there is a massive bar that runs nearly the entire length of downstairs. It takes for ever to get served as there are heaps of people and few staff. The entry is free for downstairs but they make up with the drinks (most at least ten bucks). It has a tiny dance floor and plays older style music but still very popular. Melbas is definitely the place to go when you are out in Surfer’s Paradise.

Overall it was a good night and has enforced my opinion that surfers is still an awesome place to go for a night out with the mates. My advice is to have plenty of cash on hand as it goes quickly and to visit as many places as you can to get the overall feel and lifestyle that exist in Cavil Ave.

What Is Grunge?

Grunge was a genre of music that came to its height in the first half of the 90’s, with thanks to mega successful bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. The grunge scene was created in the mid-80s by local Seattle bands and musicians in the state of  Washington USA. It had the characteristics of alternative music genres such as hardcore punk, heavy metal and indie rock. Grunge music infused together elements of hardcore punk and heavy metal into a single sound.  

Grunge which is sometimes referred to as Seattle sound had been influenced by a number of bands in particular a band called the Melvin’s, with their heavy and slow paced music inspired the youth of the region to pick up instruments and express their emotions and beliefs through the sound of music. It evolved out of the Pacific Northwest from within the local punk rock scene. Due to Seattle’s isolation from alternative rock scenes it was often stated that Grunge was unique to Seattle. In reality many bands from across the country had influenced the grunge scene such as bands like Sonic Youth. Bands also like Australia’s The Scientist had influence over the scene.  

The major characteristic that bands brought to the grunge scene was the anti-glam aesthetics with most band members wearing casual dress like ripped jeans and flannelette shirts. The lyrics focused upon the theme of social isolation, boredom, entrapment and the desire for freedom. Many observers state that the boredom and entrapment motion originated due to Seattle’s geographical isolation, weather and lack of social life.  

Most grunge bands and musicians started of playing at clubs and bars to few people, most of whom were simply getting out of the weather. Grunge began to take off when in the late 80s independent record labels like sub pop came to town. Sub pop was the record label that brought the grunge scene to the mainstream and into the global spotlight, discovering such bands as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and many others. In 1991 an unknown band called Nirvana released an album called Nevermind and with a song called “Smells like teen spirit” brought the grunge scene into popular perception. The album became the number one hit across the world and paved the way for more bands including the even more popular Pearl Jam. For most people when they think of the grunge scene they immediately think of either Nirvana or Pearl Jam as these two bands were most associated with the movement. For many audiences then and later, grunge came to be almost totally associated with these two bands and their punky, rebellious attitude towards mainstream mores as well as cultural and social institutions.  

By 1993, other popular Seattle-based bands (most notably Alice in Chains and Soundgarden) would also become tremendously successful. The grunge movement was short-lived, with several key factors contributing to its downfall. The predominant factor though was the death and suicide of Kurt Cobain the lead singer of Nirvana. His death uncovered the addiction the grunge scene had with herion, which was the cause of many deaths of ominant  performers including Layne Staley of Alice in chains. 

For many fans of the genre, it wasn’t until the pioneering band Soundgarden disbanded in 1997 that they finally conceded grunge’s time in the mainstream was over. Over the next few years grunge’s mainstream popularity quickly came to an end. Many grunge bands have continued recording and touring with more limited success, including, most significantly, Pearl Jam.  

Grunge was a global phenonmenon that captured the heart of the world and although the scene did not survuve for decades the few years it was mainstream it gave those who had lost faith in the world a new outlook that will never be forgotton.   

Studio Five (Week 13)

This week we had our presentation for studio of our prototype. Monday afternoon any stress I had endured over the past week was completely gone with a successful and fully functional prototype in place (Thanks a lot to Dave George). We found an expert of motors who informed us that the water pump we were originally using was not appropriate for the purpose that we needed. We decided to purchase the pump that was recommended thanks to the uni and managed to get it working successfully. With the code fully working and the touch sensor and dimmer now doing everything we needed we were able to show the lectures on Tuesday a prototype that displayed exactly what we want to achieve next semester. I couldn’t be happier at the outcome the group achieved this semester and have enjoyed working with each member and look forward to working with them again next semester.

Studio Five (Week 12)

This is our final week before the presentation next Tuesday and the pressure and stress is growing. We have finalised the concept in how our prototype will work. We are going to use a phidget with touch sensor and motor. The motor will activate and begin to spin once the user starts to move their finger along the touch sensor. The motor will begin to rotate turning a light dimmer which we are going to use to control the level of electricity flow to the water pump. This will hopefully achieve the outcome which is to control the height in which the water is projected. However we are having issues with the flash code to get this working and there is no doubt that there will be a couple of long days ahead.