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Craftee Website Concept

User Experience Design

For my UXD module in first year, I created a website for a fictional knit and crochet website called Craftee. I created a logo and branding for them to use throughout the website.

Research and Idea Generation

To begin with, I outlined the scope and purpose of the website. The aim I chose for the Craftee website was to promote knitting and crochet to a younger audience. I then completed some competitor analysis of similar websites, like 'Wool & the Gang'.

For the next phase of my research, I focused on user experience via creating personas.

I used these personas to come up with scenarios to guide my design of the website.

A user persona of a young woman named Ava — Persona A

A user persona of a young girl named Mia — Persona B

Navigation Architechture

I constructed a sitemap, then wireframe sketches on paper, and finally digital wireframes.

A sitemap in the form of a branch diagram, leading to paper sketches of two wireframes, leading to two digitally drawn wireframes. — The process

Visual Design

I created mock-ups of two of my pages, using the logo and branding I designed.

A mockup of the About Us page — Mockup A

A mockup of the Inspiration page — Mockup B

Excel Plane Model

Maths for Graphics and Statistics

I used VBA code in Excel to create interactive 2D and 3D models of a plane using matrix algebra and cubic splines to transform and animate the model as well as generate solid and wireframe views.

This taught me a lot about my ability to apply concepts learned in one programming language (such as JavaScript) to quickly develop proficiency in another language I have no prior experience with such as VBA.

A screenshot of Excel showing a solid 3D plane model with buttons to move and scale the plane

2D Model

I represented a simple 2D model of a plane on a scatter graph in Excel. I then set up matrix calculations to transform and move the plane.

A screenshot of an excel sheet with matrix algebra calculations — Excel sheet of calculations

Next, I used VBA code to animate the movement of the plane using conditional statements and loops. I created a simple user interface and linked the buttons to the VBA code.

A simple interface in Excel with buttons and a scatter graph with a 2D plane — The interface

A screenshot of Excel's macros page with functions written in VBA code — Some of the VBA code

The plane can fly in a straight line, fly and return to the starting point, or fly along the path of a cubic spline. There are also other controls to rotate and move the plane.

The plane flies from the top left corner to the bottom right corner — Plane follows a linear path and returns

The plane flies along a curved path — Plane follows a cubic spline

The plane completes a full rotation and then is rotated incrementally up and down — Other controls

3D Model

I determined the coordinates of each point of a simple 3D plane model and which faces they belonged to. I then respresented this model on a scatter graph in Excel. Again, I set up matrix calculations to transform and move the plane, this time in 3D.

I also calculated the average depth, illumination factor, and visibility of each face with respect to parallel projection to help me to render wireframe and solid views of the plane. The average depth was ranked from furthest to closest to solve the Painter's Algorithm and render the solid plane with lighting effects.

A screenshot of a table in Excel with a list of faces, a list of Uz calculations, a boolean visibility value, an average depth, and a ranking from 1 to 30 — Some of the Excel calculations

I made another simple UI with controls that made more sense for a 3D model, and wrote VBA to transform the plane.

A simple interface in Excel with buttons, sliders, and radio options to rotate and change the view of a 3D plane model — The interface

The plane can be rotated in all three directions, scaled, and the perspective and view can be changed. There is a gallery of poses and a small animation as well.

The plane rotates in the X, Y, and Z directions — Rotation controls

The plane spins around, is reset to the starting orientation, and goes through a gallery of different poses — Animate, Reset, Gallery

The plane is scaled up and down, changes from a less to more extreme perspective effect, and switches between wireframe and solid views. — Different views, scales, and perspective effects

The Administration (Short Film Concept)

Pipeline Design Concepts

I created concepts for two film ideas for my Pipeline Design Concepts class. This included scripts, beatboards, storyboards, call sheets, and animatics with voice acting and sound design, which I then pitched to my classmates in a presentation.

This concept is for a short film called 'The Administration'. It was inspired by sci-fi films like Inception and "backrooms" aesthetics.

Storyboards

The starting sequence of storyboards are below.

Four panels of a storyboard where a man sits at a desk — Storyboard 1

Another four panels of the storyboard where the man drops a pen and searches through some paperwork — Storyboard 2

Another four panels of the storyboard where a woman gives the man a file and he talks to another man — Storyboard 3

Animatic

The Alien (Animated Short Film)

2D Animation

I created a script, storyboards, test animations, and finally a full animated snippet for an original animated short film for my 2D animation class.

The animated snippet can be found on YouTube. I have also chronicled the project from start to finish here.

A storyboard showing a small alien standing in the middle of a busy street

Script and Storyboards

A screenshot of the start of a script, setting up the scene — An excerpt from the script

The first four panels of a storyboard where an alien looks out of his spaceship window at Earth and then arrives on Earth's surface — Storyboard 1

Another four panels of a storyboard where the alien looks around the busy city and meets a group of teenagers — Storyboard 2

Two more panels of a storyboard where the alien writes in a notebook and texts on his phone — Storyboard 3

Animated Snippet

Newspaper Database

Database Fundamentals

I compiled a design document and built a relational database for a newspaper company in MySQL with a catalogue of sample queries for my Database Fundamentals class.

Building the database from scratch taught me a huge amount about relational databases and how they are applied to real world scenarios.

A screenshot of MySQL showing the top part of an SQL script, setting up the newspaper database

Design Document

I started off with a description of the system, identifying the entities, relationships, and cardinality. I translated this into an ER diagram.

An ER diagram with ten entities and lots of relationships — ER diagram

I then used the ER diagram as the basis for my logical data model. I identified participation constraints, multivalued attributes, and resolved many-to-many relationships.

A logical model of the Desk entity, Office entity, and Camera entity — Snippet of logical data model

SQL Implementation

I created tables in the database and populated them with data.

A snippet of SQL code to create the tables Office and Desk — Creating tables

A snippet of SQL code filling the Camera table with values — Populating tables

In a seperate SQL script, I created a list of sample queries.

An SQL query and its output, finding all of the headlines from a specific edition of the paper — A query and its output

An SQL query and its output, returning the name of each employee with a list of contact details — Another query and its output

Things That Go Bump in the Night (Short Film Concept)

Pipeline Design Concepts

I created concepts for two film ideas for my Pipeline Design Concepts class. This included scripts, beatboards, storyboards, call sheets, and animatics with voice acting and sound design, which I then pitched to my classmates in a presentation.

This concept is for a short film called 'Things That Go Bump in the Night'. It is a lighthearted comedy film about mistaken identities and pretending to be someone you're not on a first date.

A storyboard showing a young woman sitting down at a table in a restaurant

Script

Storyboards

This is the starting sequence of storyboards.

Another four panels of the storyboard showing the women talking and a waiter taking their orders — Storyboard 2

Another four panels of the storyboard showing the waiter leaving and returning with the womens' drinks — Storyboard 3