One more day!

Okay I'm at a critical point in my Web Design program. All the text book work and hands on assignments have been completed, turned in and graded.
I've done all the reviews and taken every test.

The only thing left for me to do on Monday May 25th was a professional portfolio and a Final Exam Project. The portfolio was kind of easy, it was just a matter of forcing myself to sit down and do it. I took the weekend off to whittle away at my portfolio and to gather my wits and prepare for a meeting with my prospective customer.


For the past 3 days I've worked diligently to put together a website for a local pet-shop. Heres what I did:

By sunday I'd gone over the contract, done some basic layout design comps and knew that my customer wanted it to be simple, yet effective.

The 25th (Monday) was memorial day but instead of sitting home all day like a bump on pickle, I went to meet with my Website Customer, a nice woman named C. who runs a pet shop and supply store. We went over the contract together, brainstormed some ideas, agreed on a color scheme and drafted a layout. She's a great woman to work with, very laid back yet professional and accomodating. I was looking forward to getting started on her site and I played around with several ideas and concepts between getting home and going to sleep. I drafted a few layouts before I went to sleep but none of them had the smooth, easy going look we decided upon. They were to...rigid.

The 26th (Tuesday) I went to class as usual and briefly talked to my teacher about my meeting. (I thought she was coming back but she didn't) I told her we'd done the design comp and I would just get the layout up to be approved and go back to take some pictures of her business and her dog (its a petshop after all). I did several layouts that Tuesday but really it just worked to eliminate all the formulas that wouldn't work. Which in essence, is very similar to finding the most perfect way to make something that will work. Around 2:30 I was running out of steam. I browsed some websites and then looked up some templates and mapped out features and ideas that I could include. With some new direction and a refreshing sense of clarity I worked on some more design comps and fleshed out more web templates.

The 27th (Wednesday) I took the morning off from the classroom, because I could work from home at this point and it was more sound for me to go to class late but stop off and get the pictures needed for the website from the Customer. I got to class around 1.30pm, pictures in hand and template completed. I fleshed out content and adjusted the page. I was extra careful about incorporating the clean easy navigation she specified and used blue and off-white like she asked. (actually, she didn't care much but I offered her some common color combo's and she picked 'blue and whitish') and I was very satisfied with the way the site turned out. I had to fight with CSS all afternoon to make everything behave, but I was very pleased with it in the end. Actually, to be honest, the site lay out was simple enough, I've the got the content drafted, a couple of pictures and I bought the domain name (more on that in an upcoming "Web Finals Recap" post). I tested the service out and everything seems to be working.

I was very pleased.
My teacher was not.

She doesn't like that I'm completing the whole course in just 4 months. She say's she's not going to give me my certificate because I'm in too much of a hurry to get it all done and she thinks that I've actually taken the site public but I haven't, though it is hosted on the web now, that was for conveniences sake. I'm going to talk with her tomorrow morning ASAP to get matters sorted out.

Anyway, I finally assembled the portfolio completely and I turn it in tomorrow morning. I need to add the final touches (i.e. links, a header graphic and some grammar) to my portfolio within the 1st 45 minutes of class so I can spend the last 6.25 hours of the school year acting like a chicken with my head cut off.


My dad will chaperon me back and forth between school and the Customer throughout the afternoon to help me get everything in order. Hopefully my teacher will accept my work. If she doesn't I dont think that I will feel too disappointed. I've enjoyed this class, partly because I picked it and partly because I really like web design. I didn't go into this looking for anyone elses approval or to please or "keep up" with anything. I went to keep myself interested in learning while waiting to start jr. college. I decided I wanted to finish it all in 75 school days and, god willing, I will do just that. I dont care if I dont get another big, fancy certificate or not. I've got three "little certificates" but I know, and maybe everyone else does too, that I have earned the 4th little certificate and the big, fancy certificate that comes with completing all the work required for the web design services program.

I set my mind to something, I worked hard, I acheived it.
"Aim for the moon. Even if you fall short, you will be among the stars." was the motto I used to guide my attempt and I'm appreciative and proud of what I've done. I'm thankful to God for giving me strong reading and reasoning comprehension, for allowing me to accomplish as much as I have, for giving me everything I needed to come this far. I love my family and friends for supporting and encouraging me (and for staying out of my way when they were doubtful so as not to infect me with their occassional cynicism).

Hopefully I will update again AFTER school is over and no matter what news I have to announce, I am grateful, happy, satisfied and proud.

Till 5:00pm or later Thursday, May 28th.