My Reflections

• Reflection 1: The project aimed to create a responsive and accessible HTML5 webpage showcasing portfolio items and a professional statement. I was successful in a few different areas, such as the more technical aspects. Certain rules about code stick with me because they seem intuitive. If my memory serves me right every heading needs a header and every section needs a header. For organization and structure purposes this makes sense to me and so it's easier to remember. Furthermore, I know what to look for when something goes wrong. I usually find it within the validator or I look through each line and make sure I end the tag, for example. A learning curve was when I figured out something even as simple as using a slightly different quotation mark would affect how the code works. After that, I realized how important it was to check every single little thing in the code when there was an issue in trying to get something to work. Concerning that, trial and error has been very helpful in terms of finding solutions to problems or experimenting with different layouts or content. It’s been successful when trying various margin sizes or font sizes, for instance, then I can find the most effective one. The photos I have included in my portfolio reflect my skills and some of my personality, I believe that aspect was successful. However, I am struggling to choose more items and that is something I am going to need to continue brainstorming. Aesthetically and in terms of style, my portfolio page is not where I would like it to be. I would also change certain aspects of the layout, for example, the paragraphs and the lists. If I had more time, I would have kept experimenting with other ways it could have been formatted. However, this is something that I plan to change in the future. Also, I would like to change the fonts to something more consistent with each other, like the heading and header fonts to be similar stylistically to the paragraph and list fonts. Also, I want the colors and fonts to more accurately reflect the feeling I want the audience to experience when they visit my website. It’s not exactly on par with what I’m imagining, but in terms of figuring out the structure and getting comfortable with the language itself, it has been getting easier. I would like to spend more time brainstorming design ideas. As far as coding, it gets a little bit easier each time as long I keep up with it.
• Reflection 2: The choices I made in my design persona seemed like they would convey a simple yet confident approach. The effect was quite the opposite, it looked sort of childish and unlike myself. I thought the lavender would produce a pleasant kind of feeling but I think it takes away from the confidence I want to portray. The font used for the paragraphs, Roboto Slab, and the font used for the header, Lora, do not necessarily convey the kind of professionalism I am aiming for. I wish to make changes to these and use other Serif fonts. I realized the very rounded serifs do not express a polished appearance. I would like my name in the header to appear in a kind of bold and self-assured manner. I am considering using a sans-serif font for my name in the header because it's minimalist but still has a confident vibe. I am not a fan of the Roboto Slab font either. At first glance, I thought it was friendly and easy to read. However, now looking at it, it looks a bit silly and childish. I’m not sure why it produced that effect, so I am going to experiment with other fonts that convey a legible and professional look. For the headings above my portfolio items, I chose a bolded Roboto Serif font, however, I do not like this font too much either. I chose this font because I thought it would look bold above my photos and make them stand out, but it’s honestly just kind of ugly on the page. As far as colors go, I know I do not want to stick with the lavender background. I want my portfolio images to pop, which does not happen with lavender as the background color. I plan to experiment with different background colors and perhaps use lavender as an accent color. However, it is kind of difficult to think of what would look best, because I feel like neutral colors like black, brown, or beige could be boring. I want my portfolio page to feel original yet professional, so I hope the changes I end up making will align with those themes.

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