Studying Abroad

I wish I actually could.

But, I was able to make up for that by being able to fully indulge in living vicariously through other students as we built a Study Abroad website for Seattle Pacific University.

This was probably the largest project I worked from start to finish with our team on.

SPU had next to nothing on the web for studying abroad, but when the President announced that a Study Abroad site was on his top list of things to complete in the next year we were suddenly freed to hold off on other projects and hammer out something really good.

We began with a research and brainstorming phase. Ciara and I scoured the world wide web for study abroad sites-- both independent and connected to universities. We took note of what was being offered as far as imagery, interaction, and information. What questions were most sites seeking to answer? What information did they see as being primary?--locations? course offerings? price?

We also talked with current and past SPU students who had either been on a study abroad or had thought about studying abroad at one point. We took note of what information they identified as being their primary concerns, and what information enticed them toward one study abroad program over another.

In gathering our data, we found that students were drawn in by imagery that not only depicted the area, but the actual trip they would be on. They were most interested in: where the trips went, when they went, how much they cost (and if there was aid), what they would study/do and how to apply.

Secondarily, they were interested in who would be teaching on the trips, personal student stories,and interesting location facts. Only once they committed to a trip would they be interested in reading about money exchange, obtaining a visa, and culture shock etc.

We took all of this into consideration when building our site. We wanted students to have easy access to the information that was most important to them. We also wanted them to encounter beautiful imagery that would give them dreams of studying abroad :)

On the Study Abroad index page, students can browse through the programs by location, or choose to search from a program that is specific to a quarter or a study discipline. Overhead, students can see upcoming deadlines, what trip is currently underway, and a highlighted student story.

Once a student clicks on a location they can browse the specifics of that program-- they can see expenses, the syllabus or itinerary, photos from past trips, and upcoming deadlines. If they'd like, they can download the application right there.
If students are looking to just sample each of the programs, they can read student stories, check out the weather in that area, or get a sneak peak at it through the interactive google map.

It was a long process from beginning to end, but a thoroughly satisfying one.
We were just told that our site recently won a regional silver award!

Response: Learning the Ropes

My first assignment ever in the UC Web department was to help Bryan (my boss) and Ciara (my fellow intern) to put Response online.

Since then, I've been helping to put Response up every time a new issue is printed.

This was a great task to be "thrown into the water" with since it gave me a chance to interact with code on the back-end of the pages and see how everything was called. I had not only never written my code before getting my job in UC, I had never seen code. So, to be able to learn simple things like "a href" will let me link something and "em" will italicize something, was a huge step forward.

Most of my involvement that first time around was limited to cropping images, dropping in text (between already existent "p" tags) and linking items.

Besides giving me my first glimpse and interaction with code, this also helped me to become accustomed to how files were named and organized on our server, and get comfortable using Transmit (our FTP of choice).

That was almost a year ago (April of 2008).
This last issue, Ciara and I put the issue online almost exclusively by ourselves.

Check out the latest version of Response.

Typophile

One of the things I love about the web is the infinite number of resources at your fingertips.

I'm excited about a site that I just ran across today: typophile.com

It looks like it might be both a clever and useful resource on typography.
You can present your questions about type identification in forums, take an interactive course on Typography 101, read up on the latest Typography books or news, and even have type small talk generated for you. Clever.

But, I think the beauty of it is that Typophile takes full advantage of the ways in which web differs from print while balancing the demands of a print aesthetic. If you're going to a site that's about Type...you want to see type used well. And, Typophile pulls it off.

Kudos.

am I taller yet?

As a Web Design Intern with University Communications at SPU, everyday in the office is a crazy and full one.
So, I created this blog with the hope of using it as a record of the projects that I've worked on, a place to post links to and images of things that inspire me, and basically as a way to help me see just how far I've come.

It actually reminds me of those secret places in kid's rooms (on a wall, in a closet, on the door frame) where they fervently mark off how much they've grown each day.

So, let these be my fervent marks and my record of growth.