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STA Blog

Week 11/13 – 11/17

November 13, 2023 By Marissa Devivar

More Summer Marketing…

Tuition Guide: Changed the year, added new classes offered, removed unique #s, and moved the “last updated…” We want to possibly add “Registration begins April 8th” and “summer.utexas.edu”

Summer Course Banner: Still in the brainstorming stage, but leaning toward this layout:

Filed Under: Fall 2023 - Spring 2024, We are STAs

Advanced Figma Design Research

November 13, 2023 By Carrie Wang

Advanced Figma Design Research

Start: Oct 20th, 2023

To be Completed: N/A

Staff Guidance: De’sha

Project Description: I would create a new Figma tutorial based on Figma’s new feature and dive deep into how Figma can help designer/Web Dev to create digital prototype. In this tutorial, I would touch upon advanced Interaction flow inside Figma and  variables for designers, dev mode for the collaboration with designers and web developers, and other small features such as Design Theme, Auto Layout and etc.

Dev Mode

Dev Mode is a way to interact with Figma files, specifically designed with developers in mind. This mode is a way to reduce the friction in design handoff and allow for better communication and design implementation. You can toggle Dev mode on the right hand side of the top navigation or use the shortcut Shift + D

For Developers:
  • The separate dev top is more easily find the information you yo start building
  • This mode allows to connect your own toolkits
  • See what’s changed since they were last in the file and what’s ready for to be built
For Designers:
  • Easily add structure to the infinite canvas to streamline the design handoff
  • Keep design and code in sync without additional redlines or annotation

I find official document that introduce dev mode in the official website of Figma but there are repetitive steps repetitive and unclear description. I filter out some steps that we won’t use and create this tutorial to boost the collaboration between developers and designers.

Variables

Variables are reusable definitions, like styles, that can be assigned to various design attributes like color, numbers, and strings. However, unlike styles, variables can switch between definitions depending on the theme that is applied.
Variables can store the following values:
  1. Colors — use for fills & strokes
  2. String — apply for text layers
  3. Number — use for spacing, size, text layers & corner radius
  4. Boolean — true/false values for layer visibility of variant instances

For this tutorial I didn’t reply on the official document of the feature but create some of my own example in Figma.

Filed Under: Fall 2023 - Spring 2024, We are STAs

Week 9 (10/23 – 10/27)

November 13, 2023 By Adriana Hermoza

10.1 Physical Health

Start: October 27, 2023

Completed by: December 8, 2023

Staff Guidance: Leilani & Yazz

Client: UTFC

Description: I was assigned to the 10.1 Physical Health image tracking where I look for images for the provided vocabulary list to later use in a presentation. This time I had to browse for images in pexels, pixabay, or unsplash that matched the vocabulary word given for the theme of physical health.

 

After getting the google sheets reviewed, I created the powerpoint and made edits along the way.

Filed Under: Fall 2023 - Spring 2024

Week 10 (10/30 – 11/3)

November 13, 2023 By Adriana Hermoza

Fall 2023 GRG Flyer – Event

Start: October 31, 2023

To be Completed by: November 7, 2023

Staff Guidance: De’sha, Leilani

Description: A client requested for a flyer to be made for an event that was to take place on November 1oth. They asked for a horizontal and vertical design and to include the important information from the file they provided. In terms of the overall design, the style should follow and be consistent with the other GRG assets such as the font and design. These were the first iterations of the flyer where I included all the information given and tried out a black and orange color scheme.

After debriefing with De’sha and Leilani, a different route was taken where the design was more organic and included brighter colors, resulting in the following iterations. The orange was still used to highlight either the photos or important information. Some challenges that I encountered were the ample negative space and information’s organization. Specially in the vertical tan version, I added the other paragraph to fill more space and make it look even.

 


 

Basic Training: Web Accessibility Standards

Start: November 1, 2023

To be Completed By: N/A

Staff Guidance: Carrie

Description: Through the training I learned about the guidelines, strategies and implementation to incorporate accessibility, as well as the importance alt text and when and how to add it. Once I finished the training, I was given the task of improving a site’s accessibility of my choosing. Using Figma, I decided to retouch the craiglist website. I noted that the overall layout included too much text and became overwhelming, so I decide to add some images to better represent each category and make it more visually appealing but still easy to navigate. I took inspiration from websites such as etsy, pinterest, and macy’s. Since Craiglist is an advertisement website, I thought including a banner showcasing the latest or most popular deals at the moment would be beneficial in letting users know about the services craiglist offers.

 

Basic Training: How to Create Flashcards

Start: 11/7/13

Completed by:

Description: In this training I was tasked with created a set of five flashcards in photoshop about the theme of my choosing. I chose the animal theme and looked for three icons, from the noun project website, for the each animal: bird, bunny, fish, cat, dog. From this training I got more familiar with photoshop, layer cropping, organization, exporting, and visual representation. The languages I used were: hungarian, quetchua, japanese, swedish, and greek.

Once the flashcards were ready, I exported them and created a MetaSlider in WordPress:

Dog Logo:

Zahroe from the Noun Project

Christiano Zucas from the Noun Project

Hayashi Fumihiro from the Noun Project

Cat Logo:

Minh Do from the Noun Project

Sewon Park from the Noun Project

Andreas Reich from the Noun Project

Fish Logo:

Matt Hawdon from the Noun Project

Vectors Market from the Noun Project

Alex Muravev from the Noun Project

Bunny Logo:

Mary Rankin from the Noun Project

Laymik from the Noun Project

Coby Graphics from the Noun Project

Bird Logo:

Andy Mc from the Noun Project

Ben Didier from the Noun Project

Icons Producer from the Noun Project

Filed Under: Fall 2023 - Spring 2024

MEZ Map

November 13, 2023 By Carrie Wang

MEZ Map

Start: Noc 9th, 2023

To be Completed: N/A

Staff Guidance: De’sha

Client: Mike/LAITS

Project Description:  Map created for the MEZ building, which the overall design should match the previously created Burdine map.

I finished the first draft of the campus map, indicating the MEZ hall on the campus by highligthing with bright orange. I also drew the floor plan for the first floor inside the MEZ hall.

After Thanksgiving break, I added on the label for room tour and parking slot for the visitors. Meanwhile, I integrated two assets into my spread so that all visitors could refer to this map to find our studio,

However, De’sha and I soon realized that the indication of office/studio is not that noticeable when the room is color-coded similarity. We noticed the wayfinding panel on the fourth floor and get inspired to only color code the destination.

We also found that it’ll be helpful to emphasize all entrance by added the 1st floor map/entrance on a 2rd floor map. The stairs could be identified as one possible entrance and therefore color-coded as grey.

Final Iteration

Filed Under: Fall 2023 - Spring 2024, We are STAs

November 13, 2023

November 13, 2023 By Leilani Cabello

Project Updates

Project: TBD Logo Update
Notes: Building a logo within a couple of hours, particularly with minimal design direction and reliance on a reference for direct inspiration, demanded a unique approach that balanced creativity with efficiency with this specific project. Luckily, I had a reference that served as a blueprint, offering a clear visual guide for structure and style. I experimented with different color schemes that were in relation to the site I was also building for this project. The client mentioned wanting to have color in the logo so I stuck with a color scheme that revolved around a blue color. Ultimately, I ended up choosing a logo that utilized one color, yet I believe this choice shows professionalism and something modern without appearing too convoluted.

Project: UTFC Green Screen
Notes: I worked on a UTCF green screen assignment I created myself. This sheet focused on anatomy and health vocabulary terms in French.

 

Project: UTFC Banner Redesign
Notes: I used some extra time in my shift to develop a redesign for the UTCF Banner. I discussed with a fellow STA, Princeton Tran, that the current banner appears outdated and difficult to read. How will students register what the city landmarks are if they are just introduced to the city? Another focus of this direction was to create a more efficient way to develop these deliverables. Using one image instead of three seems to be more cost and time effective as well. Below I made some iterations of some possible redesigns.

 

Project: Giving Feedback as a Project Manager/Art Director in Training
Notes: 

Filed Under: Fall 2023 - Spring 2024, We are STAs

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