STA Blog

Week XL

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Week XL

Another slow week, assorted small tasks.

STA Bio

I don’t have much to say on this, a self-explanatory fun assignment, but I guess this cements the fact that a grainy noise texture is one of my trademarks now. It just makes everything feel so much more earthy and retro! Like it’s flickering on a vintage monitor or printed on a cheap zine.

HIS 315L – The United States Since 1865

Just a simple text update again, though I spent most of it on a scavenger hunt for the editables. Turns out they were embedded in the Basecamp comments, not any of the Box links also found in the Basecamp comments. Another reminder to please keep your files organized!

Health Transformation Research Institute Statistical Literacy – RAZ

We’re still in the pregame phase, but we’re doing some planning for the powerpoints and some assigned reading:

https://www.brightcarbon.com/blog/presentation-design-principles-better-powerpoint-design/

Notes from the discussion:

  • The ways to break up bullet points into grids and dividing lines were most interesting. However, I feel like it will be hard to predict what we can do for RAZ until we know the exact volume and consistency of the slide content.
  • Consistency has been an issue in the past – I’ve sunk lots of time into adapting a powerpoint format for one unique slide after another.

And some of Rachel’s:

  • Depending on the kind of content Raz wants, we will probably need a style guide. If we make assets in illustrator, we can make a style guide like we did for AFR.
  • A lot of clients tend to send a lot of text and want us to fit them into the slide. I’m not sure if this will be the case, but there’s been some issues where the amount of text for a specific slide doesn’t go well with the general powerpoint format. I think flexibility to divide things up into more slides may help with this
  • A powerpoint template for various different slides should also probably save a lot of time, but once again sometimes it can still be tedious if specific slides don’t fit the template
  • Images are sometimes sent that are not the same aspect ratio but need to be on the same slide – depending on this particular content, we can probably find a work around or ask for a replacement

Intermediate Training: Brochures

So long, InDesign! I’m back to Illustrator for this one. The training itself is very straightforward, with few hints as to the anatomy of a brochure, so I started simple.

However, I found myself wondering what the heck does go on the back of a brochure, and in reading some google results, I decided to try and copy a sleeker format found in one example.

I’m sticking to the futura, and faded palette, but I’m not entirely sure how to balance everything visually. This one will take a lot of fiddling, but it’s a skill I need to get better at.

Welcome to the STA Blog!

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Hi Louisa! 🙂 Welcome to the STA Blog! This the page where your blog posts will published.
Toward the end of your STA Orientation, you’ll design and upload a banner to go at the top of this page.

Upload a Blog Banner

Step One: Design Your Banner in Photoshop

Use these Photoshop specs when you’re making your banner:

  • Your banner should be 780 pixels wide (the height doesn’t matter)
    • Must include your name, your major, and your expected graduation year
    • Your banner should reflect who you are (your personality, interests or major)
    • Make sure to save your banner for the web (i.e. File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy))
    • If you save your banner as a JPG, make sure sure the quality is high (i.e. at least 60)

Step Two: Save Your Banner

  • There are two places you can save your completed projects: UT Box and the LAITS server. You’ll be given a personal folder in both locations. For now, you only have to save your banner to UT Box, but you may have to access the server at some point in the future.

Accessing UT Box

Accessing the LAITS server

  • Accessing the LAITS server from off-campus is slightly more complicated.
    • You’ll need to be registered with Duo if you aren’t already (you can register here).
    • Then you’ll need to connect to the UT VPN and the LAITS server. The videos below will walk you through how to do that:
    •  Then navigate to your STA volume folder and save
      • smb://file.laits.utexas.edu/sta/Luisa Matzner
    • Save your banner both as an image and an unmerged PSD

Step Three: Upload Your Banner to the STA Blog

  • Log in the the STA Blog here.  You should’ve received an email confirming your new WordPress account with your username and assigned password. If didn’t get it or you can’t log in, ask Suloni or another STA.
  • You’ll be able to change your password anytime by going to Users > Your Profile > Account Management > New Password.

Uploading media and banners in WP

  • Read these links before you upload your banner.
  • They will walk you through how to upload media to your blog.

How to Upload a Homepage Banner

Adding New Posts and Media

Make Your First Blog post

  • Reflect on the day. You blog posts will be a documented experience of your time as an STA with LAITS. They can include anything you want to share about the projects you’re working on, and the more media (screenshots, images, links, videos, gifs) you can use, the better.
  • For today, write a bit about about yourself and what you did during orientation.
  • If you haven’t already, upload your banner.

Things to Remember

Image Specs

  • You should never copy and paste images intoto your blog. Always upload images into the media section of blog first (Click on the add media button), then insert the image from the media folder to display on your blog.
  • Don’t use the thumbnail version of your images.
  • Use images that are 72 dpi
  • Screenshots are fine
  • Images that are 780 pix wide format nicely above or below text blocks

Always Categorize Your Posts

  • Always check the category “2019 Fall-Winter | Spring-Summer 2020” on the blog posts you make this summer. This is the only category you need to check.
  • Make sure your posts are categorized correctly so that all of your work is documented in the correct semesters.

Commenting on Basecamp

Notification comments: etiquette, files, questions, feedback

Let us know when you’ve completed this task by adding a link to your blog to a comment in Basecamp.
Notes for all comments in Basecamp:
  • *Always address the person/people you are writing to by their names.
  • *Always use complete sentences.
  • *Always add links or paths to your design file in your STA folder.
  • *Make it easier for your collaborators and mentors to give you feedback on a design by adding screenshots to your comment.

 

Notify people in Basecamp by adding the @ symbol before their names (no spaces), otherwise they may not see your comment.

@ your STA mentor and Suloni in your comments when you want to:

  • ask us questions about the mechanics of using the STA blog,
  • about the mechanics of photoshop,
  • to let us know that you have completed this task,
  • or that you would like a little feedback on on your banner design 🙂

Thank you & have fun!