30536a - Progress Challenge 01

30536a - Progress challenge 1

By Colleen Sedgwick

Design

Read the project outline for this unit (Assessment 1). The project asks you to design and build a website called TheGourmetCyclist.com.au. After reading the document, make sure you understand the scenario, client and target audience.

Start by doing some background research and initial design work, such as thumbnail sketches. Consider which authoring tools might be suitable for the project.

TIP: Navigate to the student forum to engage in the discussion with your peers: TheGourmetCyclist.com.au

NOTE: : You will need to refer to this case study in Progress Challenges 1-3, which form the basis of your submission in Assessment 1.

You have been engaged by a regional council to promote tourism in their area. They hope to capture a market of people interested in trying gourmet food and wine in a rural setting.

Their research has indicated a growing number of people in this category are also interested in cycling.

Their concept is to provide information via a website to attract people to do short cycling tours through country towns. This would typically be through quiet country roads in wine and farm regions where the terrain is flat. Visitors stop along the way to sample local produce and stay at B&Bs.

The council would like the site to be called TheGourmetCyclist.com.au and have registered a domain name. The site will stand-alone and is not connected with the council site.

The council would like you to design and build the website starting with the home page (index.html) and one destination town (bright.html).

Your pages should engage and attract the audience. On the home page will be a link to the first destination, bright.html. The destination page will be used as a prototype. When it is tested and working it will be converted into a template and used to create two other destinations in the same layout. The client has supplied some photos of Bright, which you are free to use.

This forum is for discussion on - Progress Challenge 1: Design[1]

Having read the scenario (Appendix A)[2], do some background research about the possible target audience. Investigate gourmet travel, cycling holidays and the region around Bright, which is in North East Victoria. Begin to collate a folder of information that may help you.

Design a layout for the homepage and the Bright destination page, using sound design principles. You may start your designs on paper as roughs and then work them up using Photoshop or a similar product to lay them out.

Locate content. For imagery, you may use the client’s supplied photos in the file (bright_photos.zip), or source other royalty free images and artwork.  Write your own text from your research (do not copy and paste it from other sites).

Submit the designs of the Home and Destination pages for approval.

Design constraints:

Design should be for a Desktop computer approx. 1000px wide. The design may be fixed to this size or liquid. You can source your own imagery, video or others assets but copyrighted materials should not be used. Write meaningful content.

Answer

For the first page, I named it GourmetCyclist.com/index and for the second one, I named it GourmetCyclist.com/Bright

Here is my information about Bright:

It is a location in the Victorian High Country region[3], and has many great places to eat, as well as scenic walks and bicycle tracks.

Figure 1: Map of Bright - http://www.visitvictoria.com/regions/High-Country/Travel-information/Visitor-information-centres/Bright-Visitors-Centre-and-Booking-Service.aspx

Likely competitors with cycling in this region:

v     Bright Electric Bikes[4];

v     Beauty and the Bike[5];

v     Cycle path (Bright Bike Shop)[6];

Other facts about Bright and cycling include the different rides[7]:

v     Gapsted to Bright.

v     Mountain biking;

v     Recreational riding;

v     Road riding;

v     The 7 Peaks Ride

The various events that are happening: the Audax Alpine Classic, the Peaks Challenge and the Junior Mountain Cycling Championship.

Moreover, if you do not wish to cycle the whole time, there are many other activities in the High Country – scenic lookouts, camping, National Parks and Reserves, walking and Hiking[8].

There are also many opportunities to sample the cuisine[9]: Bright Brewery, Alpine Cellars, Restaurants and places to eat, including Bright Chocolate[10].

I have added a mock-up first to Open Colleges Discussion forum and received some positive feedback from my trainer, Wendy Campbell.  She stated that a ‘hero’ image and more content would ‘lift the image’ of the design[11].  Here is how it looked when done in Illustrator.

I then did the two pages, the index page and the Bright page.  This is how they will looked when I designed them using Dreamweaver.  The Bright page has more text because I was able to research my information on Bright.  I feel I could add more information to the Home (index) page after doing more research on some other destinations.  I chose the fonts (Rockwell) and colours because I felt they would add a rustic air to the pages.

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[1] Open Colleges – Open Space Forum (2015): Study Period 6, Module 2, Progress Challenge 1, in https://learning.opencolleges.edu.au/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=90737#p344169; accessed Thursday, 17 November 2016

[2] Commonwealth of Australia (2012): Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Australia License – Learning Usability Standards Checklist in  Open Colleges (2016): D0105 Diploma of Graphic Design, Study Period 6 Resources, in https://learning.opencolleges.edu.au/mod/equella/view.php?id=82355;  

[3] Bright Escapes (2016): Home page, http://www.brightescapes.com.au/;

[4] Bright Electric Bikes (2016): Home page, http://www.brightelectricbikes.com.au/; see also Visit Victoria (2016): Things to do – Bright Electric Bikes – Hire, Sales, and Tours, http://www.visitvictoria.com/regions/HighCountry/Things-to-do/outdoor-activities/cycling/Bright-Electric-Bikes-Hire-Sales-and-Tours.aspx;

[5] Bright Escapes (2016): Beauty and the Bike, http://www.brightescapes.com.au/beauty-the-bike.aspx;

[6] Cycle Path (2016): Bright Bike Shop | Hire Bike | Hire Bicycle Bright; http://www.cyclepath.com.au/; see also Bright Victoria (2016): Retail Tours and Services – Cycle Path, http://www.brightvictoria.com.au/retail-tours-and-services/cyclepath-bright.aspx;

[7] Visit Victoria (2016): Things to do, Outdoor activities, Cycling; http://www.visitvictoria.com/Regions/High-Country/Things-to-do/Outdoor-activities/Cycling;

[8] Bright Victoria (2016): See and Do, http://www.brightvictoria.com.au/see-do.aspx;

[9] Bright Victoria (2016): Food, Wine and Beer, http://www.brightvictoria.com.au/food-wine-beer.aspx;

[10] Bright Chocolate (2016): Home page, http://www.brightchocolate.com.au;

[11] Open Colleges Australia (2016): D0105 Diploma of Graphic Design Discussion Forum, in https://learning.opencolleges.edu.au/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=90737#p344177;