Category Archives: Websites

SquareSpace

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SquareSpace

squarespace logo-1

ABOUT:

SquareSpace is an easy-to-use web building platform that features lots of different templates, and types of pages. You can use it for free, or pay for a subscription and have your own .com. People use SquareSpace to build online stores, digital portfolios, or to showcase art and other projects. SquareSpace is largely drag-and-drop, it allows easy embedding, and upkeep. SquareSpace websites tend to look clean and professional.

Supported

PC, Mac, tablet, mobile

Pros

  • Looks very professional without a lot of effort
  • Relatively easy to use and maintain
  • Lots of colorful modifiable templates

Cons

  • Does require some learning – you may need to take a short tutorial
  • Free application has much fewer options
  • Some features cannot be changed or manipulated

EXAMPLES

Below is a student website from a SCAD student:

squarespace-example-1

Uses

You can use a website for anything – and it’s no different when you’re using a SquareSpace website. Build your portfolio, use it to present work to your professors, keep a blog here, or showcase your projects — if you can imagine using a website for it, you can probably pull it off here. And it’s more and more normal to have your own .com.

GSU Blogs

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GSU Blogs

sites-gsu

ABOUT:

GSU blogs are a space you already have assigned to you as a GSU student. They are designed to be used for any purpose you might use a blog. You can keep a blog about anything, school related or not. You could use it to present for classes, or you could build a simple website. It all depends on the template you choose.

Supported

Mac, PC

Pros

  • Multi-Use tool
  • Easy to use and maintain once you get the hang of it
  • You can change the whole look of your site just by changing the template

Cons

  • It takes a long time to design your blog or website, and this can be a difficult experience for new users.
  • Some template themes will allow certain actions, while others will not – or will ask for them to be performed differently. This can be confusing and frustrating.

EXAMPLES

Below are some GSU blogs run by students belonging to the Student Innovation Fellowship – the program that supports this wiki. Click on the picture to visit the full site.

Dylans_blog

This is a blog roll of several blogs. From here you can explore over 20 blogs.

Dylans_blo-2

This blog belongs to a graduate student working for the SIF program.

 

 

This blog belongs to an undergraduate SIF student

This blog belongs to an undergraduate SIF student

Uses

 

Blogs can be used for any number of projects. A blog can be built to look like a website, or to keep a log of content like the example above.

You may be asked to keep a blog for a class, or you may elect to use the blog application to showcase a project, or keep your own personal record of your learning. The blog is only as limited as your imagination.

Strikingly

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Strikingly

strikingly logo

ABOUT:

Strikingly is a web building application that relies on scrolling as its main draw. That is – strikingly does not allow you to build your website as more than one page, though you can link out to other items easily and as often as you like. Strikingly is a drag and drop platform that is easy if you can’t code, but can be frustrating if you rely on coding to allow you to manipulate templates.

Supported

PC, Mac

Pros

  • Very easy drag-and-drop/WYSIWYG platform that requires no coding
  • Provides a clean, copyright friendly backdrop that is in trend
  • Looks great across devices

Cons

  • You are stuck with the template. If you want to code to manipulate it, you must upgrade.
  • If you want more than one long page, you can’t have it. This is your only option.

EXAMPLES:

Below are two kinds of strikingly websites. Click on the picture to go to the full site.

This first one is a very simple sports photography portfolio:

strikingly-example-1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This next one is a professional digital portfolio that is clean, yet thorough:

strikingly-example-2

Uses:

You could use strikingly in a variety of ways. You could use it in an art class to showcase visual work, or build a website that presents a complex concept. Or like George Clark III, you could use it to host a portfolio for your major requirements. Anything that you could use a website for – strikingly will likely be a good fit.

Adobe Photoshop

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Adobe Photoshop

logo-photoshop

ABOUT:

Adobe Photoshop  is the industry standard for photo editing and manipulation. It is by far the most featured out of all the Adobe products, and contains tools to do just about everything with any type of image. Adobe provides wide-span use of Photoshop in mobile, tablet, and desktop PCs and Macs. A wide variety of tutorials can be found anywhere on the Internet to make presentation media seem professional, creative, and expressive.

Supported

PC, Mac, tablet, and smartphones

Pros

  • Edit any image of any type to produce quality images
  • Variety of features
  • Industry Standard
  • Integration with the rest of the Adobe Suite

Cons

  • Advanced techniques are somewhat hard to use
  • Pixels (Photoshop is raster software) are difficult to work with sometimes
  • There is a learning curve – you will likely need tutorials to learn Photoshop.

Examples

Tablet to PC integration is a very useful Photoshop feature for any inspiration to follow your way.

Uses

Most uses of Photoshop include assets for web design, image manipulation for flyers, posters, and other types of paper media, and fixing up images in post-processing for photography. Note that Adobe Lightroom is commonly used with Photoshop to achieve dynamic lighting situations, and is included in the purchase of the CC version of Photoshop from Adobe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adobe After Effects

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Adobe After Effects

logo-1zpnhzy-300x300

ABOUT:

Adobe After Effects is the professional standard for video composing software. It can add elements already present in video or make up elements from shapes to create motion graphics. Using After Effects can change standard footage from ordinary to amazing with a little know-how.

Supported

Mac, PC

Pros

  • Add anything you want in videos
  • Use to create elaborate animations and website assets
  • Input other files from the Adobe Suite and animate them

Cons

  • High Learning curve, but there are numerous tutorials
  • Cannot use some older version files/ Backwards Incompatibility

Examples

3D elements are advanced workflows that includes After Effects. Check out the example below to see what After Effects can do for a video.

Uses

Adobe After Effects is mainly used for the purpose of creating assets for video and web. With the Internet moving Flash to HTML5, Adobe has included new tools for the integration of video into the web. However, After Effects is mainly used to add new objects to video mainly for film and tv, including motion graphics and general video-making.

 

 

 

 

 

Dreamweaver

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Dreamweaver

ABOUT:

Dreamweaver is a unique website building suite with all of the new web-building technologies like HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, SQL, and many more. Dreamweaver also provides tools for porting to mobile and tablet design. It provides starter templates so websites don’t have to built from scratch. No coding experience is required for using Dreamweaver, but options are available if you wish to take the next step. Dreamweaver is part of the Adobe Suite.

Supported

Supported on Mac and PC. Due to intensive memory usage, it is not recommend for using on tablets or phones.

Pros

  • Great tools for easy website building
  • Advanced steps for coding are there if you ever want to drop in
  • Integration with the entire Adobe Suite for easy file transfer between programs
  • Live View features create easy workflow

Cons

  • No edit in Live View
  • Cannot include reactive web templates without CSS
  • Steep learning curve

Examples

A screenshot of Dreamweaver at work.

Uses

Dreamweaver’s main uses are for web development, but it is easy to use for anyone interested in creating dynamic and responsive web design very quickly. It’s wide base for integration with other technologies other than HTML/CSS/JS make it one of the best hybridization tools for computers today. Use Dreamweaver for any project that includes web integration and stop by CURVE for consultation services or visit the Digital Aquarium website for Dreamweaver classes.

 

 

 

Weebly

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Weebly

WeeblyScreenShot

ABOUT:

Weebly is a surprisingly easy way to create a unique website, blog or online store. It is a drag-and-drop system that allows you to chose from many templates, and plugins that will help you create your page. You can import images, video, and text to help you create your project and capture your audience. It’s so easy, you can even do it on your phone.

Supported

PC, Mac, Mobile

Pros

  • The drag and drop dashboard is so easy, even a first time web builder can do it, with no tutorial
  • The templates are versatile enough to create lots of types of sites
  • No coding needed. Ever.

Cons

  • Because of the ease of Weebly, it has less of a professional feel than many other site builders.
  • Because there is no coding involved, you are stuck with the offerings on Weebly

EXAMPLES

There are several examples of Weebly website online. Click on the image below to see a page where you can click on a bunch of different student examples:

taken from http://wefed.weebly.com/student-sites.html

Uses

You can use Weebly to complete several kinds of projects. It is a great place to keep a class blog, or to create a website for a presentation, or a digital portfolio.

WordPress

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WordPress

Taken from: http://www.sixsix8.com/2011/02/hi-resolution-social-media-logos/

ABOUT:

Many people use WordPress as either a blogging site, or a website. This is because WordPress is versatile and has many features to chose from, both free, and for a charge. First, the user must chose a ‘theme’ which makes up the look and feel of the blog site. The user must then clear the WordPress settings, like the “Hello World!” post that comes with each new site. Once you have chosen a theme and written the first post, there are a number of options you have, each specific to the theme you have chosen, including but not limited to – video streaming, media hosting, static pages, menus, and a variety of widget and plugins to enhance your site.

Supported

Mac, PC, Mobile, Tablet

Pros

  • Multi-Use tool
  • Easy to use and maintain once you get the hang of it
  • One user may host over 10 blogs using the same login

Cons

  • It takes a long time to design your blog or website, and this can be a difficult experience for new users.
  • Some themes will allow certain actions, while others will not – or will ask for them to be performed differently. This can be confusing and frustrating.

EXAMPLES

This blog won an award in 2012 for best student blog. Consider the layout, color choice and content arrangement as you look through the example. Click on the image below to be taken to the full site:

WordPress-2

 

Uses

Blogs can be used for any number of projects. A blog can be built to look like a website, or to keep a log of content like the example above.

You may be asked to keep a blog for a class, or you may elect to use the blog application to showcase a project, or keep your own personal record of your learning. The blog is only as limited as your imagination.