Unfortunately, I was sick during the Vox staff meeting this week, but I did hear about the exciting new program that was presented to us called Mag+. Essentially, this software allows one to design an app in InDesign, using some restrictions, then transfer that over to an app without having to go through the tedious coding that is usually involved.
I have spent little time designing for the Web, and even less time trying to figure out application designs, but I think these two skills could make or break it for me in the job market. I really would like to be more aware of how to use programs like Flash and Dreamweaver, but I haven't had the free time to mess around with them myself and I haven't been in a situation where I was forced to learn them, yet. Working with the Web and application designs kind of intimidates me, but I really need to get over it. There's just no way around it, magazines are utilizing the Web as one of their primary tools to reach their audience. The audience expects journalists to be tech-savvy, so my chances of getting a job, in the very near future, will greatly improve if I can manage a little background information now.
I'm excited to start breaking into this field and working with online material to produce a portfolio-worthy media package. It's really great we have access to programs like Mag+ because it sounds like it will make doing all these things much easier for me, the designer.
One of the things I'm looking forward to in Advanced Mag Design is designing a portfolio site. I designed one for Advanced Newspaper Design, but I feel like we didn't really go over what makes a good portfolio site, and I think we'll be doing some of that this semester.
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