Recap Capstone Project

This semester has been one of the hardest. So many projects due in such a little time. I feel that I learn a lot from this semester though. It's a good preparation for the coming semester. I have been gathering information for this project for the past two semester and I am ready to put all the contents, and images and start building the website.

This semester, I have been doing a lot of research on how to create a CMS. I feel i've gathered enough information to actually start building and setting up the database. The database is where the information for each of the section such as "Where to go" and "history" is stored and by doing this the website will be easy to update in the future.

I will be creating the website using Flash CS4 for desktop computers and I will be using Javascript, CSS and HTML for smart phones such as blackberry and the iPhone. The goal is also to make sure both design and style for  mobile and desktop versions are consistent. The mobile phone version of the website will not include any database but instead every page will be static.

There will also be a slight change on the website layout. After posting the image online so my friends and other network are able to see it, i received some feedback about the layout. Majority of my friends said "it looks awesome!" some suggested to add some light colors for accents.

This summer, I will start working on the CMS part and finalizing the design of the website so for my final semester I will be fine tuning the capstone project.

iPhone version of the Website

New Layout

iPhone version of the website coming soon.......

Spring Break..

Spent most of my time catching up on homework during Spring Break. The entire week was nice, sunny and somewhat warmer. On Thursday (March 18, 2010), since it was the nicest day we've had so far with temperatures around 65 degrees, I've decided to take advantage of the weather to take more photos of different districts in Indianapolis.

CANAL

I've never been to the canal before. I've seen it and i've passed through it many times but I've never actually explore the canal walk. When I was walking around the area, it almost felt like I am not in Indianapolis because i'm not used to seeing downtown from this perspective. I had a great time, I found out that it was very close to IUPUI too. I am definitely going back to explore and hope to get a good shot at night time also. 

Here are some of the pics.

I will definitely add some of the pictures i've taken to the website.

FOUNTAIN SQUARE

I've been at the Fountain Square before but I am just not very familiar with the area. I've looked at the map to find where the main avenue but it seems like I couldn't find it. I've decided to stop and parked my car a block away from the fountain. I took some pictures of the fountain and explore around the area. I found a very interesting museum. It's  the Indianapolis Museum of Modern Art. It was a great find! The arts are amazing and made locally. I took some pictures and I was allowed even with flash! I must come back to the fountain square at night to see what it has to offer.

CIRCLE CENTER...

is, I feel, the most popular place for tourist to visit in Indianapolis. It's in the Center of the city located close to businesses, hotels, and the convention center. I think it's also appropriate to take some pictures of circle center to include in Indianapolis Website gallery.

I had a good and productive day. I learn more about the districts I visited. Another accomplishment was I finally found a digital HD camera so I can shoot videos and interview people that will be included on the website. The layout is not final yet, and I am still currently working on more designs.

Layout for the Website

It seems like my creative side isn't working correctly for the past week :( Here's what I have so far as a layout for the website.

First version, seems a little boring but I like the idea of the skyline as a header

The second version seems a little busy. I love the header. The gallery area where all the images are, I think is too busy need more work to do on that side. I'm not feeling the news area which is at bottom before the footer. I think the footer looks great.

... cultural trail

I've been doing my research on cultural trails in Indianapolis and once the trail is finish I can see that i'm going to be using it to walk my dogs.

I went to a blog website http://dig-b.blogspot.com/ and Chris (the owner) has some really good information about indianapolis ongoing constructions.

I borrowed some pictures he had taken from the cultural trail during the construction process. I will be going this weekend and visit the same location this weekend and take some pictures.

Looking East on Walnut St. at Senate Ave.

Looking East at the Cultural Trail-standard lamp posts.

Looking East at the intersection with Roanoke St. (an alley).

Looking Southwest from the intersection of Walnut St. and Capitol Ave.

Looking West from the intersection of Walnut and Capitol (Zesco Restaurant Supply at left). The road bed here will be a shared vehicle and Cultural Trail space. An attempt will be made to discourage unnecessary vehicle traffic, but the businesses around this area require Walnut for truck access.

Looking east at the westbound vehicular lane of Walnut (American Legion Mall in the distance).

Looking east on North St. (the Murat Theatre is off the picture to the right).

A shot, the entrance to the alley connecting Mass Ave. to College Ave.

IMA

I went to Indianapolis Museum of Art today. I had two hours of free time that I was going to use to take more pictures of Indianapolis but since today turn out to be gloomy and cloudy day, I decided to go to IMA to get information about the museum.

Its been a long time since i've been to IMA and I always had good time looking through many different galleries from American to Asian and the contemporary designs. Looking through the galleries is surprisingly, very relaxing. I had couple of hours to look around and I took the entire time to browse the Museum.

Learning about the progress of arts is so cool if you think about it.
My personal field trip at the IMA is also an inspiration to my goal.

Initial Camera Test

Today I went to downtown Indianapolis and spent about four hours taking pictures. It was fun, I had a great time testing different settings on the camera. All in all I took over 150 pictures, usually duplicates of the same view but with different camera settings. It was great because it wasn't cloudy but it was so cold. I had to take a few minutes break inside Q'doba to get a bite then continue taking pictures. I wanted to take pictures during the night time also, and I thought the pictures came out pretty good.