Biography
Emma is skilled in the areas of design and social networking
marketing. She can execute designs, be it on promotional posters,
fliers, invitations, email banners or websites using a range of
multimedia programmes. Emma is experienced in and developing her
knowledge in web programming and authoring.
‘Mum’s the Word'
I’m expecting my first baby in December this year. I pondered for a
long time before deciding to continue my studies. As this is my fourth
and final year, it may prove more difficult that what I am anticipating
but after receiving positive moral support from my peers, in particular
other young mums that have had a similar previous experience, I felt a
lot more comfortable in returning to university. My experience has also
inspired an idea for a website for young mums pursuing/continuing their
education. The website will utilize Wordpress to create an interactive
blog for young mums to communicate their anxieties and give advice to
one another.
Pros
I will be able to develop my knowledge and skills in using Wordpress
Young mums/mums-to-be may find it easier to talk about their situation specifically with people of a similar age and in a familiar situation to theirs rather than visiting existing websites offering pregnancy/health advice to a broader target audience
Social networking sites are among, if not the most popular sites that are commonly used on a daily basis. As blogging is a form of social networking, the site could be a great success and used regularly
I will be able to develop my knowledge and skills in using Wordpress
Young mums/mums-to-be may find it easier to talk about their situation specifically with people of a similar age and in a familiar situation to theirs rather than visiting existing websites offering pregnancy/health advice to a broader target audience
Social networking sites are among, if not the most popular sites that are commonly used on a daily basis. As blogging is a form of social networking, the site could be a great success and used regularly
Cons
I’ve never created an interactive blog and this may be difficult
I will have to develop a professional understanding of Wordpress so I can make use of each tool to create my website
I’ve never created an interactive blog and this may be difficult
I will have to develop a professional understanding of Wordpress so I can make use of each tool to create my website
‘Look after the pennies...’
I have 5 years of working retail experience and a life-time of shopping experience. The current recession has lead to ad after ad on how to save money, comparison websites enabling us to compare the cost of insurance, utility bills and travel costs. After being bombarded with all of these advertisements I noticed a gap for a grocery price checker. There are several supermarkets who offer their own online price comparison tools such as Asda’s Price Guarantee. However none of them enable the user to check which supermarket would be cheaper to shop for their required groceries before going shopping. My idea is to create a grocery comparison site that allows the user to select the items regularly on their shopping list, and generates a total cost at each supermarket so they know which store will save them the most money. While these kinds of websites are currently available, you can only compare the cost of your shopping after buying the goods and entering your receipt details.
Pros
It would be a heavily used website as its objective is to save people money
There are sites that compare the cost of insurance, travel and so on but none that compares the cost of groceries unless you have already purchased your items
The site would require the use of SQL which I have very little knowledge of and this would be a great opportunity to learn it
Cons
For each store being compared on the site, I would have to gather prices for thousands of different products
Things such as ‘2 for 1’ and BOGOF deals couldn’t be included in the cost comparison as these are updated in supermarkets on a far too regular basis and would be extremely time consuming to gather that information
Having little knowledge in SQL would mean having to learn how to use it before constructing the site
‘Women Drivers’
The inspiration for this website came about after breaking down recently. The only people I called to rescue me were my Dad, Granddad and boyfriend – all male. I started thinking why didn’t I call my sister or any of my female friends? Would they have been able to help me had I called them? Therefore I came up with the idea to create a website designed specifically for women drivers. My proposal is to provide a flash based website, offering females mechanical hints and tips via video and animation. I want to design a comfortable online environment where women aren’t afraid to offer their own hints and tips as well as learning new ones. The site could include RSS feeds so women could actively and regularly update the site with they’re experiences, hints and tips. I think it would also be a good idea for the site to be converted and available as a mobile web version so it can be accessed in case of a minor emergency.
Pros
Provides a comfortable environment for women to learn how to maintain and fix a car
Using flash, videos and animations makes it a lot more interesting as opposed to paragraph after paragraph of text instructions. Visual aids also make it easier to understand
Live RSS feeds keep it fresh and interesting as there will always be something new to learn
Empowers women
Cons
Building a flash website will be time consuming
I’ve never had any experience on how to add RSS feeds to a website
Five Inspiring Websites
Bylaurenluke
After stumbling across Lauren Luke’s YouTube channel on make-up tutorials, I continued to follow her. She uploaded videos of make-up tutorials and eventually designed and copyrighted her own make-up brand, catchphrase and website. I have always liked a simple clean design which is exactly why I love Lauren’s site. The colour scheme and layout are also very aesthetically pleasing and I have used this website as inspiration for the design of emmaheatley.com which I am currently working on.
I tried not to include Facebook as one of my inspiring websites as it’s everywhere these days but it is a site that I use every day so has an obvious impact on me. I use it mainly to chat to friends and upload pictures but it offers a lot more. Its a dozen sites in one. It provides social networking in the form of a blog, live chat and private mailing. It’s a place to upload and store photos and videos, it offers news feeds, has its own gaming world and you can join networks and groups. I like the clean layout and find it very easy to use.
Google is another site I use on a daily basis. I use it to search everything. Nowadays everybody wants instant results at the click of a button and for web searches, and Google provides this. It’s fast, easy to use and I have never used any other search engine.
ASOS
I love the layout of ASOS (As Seen on Stars). I think the layout; colours and the presentation of the images are always really creative and make the site look very professional.
EBay
EBay’s’ presentation is not great but it’s very organised and so useful. I think the concept behind eBay is also very inspirational.
