The concept for my project was to create a website that visually showcased poetry I had written. I wanted the style of each page to be inspired and influenced by a different poem, reflecting the story the words convey. I included drawn images, gifs, photographs, video and audio to help achieve this.
I wanted the homepage to be simple with multiple horizontal panels going all the way across the page, because this is something you rarely see on a website. Initially, the challenge was to extend the images so they could cover the width of any size screen without the image repeating in an obvious and distracting way. Mirroring the image panels allowed me to gain that effect. Each page was designed with its own feel, dependent on the content of the poem. I wanted to be able to use different fonts on different pages to help reflect this. I also wanted to use elements from the page of each poem, including the different fonts, on the homepage so that they were easily identifiable. Creating a hover for the font of each panel avoided the problem of seeing too many different fonts simultaneously. I wanted the whole panel, as opposed to just the word, to be the link because it provides a larger area to click.
I incorporated moving objects in my project through Javascript. This includes the butterflies on the “Hollyhocks” page and the Aerobie Ring on the “Brother” page. I thought adding small movements to those pages would add a dimension.
The video that I incorporated on the “Mendocino” page I also included on my “Uncrossed” page. Since these two poems both talk about my childhood in California I thought it would be interesting to use the video footage from “Mendocino” and run it backwards for “Uncrossed” since that poem is a palindrome, meaning it moves backwards in time. Repeating some of the same footage helps make the connection between these two pages stronger and provides a greater perspective.