Finally I can announce that on February the 26th I got my diploma on Faculty for eletrotechnics, computer science and informatics, University of Maribor, Slovenia.

I am now a B.Sc. of Media Communications.

After my last year of studying Media communications (Interactive graphic design) I decided to explore the field of web usability, specifically usability assessment of social networking websites. My diploma research was based on evaluation of Facebook usability with techniques that were accessible during my research. My diploma research work is available here* in slovene language. Here is a short abstract:

The emergence of the World Wide Web has allowed users access to large amounts of information that can be found on the Internet.User interfaces have a major role in human-computer communication. Web content must be presented in a way that most users can understand and use. Because of varying levels of experience, knowledge and individual characteristics of web users, the design of web interfaces is subject to debates by psychology specialists, human-computer interaction specialists, graphic designers, sociologists and specialists in related sciences. They tend to define  universal standards for website usefulness in order to ensure the most universal and positive user experience. Since social networking sites are currently the most popular online communications medium, it is necessary to develop user interfaces with a keen consideration for the expectations and requirements of typical users. A positive user experience can only be created by analyzing the usefulness of websites in various aspects and offering  the best possible solutions.

* Since the document is only available in slovene language at this moment you are free to translate it with Google translator or any other translation tool to see the results.

It’s interesting how social networks are influencing our lifes. Instead of picking up the phone and going for a coffee with friends we seem to have adjusted to have more contact with people through the web. We’ve created a new language, new habits, changed ourself into exhibitionistic voyeurs and made ourselves public targets with too little knowledge about privacy and potential consequences of this worldwide phenomenon.

This is a silly comedy from http://www.idiotsofants.com. What would it be like if Facebook was actually played out in real life? If this is our reality then our social lifes are seriously endangered.

As you can see I made some changes to my blog design and layout. I am now using the Smashing Wordpress Theme and have been making some small CSS corrections and adjustifications to the original template. Looks pretty much different by now. Since I’ve read quite a lot about usability in the last few months, I focus on making my website user-friendly and elegant but still with a touch of ‘Ajdish’ playfulness. It might take some time to make it beautiful but you know, you can’t rush good design, especially nice illustrations for the background picture

I’ve also decided to write my blog posts in english since I strangely get more response from abroad than from my native Slovenia (especially on SNs like Twitter and LinkedIn).

Feel free to compliment on my blog, get all excited and write cool comments, become my stalker on Facebook or anything you’d like and I might use you to visit your country and have you as my guide the whole week.

Hope you got the joke

MATT GONE - The Chequered Man, originally uploaded by Mark Berry - Photographer & Graphic Designer.

An amazing photo from Mark Berry, capturing Matt Gone - a 100% tatooed man. Quite a texture inspiration

Diggy dog saves christmas game design, originally uploaded by Ajda Gregorčič.

These are screenshots of a 3-minute game called Diggy dog saves christmas. The game was made by slovenian game development company Motiviti. The menus, buttons, logo and illustrations were designed by me. The task was to design a very shiny christmas-spirit interface to present the game and the control keys so the user can start playing it.

Vodomček, originally uploaded by Ajda Gregorčič.

The Kingfisher illustration was made for slovenian spa center Thermalia. The client had a mascot and needed a vector illustration for their print ads.

Seamless HiRes rock texture,
originally uploaded by Ajda Gregorčič.

Ustvarila sem neskončno visokoresolucijsko teksturo kamenja. Tekstura je brezplačna.

1. Uporabiš jo lahko tako, da tole sliko najprej shraniš na svoj računalnik.
2. Nato jo uvoziš v Photoshop.
3. V orodni vrstici zgoraj klikneš Edit - Define pattern. Sedaj si shranil sličico kot teksturo oziroma vzorec (pattern).
4. Izbereš objekt, na katerega želiš nalepiti teksturo.
5. Izbereš Paint bucket tool med glavnimi orodji (kanglica z barvo) in zgoraj v orodni vrstici namesto Foreground izbereš možnost ‘Pattern’.
6. Tukaj poiščeš teksturo kamenja, ki si jo shranil.

Voila! Robovi teksture niso vidni, ampak se prekrivajo. Precej magično, kajne?

‘You may be relegated to the toilet paper account as a junior art director at an ad agency, but if you’re stuck in the same role at an interactive agency as a digital artist, you can make the toilet paper talk, dance, and sing.’

http://www.princetonreview.com/Careers.aspx?cid=201

Agencija Zadrga je v sodelovanju s podjetjem Mio ustvarila celostno podobo oglaševalske akcije trgovskega giganta Spar - natečaj za naj dizajn Spar vrečke. Natečaj bo trajal en mesec, sodelujoči pa lahko s pomočjo interaktivnega Flash vmesnika na spletni strani www.spar-natecaji.si ustvarijo dizajn po lastni želji in ocenjujejo druge prispele dizajne.

Ustvarjanje oblik in sličic s premikanjem, povečevanjem, pomanjševanjem in manipuliranjem sličic sadja in zelenjave na podlagi se zdi marsikomu zelo zanimivo, bolj kot to pa je prva nagrada, Sparov bon v vrednosti 1500 €, precej mikavna in je že v prvih dnevih lansiranja oglaševalske akcije privabila pol tretji tisoč ustvarjalcev k oblikovanju zmagovalne kreativne rešitve.

Tudi jaz sem ustvarila dizajn z naslovom Gospod Zdravojed

Klikni na sličico! Lahko glasuješ

Spletne ikone so eden najpogostejših grafičnih elementov spletnih strani. Pogosto jih uporabljamo v spletni komunikaciji kot zamenjavo za smeškote, s katerimi na alternativni, bolj ljubek in neposredni način sporočamo tekstovno vsebino. Ikone na spletnih straneh se pogosto pojavljajo kot bližnjice in povezave, v aplikacijah in mobilnh napravah pa brez ikon praktično ne gre. Prav zato se moramo pri oblikovanju ikon sredotočiti na deset pomembnih zakonitosti, s katerimi bomo lahko oblikovali konsistentne in uporabne spletne ikone.

Read the rest of this entry »

Motiviti vam želi vesel božič in odlično novo leto 2010! Zaigraj našo 3-minutno igrico!