Welcome

It's been a wild week, and I'm sure many of you can relate.  I coached girls JV soccer for the first time this year, and our season wrapped up on Thursday of this week.  There's two weeks left of school in my district and the faculty, students and staff - myself included - are all beginning to lose it (or have been for months already).  And, because nothing is ever simple, I had a gaggle of girls staying at my house this weekend for a wedding.  

Luckily for me, one of my girl friends creates digital newsletters for a living and is super familiar with blogging and digital design.  Thank goodness, because I won't lie, I was struggling.

I started with Wordpress, and could not figure out how to get the images to go where they were supposed to.  I think I still have an account there, and maybe some day I'll figure out how to delete it.  Aside from struggling with the platform, I was overwhelmed by the layout options and didn't find it particularly intuitive.

So, my friend, Jessica, helped me set up an account on blogger.  She advised me on the type of image to choose, as well as the layout and gave me constructive feedback as I tried different options.  As I looked through the text, it was interesting to read the same advice that I was getting in person.

One of the things that my friend, and Garr Reynolds stressed was the need to keep things simple.  As I was looking at images for the background of the blog and at the options for color layout I had to constantly remind myself to simplify.  I tried numerous combinations before selecting a layout and image that I didn't find distracting.  I also had to continually remind myself that this is a work in progress.  As the class progresses and my comfort level with this platform grows, I can go back and apply new ideas and concepts. 

The complexity of choosing a font blew my mind.  As I read chapter two, I reflected on font choices that I've made in the past.  Honestly, I never paid much attention to font, or considered how it might affect the presentation of material.  I decided to go with Helvetica because I found it to be the most readable and neutral option on Blogger, though who knows, maybe that'll change as well.

I think what I took away most from this week was the point that Garr Reynolds (2014) makes in the opening lines of the text, "presentation and design lessons are all around us" (5).  I found myself thinking about design in a way that I never had before. 

Reynolds, G. (2014) Presentation zen design: A simple visual approach to presenting in today's world (2nd ed.).  San Francisco, CA: New Riders.