Excellence

Hello World, today I would like to discuss the topic of Excellence.  excellence is defined as the quality of excelling; possessing good qualities in high degree.  With that said, excellence would be the very best effort of an individual on a specific task, project or even the way that an individual behaves/carries him or her self.  Every boss looks for excellence in the way business is handled; were the marketing specialist respectful? Is the quality of the product manufactured in a way that will bring customers back for more? Questions like these would probably be at the forefront of any business owners mind all based on the excellence of the owners taste, that is to say that the “trickle-down” effect would be in effect, the owners desires for quality assurance would be passed on to all the employees who would not only represent themselves but also the company and the owner.  Excellence then is not the low degree of effort that anyone gives, but is the above and beyond effort of a person that that exceeds what is expected, 110% if I may say.  Excellence is not and should not be the aim only in the workplace but in the home, and the individual’s personal morality and lifestyle.  When the rubber meets the road, and there is a goal and standard to meet and uphold, nothing short of excellence can get you there.  Excellence requires you to take laziness out of the equation and put your best effort into what it takes to succeed .

Respect

respect can go a long way if one puts it into action everyday in their lives, either in the work place or the family, respect is key to any relationship.  Having respect for others shows the guienuiness of a persons character and/or the lack thereof.  In this current generation it seems as if the level of respect for the older generations has declined even more.  Standards of respect for leadership and authority is at high decline as well as the respect of parent/child relationship in the home has ceased to be the example of our communities.  I believe this is because of the lack of discipline and self control.  If many of us would take the time to consider the feelings  of others, then a lot of the disrespect in our society would decrease and respect for others would increase. Respect goes beyond the avenue of just words, but also how we display attitude to one another.  The wrong body language can display disrespect in a high degree, as well as the wrong touch. Therefore to be respectful and succeed in any relationship , let us be mindful of what we say as well as what we do and we  will find ourselves building better relationships and better communities.

An act of kindness

an act of kindness can go a long way. About a week ago After Wednesday night bible study, I saw a sister in Christ holding a sheet of paper that had a logo on it and I went over to have a look. When I got a glimpse, I asked if I could be of assistance in giving a small critique. Once done with my observance I mentioned that I was a graphic designer and would be greatful in helping out with the design and that I could revamp it a bit to give the logo the look that the band wanted. I offered my services for no charge An the revamp made the difference in how the look and feel of the design. This really blessed the consultant and the band is happy with the new logo. The sister at church offered to put my resume and portfolio into the hands of the art director at a specific design and advertising firm. You never know how far one act of kindness can change and or benefit someone. I had no idea that I would end up helping someone out that day. Doing something for others not expecting anything in return, that’s a sacrifice that yeilds lasting results. Well that’s all for now.

Blessings,

Nicholas Tillman

Positive Attitude

Hello everyone today I will be briefly discussing the topic of  having a Positive attitude.  Having a positive attitude is always an asset in life.  People tend to like people who are more positive (that is unless its the subject of the latest gossip about someone else).  Let’s take for an example the office in which you faithfully go to Monday through Friday 9 to 5.  Your boss is looking to meet deadlines and bring in the next big project from the client.  You arrive at the office 15 minutes early with the most irate attitude that anyone could have and you begin to complain about the last time you were here early the boss had you doing all kinds of things not related to the goals that you had planned on accomplishing  this day to be one step ahead of the game.  So you give it 50 percent halfhearted effort.  To the boss, it no longer matters how early you came in, he now is focused on how to probably kick you off the project and elect some one else.  The point that I am trying to make is that your attitude effects other people in their performance, and perception of your character.  Now if you had the same scenario, but went at it with a positive attitude, then the boss just might make you the project manager of the upcoming team project that just might land you a raise.  So take the time to evaluate your attitude, and leave the problems or stresses you may be going through outside the work place to the best of your ability and take on the day with the best attitude as possible.  You just might make the day of someone who is watching, even when you are unaware.

Communication

Communication, the bridge of relationships.  Hello world, today I will briefly discuss the topic  of communication.  Communication is very important in life, whether in marriage, family or the corporate world communication is the means of connecting.  In the home and family, communication is a must, if not used effectively, the family can have division which is not good, likewise in the corporate/business world, if I never touch grounds with a client and maintain communication throughout the project then  I may scr3ew up and lose the project.  Communication is displayed in many ways: Boy language- this would include the posture of a person standing in front of someone, what signals are they sending off, are they aggressive, calm or overbearing, then there is visual communication, which includes graphic communication(fliers, logos, posters,ect..), websites, color,typography. You name it, communication goes on even if we don’t notice it.  Television is one of the most influential avenues of communication. Over the courses of 10 hours, American viewers will see approximately three hours of advertisements, twice what they would have seen in the 1960s.  That’s amazing because television shows are being cut down just to fit the ads that will inform the world of products and opportunities in the job market or education.  Communication is necessary, and can make you or break you, so be effective and purposeful in what you say and do because you’re  advertising who you are based off of you actions as well as your words.  Good day.

Teamwork

Hello everyone today I will be briefly discussing teamwork.  We all know the word and have heard it many times, we may even see it in action on those Saturday college football games, well the same principle should and can be applied to our daily lives.  In the business world or at home, teamwork is an asset of productivity.  With a team of 3-4 individuals on a project for instance, each person with a particular skill set can make or break the project deadline.  If one is really good at front-end development , he/she can tackle the framework of the HTML and CSS, if the another is good at server-side scripting, he/she could handle the tasks of adding functionality without the loss of usability.  While the others may be good at graphic design and visuals design techniques, they all can accomplish a different task at the same time and complete it on time, of course after good planning and communication (communication even throughout the project).   Teamwork is very important in that it will alleviate the stress off of one individual and even the load of a specific task  on multiple individuals, in other words they share the burden.  Team work comes in handy even at home.  When there is so much to do at the house and the husband or wife have a child or children, they can split up the tasks/ chores or cook dinner while the other keeps the kids preoccupied or help with homework.  Teamwork is the way to go, try it out today.

Trustworthiness

Hello world, today I will breifly be discussing the topic of trustworthiness.  Trustworthiness is defined as the trait of deserving trust and confidence;  this describes  the integrit of a person’s moral and social conduct.  a moral value considered to be a virtue. A trustworthy person is someone in whom you can place our trust and rest assured that the trust will not be betrayed.  Trustworthiness is key in any relationship, or business/workplace.  In relationships, trustworthiness has to be molded into the foundation of the relationship.  Without trust there is room to assume that the other party in the relationship is out to hurt the other or will leave the other.  There must be a sense of reliance that should indeed turn into a confident belief in the other person/s.  As far as business goes, no boss wants an employee who can’t be relied on to accomplish goals and meet deadlines.  Without trustworthy employees corporations and business even ministries would crumble.  There is a proverb that says “Neither sware by thy head, because you cannot make one hair white or black: But let your communication be Yea yea; Nay nay: for whatsoever is more than these comes from the evil one.” – Jesus Christ _ (Matthew 5:37).  In other words don’t make promises by swearing to do something but instead say either yes or no.  When a person swares to do something and then comes short of the expected promise, then trust is broken.  As Ministers, Designers, and Business owners, trustworthiness should be a top priority wheter in the workplace at home or in society as a whole.

Blessings.

web Design in Photoshop Tutorial

Today I will be briefly discussing a tutorial I have completed for a web design project, and some techniques I learned along the way.  The tutorial is from H-Vdesigns http://www.hv-designs.co.uk/2008/03/18/funky-web-design-layout/.  The greatest part about the tutorial is the use of all the colors that really bring the piece together.  Throughout the tutorial you see the liberty you have to complete every task, i.e color.  I searched for the mention of the colors used in the design and the Author didn’t mention the all.  I didn’t look at this  as a lack of communication but rather as a challenge and a way to get out of the box and use creative thinking.  I learned a little more about the importance of layout and how to incorporate flow with every element in the design from the position and directin of the vector arrows down to the placement of the text.  Flow and harmony will always sell a design even if it’s not the best design in the world, with the use of foundational concepts of proximity, repetition, and consistency, you will keep your designs in balance.  The creativity in the design was cool as well.  The vector trees  and ink splatter along with the vector rings and then those paint buckets ads the modern grunge and abstract feel to the piece.  WIth that said, check out the tutorial and try it for yourself, if anything it will help sharpen your photoshop design skills and expand your design palette.

Choices

Hello again everyone, I’m back in class for another year at Francis Tuttle in the Web design and Development program.  Today I will be discussing choices.  A choice is defined as a decision based on one’s personal beliefs, convictions  when multiple options are presented and selecting one of them.   The choices we make are usually based on how we feel or think, whether they are moral choices or a preference of sprite over pepsi, we are always presented with a choice no matter what time of day or who is around.  There are good choices and bad,  take for exa,ple a common scenario, you see a candy bar and its your favorite, siting on the desk of a colleague or at a store.  You FEEL a little hungry, (not for anything unsweet), then you look around to SEE if anyone is watching and if not you quickly, yet subtly take the candy bar and slide it into your pocket or purse and exit the crime scene.  The person involved knows its wrong to steal, but wants to fulfil there own pleasure to get the temporary satisfaction they wanted at the moment but didnt consider the feelings of the person they where taking from.  This scenario can event take place in the work place by stealing time, or not working the best they can when they told the boss “I’ll make it happen” when asked to do it.  Choices will either make or break you.  SO everyone out there make the right choice and when temptation to do the wrong thing because it seems convenient at the time.  Have a great day!

Programming: Ajax and Jquery

AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). AJAX allows you to create interactive web applications by using a combination of JavaScript, XML and XHTML, which makes web pages feel faster because some of the data is exchanged with the server throughout the session instead of every time a page is reloaded by a user. The overall goal and purpose of AJAX is to create an interactive experience for the end user while increasing the speed and ease of use.

Pros:

• The User Experience – The number one advantage of using AJAX programming is the new and fresh interface it provides users. Users relate their experience with AJAX web pages to be more like a separate application than a standard web page. When someone clicks on a link on an AJAX web page, the page can usually be updated dynamically as opposed to a standard web page where the entire page is refreshed and it seems like a big operation. This greatly reduces the amount of click and wait time a user will experience. As people are using the Internet more and more, user interface is making a huge factor in what people do with their time online. The more attractive and easy to use a web site is, the more likely the user will return to your site.
• Flexibility and Accessibility – So many people are now using more than their home computer. Internet users access their online information from home, work, school and a variety of other places. With the use of AJAX internet users can access their data online from a web application .
• Low Bandwidth Usage – AJAX limits the calls to the server by generating the HTML within the user’s browser. Most of the requests to the browser are just for JavaScript and actual data. Since there is less data coming from the server, an AJAX web page seems to load much quicker.

Cons-  Ajax can cause a handful of UI bugs

JavaScript and J query-  are two of my favorite programming languages, they give the user the interactivity on a web page and makes the isers experience one to remember.