The Website (Part III)

IT IS FINISHED! I finally completed my website and it is wonderful! I love wix! It took a lot longer that I planned, and it was definitely harder than I thought it would be, but it was totally worth it. I got all the information in and some pictures and screen shots of my app. You can see my lovely masterpiece by following the link bellow:
The ASAD App

The App (Part II)

Update on how my app is going. For one, the ASAD App is so cool! Me and my uncle are almost finished with it. He says he still wants to finish a few details and make a few adjustments, but it is still awesome nevertheless. He put my the icon I made on it and I think it looks really nice. I can't wait until it is completely finished so I can show it off!

The Website (Part II)

So my wix website is coming along nicely. Slowly, but nicely. Or is it 'surely'? Either way, It is coming along and I'm having a  lot of fun working on it. It is definitely not as easy as I thought it would be (but then nothing ever is). I have added a few good pictures of my brother and the brand new icon for the app. I think the hardest part is filling out all the paragraphs of information about the ASAD App. It is time consuming, but I cannot wait to see the finished website.

The Icon

Photoshop is, without a doubt, made by magical genies. Or maybe fairies. My dad recently bought photoshop for our laptops and now I can create stunning works of digital art from the comfort of my living room. Although for now I'll just settle for making a passable icon for the ASAD App. It took a while to find good pictures of my little brother. In most of them he's making a silly face or not looking at the camera. Once I found a nice picture, it also took a few tries to get it right on photoshop.However, I finally got the hang of it, and I can honestly say, I don't think it's half bad. Of course that's just my own opinion, but, oh well.

The Name

My Uncle suggested that we name the app after my little brother, Asad, since he is the one who inspired this whole thing. I liked the idea but I decided to take it a step further and make it an acronym! Introducing the Amazing Speech Audio Device, aka: The ASAD App!!! I think it is quite clever anyways. We also decide to use a picture of my little bro for the icon, since it is now named after him. So basically, My weekend plans consists of digging through old photos to find a nice one for the icon.

The App

I finally met with my uncle this week. He owns a company that works in designing websites and apps, and I convinced him to help me with the app (since I'm not a programer and therefor clueless). I talked to him about the style I think we should go for and how a basic speech generating device (SGD) functions. My little brother has a regular SGD, so we turned to that for a bit of guidance on how the design should look. I'm in charge of coming up with a clever title and icon for the app. Easy, right?

The Website

So... Started working on my website today. Ever heard of Wix.com? Me neither. Until today that is. It's a "build your own website" website! It's probably the coolest thing ever. Well, actually, probably not. But it's definitely the coolest thing this week. Basically I just have to choose a template and fill it in with stuff all about my capstone project and how awesome it is. Since I'm basing my app on a speech generating device for children, I decided to go with a template made for a daycare center because I like their colorful, child-like layout. One thing I thought was funny about my template: it has these sample titles and paragraphs all over it to make it look more like the finished product, but they're in some different language! If I had to guess, I'd say Swedish (the language, not the fish).

The Poster (Part II)

I really like the last line I said in my PSA, "No one should have to struggle for a voice." It does a good job of explaining why my topic is important and should be heard. I also like the first picture I showed in my PSA, the girl with tape over her mouth. I think it gives a better portrayal of how people that can't speak feel. I decided to combine both of these things in my poster. I found some pictures of people that are very different but all look sad. I edited the pictures to make it look like they all had tape over their mouths, showing their inability to speak. The statement I liked in my PSA became the headline for my poster. I really like the font I found for this project. It's a more eroded and messy version of Times New Roman and I think it fits well with the topic. I had fun making this poster and I'm excited to see it printed out.

The Poster

Along with a PSA that goes with our capstone project, we also have to create a movie-style poster that sums up what we're doing. I think it's going to be a bit trickier than the PSA because with a poster, the audience relies mostly on images and graphics to tell them what it's about. If a poster has too much wording then the viewers will lose interest. Another requirement our instructor gave is that we can't use a regular font for the text we put in. It took me a while to decide what I wanted to do for the poster, but I finally figured I want to elaborate on some things I mention in my PSA.

The PSA (Part II)

It took a while but I finally finished my PSA. I talked about how people with communication disorders deserve a SGD that isn't more of a hindrance than a help. Most SGDs are bulky and expensive, and they often have system failures that discourage users. In my PSA I briefly explained how an app can be a better replacement for regular SGDs. I used a lot of pictures to illustrate the message I was trying to convey. For example, I start off with the statement, "Imagine not being able to speak." I chose a  picture of a young girl with tape over her mouth to show as this is heard. Originally, I hadn't planned to put any background music in the PSA but as I watched it over and over again, I realized it was missing something. I really like the way piano sounds, so I thought a piano version of a slow song would work well with my topic. I decided on a slow piano version of The Beatles' "Let it Be." I'm really happy at how my PSA turned out and I can't wait to show it off to people.

The PSA

So as part of our capstone project, we have to make a public service announcement (PSA) that explains the issue we are trying to solve. First we have to write out and record the speech that will play in the background. We don't have to use video if we don't want to so it's easier to just find pictures related to what we were explaining. The really tricky part was getting it to be exactly 30 seconds. It took a while but I finally got a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do. I decided to focus on the people who depend on SGDs and how important this topic is to them.

The Design

My topic isn't a very humorous one. Speech disabilities are certainly a serious problem because the affect a basic human necessity: communication. I think I might start serious to make the audience understand that. However, since I'm making a device that helps solve the problem, I want the major tone of my presentation to be more hopeful than serious. Because I'm planning on making my app basic and simple, I'm basing it mostly on SGD's that are used primarily for children. For this reason, I want to use bright color schemes and cartoon-like graphics. I haven't worked out all the details yet, but I think the project is definitely moving forward. Yup.

The Idea!

A basic speech generating device

Our capstone project has to solve a current problem related to our major. Since I'm majoring in speech-language pathology, I decided to do mine on speech generating devices (SGDs). An SGD is basically and electronic device that has words represented by icons. When someone touches the icon, the device says the word out loud. Some people with speech disabilities use this to communicate. The problem is, many SGDs are very expensive, especially if you don't have insurance. They can also be very bulky, heavy, and complicated to use. This is an important problem because these issues limit how some people can communicate with others. Everybody deserves to be able to voice their own thoughts and opinions. People that rely on SGDs have trouble using the complicated device, and that's if they're able to acquire one in the first place. Introducing the solution: a smart phone app! My end product is an app that works just like an SGD, but can be used on smart phones or tablets like the iPad.
Ta-daa!!!