Musings: Info 652!

Looking for inspiration...

2008-07-22T15:21:00.001-04:00

I spent some time looking at my quilts, and I’m not sure if I can incorporate them into my site. Bummer! The patterns are eclectic and whimsical, but I question how I can use them while factors such as readability and having a coherent design need to be considered. For these reasons, I don’t think I can have a patterned background.

I’m partial to the look and the colors of this site that sells retro style kitchen appliances: http://bigchillfridge.com/site/. The orange, jadite green, and beach blue from this page http://bigchillfridge.com/site/fridges might work well, but I wonder about the originality of that combination. Also, would it be a mistake to create a site with a more feminine feel through the use of mostly pastel colors? My other dilemma is, would it be morally wrong to spill my ex-boyfriend's secret record spots?

As I said in my first post, I suspect organization and design are my biggest challenges.

Site Outline:

-Home page

I’m actually not sure what to put on my homepage other than a brief explanation about the site! Maybe here I can show off some of my goods with the items tagged by location.

-Thrift and Vintage

-Flea Markets

-Hunting & Bargaining Tips

-Map

-About Me

-External Links

Another link to add: Yard Sale and flea market information can also be found in the General Community forum on Craigslist http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/com/

"About me" draft

2008-07-21T23:25:00.002-04:00

Draft for the About me section of the FW?

If I had to pin point exactly when my thrifting obsession began, I would say it was when I was in the 8th grade and my mother gave me $15 to appease my complaints of jeans that no longer fit and ended a good 2 inches above my ankles. Being that my $15 would not buy one pant leg at our local mall nor cover the cost of a pair at K-mart, my older sister drove me to a nearby Village Thrift. I did not come home that night with a pair of jeans, but instead a few skirts, some tacky costume jewelry, and a sleeveless flowered print blouse that quickly became one of my favorite pieces of clothing. From that first visit came monthly trips that soon increased in frequency to weekend thrifting marathons and 15 years later, I am still in love with the hunt for one of a kind pieces that often cost next to nothing. I’m always on the lookout for vintage kitchenware, clothes, shoes, and records and I am a sucker for anything that combines classic with quirky. I tend to choose character over quality, however as my collection has grown, my taste has become more discriminating. The pages on this site represent my favorite spots in Philadelphia, ranging from the cheap and dirty to more upscale locations across various neighborhoods in the city.

Images and links

2008-07-21T16:48:00.002-04:00

This week’s reading made me realize I need to think about what images I would like to include in my site and why. I previously was planning to include photos of each featured location and a smattering of pictures of my own collection. Horton states “image maps should have alt-text for all the active areas” so I need to keep this in mind when creating my map of locations (although it could very well be “maps” means something other than geographical maps, but even so, I’ll need to provide a text alternative.)

I found 2 links to external resources I would like to post:

This Gophila.com article essentially describes a vintage shopping walking tour throughout the city. Like Marg’s great suggestion, the author includes pitstops for food!
http://www.gophila.com/C/The_Holidays_in_Philadelphia/497/Shopping/244/I/Vintage_Shopping_in_Philadelphia/28.html

Best of Citysearch Philadelphia 2008 - Best Philadelphia Vintage/Thrift Shop
http://philadelphia.citysearch.com/bestof/winners/vintage_and_thrift_shop

I’m not sure about this insiderpages.com site because I can’t be sure the stores are still in business, but I like how the location can be set to include suburban stores.
http://www.insiderpages.com/s/PA/Philadelphia/ThriftShops

Self-Assignment

2008-07-13T20:18:00.002-04:00

Perhaps it's the end of the weekend but these thoughts have been in and out of my head all day with no staying power or logical follow through. This week I need to:

research sites that deal with vintage merchandise for organization and design inspiration.
put my mental list of stores and flea markets to paper
solicit friends for feedback on stores-I don't want to unabashedly present my reviews and ratings if they are generally unpopular.
look at these 2 1960s patchwork quilts I have for design and color ideas. I would love to somehow incorporate one or a few of the squares in the site design.
take photos of my favorite items I've collected over the years.

Content & Organization

2008-07-13T13:31:00.001-04:00

Wow! Thanks for everyone’s encouragement and suggestions! I love the idea of including places nearby to eat- but that’s something I’m usually at a lost for myself! Since my first post, I’ve been thinking abut how to organize the content and divide the locations: by price range, type of store (thrift, vintage, & flea market) location, primary type of goods sold, quality of items…but it seems like there is a lot of cross over between these categories. I’m leaning towards a combined page for thrift and vintage & one of flea markets.

I think what I would like to do is feature a handful of locations, for which I will

--Provide store name, location, hours
--provide a photo of the store, a photo of some merchandise (currently in store, or maybe something I own from the store and how much it cost?)
--describe the store, if possible get info on where the items for sale come from (i.e. donation, estate sales, owner collects)
--list of items that are of particularly good quality/easy to find to get at the store like, jewelry, kitchenware, shoes, furniture etc.
--ratings for
-price
-quality
-a “digging” scale indicating how much work is involved to find that perfect item.

Since I won’t be able to provide a summary like this for every store in Philadelphia, I could choose my favorites but then list stores similar in price range, quality and merchandise.

All stores featured and just named on the site would be included on the map.

Info 652 Project: first thoughts

2008-07-08T20:09:00.000-04:00

I need to find a good hobby to talk about during job interviews, meeting the parents of a significant other, random people on the subway, overly forward women in public restrooms, but I think I would like to create a site on shopping! In particular, thrift shopping and flea markets in Philadelphia. Some sites like this already exist but are mostly lists, and I would like to create a more comprehensive guide including reviews and maps. I think current residents, college students, and visitors to the city may possibly maybe find a guide like this interesting and helpful.