Hello and welcome to my website!
Student
Designer
Programmer
My name is Winston, and I am a Grade 11 Student located in Markham Ontario. I enjoy web design and development, and I participate in the VEX Robotics Competition. In my free time, aside from doing schoolwork, I work on web projects, tinker around on my computer, and work on VEX Robots!
WINSTON
ZHAO
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PORTFOLIO
Website Carbon Poster
Graphic Design
This poster promotes how everyone, especially developers, need to mindful on how much carbon their websites releases. The poster has a main message and also text for people to learn more about the issue. This poster was made in Adobe Illustrator and combines shapes with lines and text to create a simple but unique design.
Vogue Magazine Cover
Digital Publishing
While Vogue is a fashion magazine, this poster bends the rules a bit and talks about digital design. It features a front and back cover with distinct graphics and two spreads. This poster was created using Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign.
Coraline Scene Remake
Video Production
Coraline is a movie that is comprised of stop motion animation camera shots. For our project, we took the “Deal” scene and recreated it in real life, using many camera angles and shooting techniques. After, we matched up the sounds and produced the video in Adobe Premiere Pro, adding audio clips with Adobe Audition and animations with Adobe Animate.
More Projects
ABOUT
Reflection
This is the reflection about my work. The best work in my portfolio is either the 25K website or the Elapse app design. The Team 25K website, while simple, is a close public representation of my current graphic design and web development skill level. It uses a wide variety of tools and techniques such as custom-made animations, smooth scrolling, responsive design, alignment, and colour theory. It also holds a special place in my heart as it is my own robotics team! The Elapse app design is another one of my recent best works as it is a large scale design covering many interfaces and interactions. While the app is still in development and the design is in the concept phase, I think that a good user interface is the basics for every good app, so it is very important here.
Some areas where I can improve on is writing higher quality HTML and CSS, and also improving my JavaScript skills. These are the three main building blocks of creating great custom websites, and there is always more to learn. I hope to improve these skills by learning online and also I hope to attend the Awwwards conference in May to get a more hands-on learning experience with experts in the industry.
Inspiration
Post Secondary
I am interested in pursuing a future in digital design or communication technology. There is a program of particular interest for me at the University of Toronto, Communication, Culture, Information & Technology (CCIT). This program will let me gain more knowledge behind media. For this program, grade 12 English is required as well as 6 other grade 12 courses. The average grade is mid to high 70s.
There are many pros and cons of this program. The program is related to what I want to do in the future, which is good. It also takes place at the University of Toronto, one of the best in Canada. However, there is a test after the first year which you must pass in order to continue in the program. The careers from the program include UI/UX designer, game developer, graphics designer, and digital marketing.
Reflection - cont.
I believe I demonstrated my learning skills this semester by being able to produce high quality work for each assignment, for example the Vogue magazine cover or even this portfolio. This shows initiative and independent work. I would try to improve my organization and responsibility skills!
Looking at the work I made this semester and in the past, I can clearly see the progression of skill, especially in making websites. My personally style is usually simplicity and a more monotone colour scheme, as I believe this way the viewer would be able to get the main points better; less is more. However, my specific styles are always changing based on inspirations from the places I go to and the things I see!
CONTACT
If you would like to work with me on a future project, please send me a message or an email! I usually take client work for website design and development.