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Creating Pokéwatch
The ConceptOriginally, Pokéwatch was going to be a site that would springboard into somewhat of a religious faith, with a focus on the Pokédom section, as well as a site that relied on comedy to attract viewers. The latter proved to be more successful.The other important concept behind Pokéwatch came directly from the Pokémon theme song: Like no one ever was. I knew that in order to break into the Pokémon arena, I needed stuff no one else had. Knowing I could never outdo their Pokédexes, I decided on humor. This is where Pokétalk, Crazy Comparisons, News, Signs of Insanity, etc. came from.
The DesignI had three objectives designing Pokéwatch: legibility of text, visibility on a 640*480 screen, and ease of use. I decided the layout would look something like a Pokédex, with a corner graphic and logo on top. The link area would be on the left below that, and the text on the right. Legibility and size weren't a problem, although I probably shouldn't have used a red background. In fact, the background was originally true red. I eventually added (I forget when) the Pokéball backdrop used today. The animated graphic in the upper-left was composed of images from the PokéRAP on the 2.B.A. Master CD.As you can see, the Pokéwatch design is the most complex I've ever made. Even so, it is still very efficient, since any section can be accessed on the left. That area has been one of the best points of the site, changing as more sections were added, but never becoming so large that the interface became cumbersome.
The UploadAfter only a couple days of work, the site was completed. Actually, completed is a bad term. When it was first uploaded, Pokéwatch had very little content: Basically the main page, a review of Pokémon Red/Blue, and a bunch of empty folders. Small was just as well, anyway, since initially the site was in my Mario Cartoons web space. It was from these inauspicious beginnings that a semi-okay site arose...
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