Week

Topic

Assignments

A Communications Revolution

What is the Internet? TCP/IP; History of the Web and Internet How the web works; Client-server computing

intro to HTML: understanding mark-up languages; how browsers display information; tags; in class exercise: making your first HTML page

• Read Niederst Chapters:
  2 "How the Web Works"
  6 "Creating a Simple Page"
  7 "Formatting Text"
  
• Begin collecting sites that you like
• HTML exercise #1: With NotePad, format your resume in HTML using basic tags and name the file resume.htm
  (See: Making your first HTML page)

Web Aesthetics: analog vs. digital media; evaluation criteria; credibility issues; design/usability/uniqueness, how to cite web sources

The basics behind Linking; thinking about file structure and setting up your zip disk

file extensions; review of tags and HTML grammar; file formats, linking tags

• Read Handout: Web Aesthetics chapter
• Review Niederst Chapters:
  4 "Why Web Design isn't like print design"
  8 "Graphical Elements"
  9 "Adding Links"
  
• Personal Web Site part I: Create a page of links called links.htm and link this file and resume.htm together.

3: 9/23

Linking and File Structure

Web Aesthetics review; convergence; digital culture; evaluating web sites part two.

Linking reviewed: linking files and linking images; review why web design isn't like print design; review file structure

FTP: how to upload your pages to the Web.

• Web Aeshetics Paper
• Review Niederst Chapter 12 "Color on thw Web":
  
• Bring Photographs to scan with you to class next week

[web aesthetics paper is due]

Images and Color

.gif vs. jpg, resolution and dpi, file size and resizing; web-based colors, creating text buttons to convert to GIF, download images from the Web; hexadecimal color codes

Scanning images: Create a page with images or scanned photos and insert them in your HTML page using the <img> tag.

Create or download navigation images to use in your Personal Site.

• Niederst Web graphics chapters:
  13 "All About Web Graphics"
  14 "Creating GIFs"
  15 "Creating JPEGs"
• Put navigation images (download some graphics or create your own) on the top of each of your pages. Make sure all of the images display and the pages are all linked together. Check your pages in both Explorer and Netscape
• Read Niederst chapter 5 "The Web design process"

5: 10/7

Planning and Documentation

Planning, documenation, file structure, content organization, storyboards.

Introduction to tables

• Read Niederst chapters:
  10 "Tables" and then add a table to your personal site

6: 10/14

Tables

Review of tables; Using tables for graphics layout; in class work with tables and making your site uniform

In class exercise: copy and pasting content into a table template

• Finish your HTML Personal site. See the assignment description for a list of what you should include for this project.
• Upload your files to the server and be sure to test your pages in both Explorer and Netscape

7: 10/21

[personal HTML site is due]

Creativity and the Web

"breaking" the rules, originality, different forms of expression and communication; nonlinearity

Cut and Paste: cut and paste 3 Javascripts into an HTML page.

• Review select projects from
  Born Magazine, Poems that Go
  RGB Gallery
  Entropy8
• find 2 other artistic, inspirational, humorous, or creative based sites. Make sure one of these doesn't involve Flash or video.
• Review HTML tags for quiz

8: 10/28

Introduction to Dreamweaver

Managing your site in Dreamweaver Pop-up windows, frames, form elements, how to use background images effectively

[HTML Quiz]

• Read Niederst chapter 17 "Web Design Techniques"
  
• Web Art Assignment:
  - storyboard your concept in Photoshop using thumbnail sketches- use arrows to indicate links.
  - write one page creative brief describing how you will use the Web

9: 11/4

Creativity and the Web Part II

Dreamweaver Reviewed Part II

In class discussion of Web sites you found; Web design tricks and techniques, in class work on web art project.

• Complete Web Art Assignment

10: 11/11

[Web Art assignment due]

Fundamentals of Building and Designing a Web Site

Using Photoshop for layout, understanding how to use and deconstruct background images in your design, Photoshop effects and setting up rollovers

Building tables in Dreamweaver: Math and tables, using guides to mark slices, using Fireworks or ImageReady for image optimization.

• Read Niederst chapter 18 "Building Useable Web Sites"
  
• Submit a one page project proposal describing what you plan on doing for your Special Interest site and who this site is targeting. Include a list of sections you will include (how many pages is this web site going to be) and a Thumbnail sketch of your layout.
• Watch The Matrix, visit Matrix Site

11: 11/18

Introduction to Modernism and Postmodernism

Talk about the Matrix, reality, artificial intelligence; the web as a postmodern medium; desktops, windows, and graphical user interfaces

15 Steps to build a Web Site

• Reading: Benjamin Wooley's intro to virtual worlds[handout] and New York Times article [handout] about the artist Aaron
• Review Modernism vs. Postmodernism
• In photoshop, create the basic layout or graphical elements of your site from your thumbnail sketches. Consider background images in the initial stages of design

12: 11/25

Virtuality, Artficial Reality, and Simulation

Aaron and Woolley Questions

In Class Work Time: finalize inside template and begin filling pages with content

• read Turkle handouts: intro, chap. 1 and Identity Crisis
• Continue working on personal sites

Identity and the Web

race, gender, sexuality, language

In Class Work Time

• finish up project sites and documentation

Present Final Projects

Explain Final

• Finals are due by 6pm on 12/16/02