RISD Division of Continuing Education

Fundamentals of Design for the World Wide Web

Melissa St. Laurent

Homeà401-683-1380, Cellà401-369-2487

risd@gagnet.net

 

         Supplies for this course:

         Students are encouraged to bring any existing graphics work to class.

USB-Key

 

Reading List:

Required: The Non-Designers Web Book By Robin Williams and John Tollett. ISBN# 0-201-71038-2 Available at the RISD Store, peachpit.com, or amazon.com

 

Grading:

Grades will be based on class participation, attendance, and grasp of technical material, and final projects.

 

Homework Assignments:

Assignments must be completed by the start of the following class, final projects must be complete for critique by the last day of class.

 

Attendance:

As in any creative and/or technical learning situation, class attendance is extremely important. In the event that an absence is unavoidable, contact the instructor prior to class via e-mail or my telephone.

 

Class 1: Introduction

Expectations – Class Format and structure, assignments, materials, grading and projects overview.

Handout distribution

Complete “Student experience Survey”

·       Discuss class’s knowledge level and expectations for the course.

Basic Overview of the World Wide Web and how it works.

For next Time: Bring any source materials you have for text (word-processing files) and images (either to scan or digital work made in a paint or vector program).

Reading: The Non-Designers Web Book, chapters 1, 2 and 3.

 

Class 2: Using and understanding the web and Internet.

Introduction to basic but important details of web browsing and simple page creation including:

·       Browsers: Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera, Safari and others.

·       Domain name details, IP addresses, and other web interfaces.

·       Plug-in’s, images, Flash, and other graphics.

·       Searching the net

·       What are web pages? HTML

 

In-Class Project: Use the Google search engine to find information about (choose a subject from bees-music), download the information. Also, use Google’s image search to find images from the web. Take the information and images to write your web page in Microsoft Word or Dreamweaver.

Reading: The Non-Designer’s Web Book Chapter 7, and The Digital Planning Handout.

 

Class 3: User Interface and screen formatting basics

We will be discussing screen real estate, information levels and structure. We will be creating organizing and managing information using flow charts and storyboarding techniques. We will begin to plan out the information levels and structure of our projects. Other topics covered include:

·       Formatting text and creating links

·       Using a web palette

·       Using tables and frames and layers

·       File naming

In-Class Project: Explore font sets, link structuring, storyboarding beginning with web research and ending with a flowchart.

Assignments: Storyboard and flowchart an interactive webpage.

Reading: The Non-Designers Web Book, chapters 10 and 11.

 

Class 4: Image Formatting and Compression

We will be exploring JPG, PNG, PDF, SWF and GIF File formats.We will also learn about creating rollovers, ALT Tags, slices, and animations. Discussion of download time considerations and bandwidth

 

In-Class Project: Saving files from Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash demonstration/workshop.

Assignments: Create buttons and graphics for your storyboarded website.

Reading: The Non-Designer’s Web Book Chapter’s 8 and 9.

 

Class 5: Work Lab
This is a chance for everyone to finish up their projects and work with the instructor on finalizing all work.

 

For next Time: Have your projects finished and ready to be viewed by the class.

 

Class 6: Final potluck review/ critique.