Syllabus
Course Syllabus*
Graphic Design 67
Web Design 3
*The content of this course may change depending on time constraints. The order of the topics listed may vary.
Design Technology Website Design
Current sites
Entertainment Technology (http://academy.smc.edu)
Graphic Design (http://academy.smc.edu/grdes/)
Interior Architectural Design (http://www.academy.smc.edu/intarc/)
Project site
Discovery (Weeks 1-3)
Week 1
Topics: Web Design: What is Interaction Design?, Review: Domain Name Registration, Web hosting, CMS: WordPress, Gathering Information
Deliverable: Client Survey
Assigned Reading:
Chapter 2: “Core Process Overview”
Chapter 3: “Phase 1: Define the Project” (pg 40-59)
Stylin’ with CSS – Chapter 2: “How CSS Works”
Week 2
Topics: Understanding the Audience, FTP, CSS Review, CSS Selector Types, CSS3, Website Critiques
Deliverable: User Profiles (Personas)
Discuss Reading:
Chapter 3: “Phase 1: Define the Project” (pg 40-59)
Stylin’ with CSS – Chapter 2: “How CSS Works”
Week 3
Topics: Analyzing the Industry, Understanding Discovery, Image Slicing & Optimization, HTML/HTML5, Web Critiques
Deliverable: Competitive Analysis
Discuss Reading:
Chapter 3: “Phase 1: Define the Project”(pg 59-61)
Chapter 10: “Analyzing your Competition”
Clarification & Planning (Week 4)
Week 4
Topics: Determining Overall Goals, Preparing a Communication Brief, Creating a Project Plan, Setting the Budget, Creating Schedules, Assigning the Project Team, Setting Up Staging Areas, Planning for User Testing, Kicking Off the Project
Deliverable: Communication Brief
Deliverable: Budget
Deliverable: Schedule
Discuss Reading:
Chapter 3: “Phase 1: Define the Project”(pg 61-85)
Content Plan (Week 5)
Week 5
Topics: Auditing Existing Content, Outline New Content, Create Delivery Plan, The Grid, 2 & 3 Column Layouts, Web Critiques
Deliverable: Content Audit
Discuss Reading:
Chapter 4: “Phase 2: Develop Site Structure” (pg 86-95)
Stylin’ with CSS – Chapter 5: “Basic Page Layout”
Structure Site (Week 6)
Week 6
Topics: Create site map, Set naming conventions, 2 & 3 Column Layouts
Deliverable: Site map
Discuss Reading:
Chapter 4: “Phase 2: Develop Site Structure” (pg 96-105)
Stylin’ with CSS – Chapter 5: “Basic Page Layout”
Structure Pages (Week 7)
Week 7
Topics: Create wireframes, Address navigation, Naming & Labeling, Midterm Project Assignment
Deliverable: Wireframes
Discuss Reading:
Chapter 4: “Phase 2: Develop Site Structure” (pg 106-116)
Stylin’ with CSS – Chapter 6: “Designing Interface Components”
Create (Weeks 8-10)
Week 8
Topics: Review Site Goals, Develop Concepts, Design for the User, Navigation and Interface design, CSS-based navigation menus, Typography for the Web
Discuss Reading:
Chapter 5: “Phase 3: Design Visual Interface” (pg 120-140)
Week 9
Topics: Design for the User, Web Standards, W3C Discussion, Accessibility issues, What is Social Media?
Deliverable: Design Comps (2-3 directions)
Week 10
Topics: Midterm Presentations: Thursday, November 3, 2011
Deliverables:
- Sitemap for entire site
- Design Comps (2 directions)
- Home page (HTML/CSS)
- First-level page for one of the sections. Commonly referred to as the “landing page.” (HTML/CSS)
- Posting your thoughts and decision-making process for this project on your WP blog.
Build (Weeks 11-16)
Week 11
Topics: How WordPress Works, Installation, The Dashboard, Embedded Media, Creating and Modifying Themes, Plugins
Week 12
Topics: What are the differences between mobile websites and mobile Apps?, What are current best practices for mobile design?
Deliverable: Mobile Website Design Comps
Week 13
NO CLASS – Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 24, 2011
Week 14
Topics: Create WordPress protosite, jQuery, Video formats for web, In-class lab time
Discuss Reading:
Chapter 6: “Phase 4: Build and Integrate” (pg 140-176)
Week 15
Topics: In-class lab time
Week 16
Topics: Final Presentations: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Deliverable: 10-12 page WordPress site
Deliverable: Mobile Web/App Design Prototype
Deliverable: All supporting deliverables from Weeks 1-8
Deliverable: Screencast presentation of project