4/23, 4/30, 5/7, 6/4 — 10h00-15h00
Nikolas Wise
studio@nikolas.ws
503.680.5495
@nikolaswise
This workshop will introduce the professional practice, language, and methodology of design for the web. The goal of the workshop to provide a solid basis for a journalist working with a web design team.
In the course of this workshop, we will be introducing and discussing both the technical structures of web design as well as the independent disciplines within the field. You will be learning the basics of creating web sites, starting from HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Alongside the basics, you will produce a project that combines your journalistic process with one of the disciplines of web design. The final day of class will be a discussion of these projects, demonstrating a firm grasp of how to communicate in a web-driven design discussion.
Graduate students will be expected to engage in a more rigorous final project, and will produce more work in assignments as described in the schedule
At the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
- Competently engage in web design discussions.
- Understand and use the basics of HTML, CSS, and JS.
- Engage in industry standard workflows involving Github and Markdown.
Office hours can be scheduled on an individual bases as needed.
All projects must be finished during the term. Finall grades will be based on overall participation and engagement with the material. Not finishing any one of the projects will result in an F. An A+ will be contingent on demonstrating exemplary growth in the duration of the course.
You will attend each of the 4 sessions. Exceptions may be made for funerals and / or meteor strikes
All assignment will be submitted on Github
Under certain circumstances (computer caught on fire / chopped off fingers), extensions and make-up work will be allowed.
If I need to cancel a class (chopped off fingers / computer caught on fire) I will notify the class via e-mail, canvas, and twitter.
I am committed to teaching a class where all are welcome and included, with Universal design as a baseline. The highest standards of behavior are expected and required. If you have any concerns, needs, or want me to be aware of any particular requirements you may have, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.
- Sign up for an account on Github.
- Fork this repository.
- Fixing typos in this syllabus via a Pull Request will be seen as an excellent start.
The below articles from A List Apart are a small sampler on the language, scope, and approaches of contemporary web design and how it got there. They should give an overview, or at least a frame of reference, of the ground to be covered in the workshop without a large amount of technical jargon. Exploring A List Apart further is highly encouraged.
- Breaking Stuff by Laura Kalbag
- Our Enclosed Space by Rachel Andrew
- Responsive Comping by Matt Griffin
- A Case for Responsive Resumes by Andrew Hoffman
- To Hell With bad Browsers by Jeffrey Zeldman
- Sign up for an account on Github.
- Fork this repository.
- Fixing typos in this syllabus via a Pull Request will be seen as an excellent start.
- Introduction of Technical Aspects
- Disciplines within Web Design
- Introduction to GitHub
Read Paul Ford's excellent expose What is Code?
Create a website using github pages using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This web site needs at least 3 pages. The content should be something that you think is interesting. An explanation of the project will live in the repo's README.md file, and be written in Markdown.
This website needs to be at least 5 distinct pages, with full navigation from each page to each other page. There must be significant styling using CSS, at least one interactive element using JavaScript.
- Show off and briefly discuss student web sites
- Talk about what was hard, what was easy
- Explore some professional websites, taking a look under the hood.
Read Grimoir Computer by Ingrid Burrington and Meredith Whittaker Read What Screens Want by Frank Chimero
Identify examples of world-class web design outside of the field of journalism. Identify examples of awful, truly terrible web design as well. Be prepared to discuss these examples, and how at least one of the disciplines of design is evident in your selections.
Create an issue on this repository with a link to the website, and a couple of paragraphs on why it is good or bad. Label your issue 'good' or 'bad'.
Provide 2 examples of each. Much more depth in analysis and critique is expected.
- Discussion of sites located by students
- Generate ideas for individual projects.
Complete your project laid out in todays workshop. Be prepared to present and have a discussion about your project.
Will write ~1k words on how their project relates to the discussions about design critique and sub-disciplines, provided references and examples from the web.
- Present and Review the Projects
- Final discussion about the relationship between Journalism and Web Design.