Fall 2020 – COVID-19 Schedule

Week 1—Introduction

M August 24

Syllabus / Intro Notes
Overview of course
Flash drive – saving projects

Lecture: Designing Interfaces

slides in pdf


Week 2—HTML Building Blocks

CodeAcademy: Introduction to HTMLHTML Document Standards

M August 31

 

 


Week 3—  HTML Flow

CodeAcademy:TablesForms

M September 7

HTML: Hypertext Mark-up Language

Class Notes- week 2
Workshop: Build Blackbird site

Overview: page structure, nesting, semantic elements, IDs and Classes, lists
Block and Inline, HTML flow
divs and spans

——

partial Blackbird

Tables and Forms
Class Notes week 3

Photoshop Basics:  sizes, tools, transparency, grid
Preparing Images for the web
Formatting Images


Week 4— CSS

CodeAcademy:Selectors and Visual Rules, Box Model, Changing the Box Model

M September 14

Images and proportions, prep for web overview.

Uploading site to server using ftp.
Find your url…

Class Notes – week 4

Formatting Text: 

Validate the html and css of your site:
Validator.w3.org

Overview of HTML (Quiz 1 review):

Blackbird Project – 10%
Format and style Wallace Steven’s poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” in a one page HTML document with an external CSS stylesheet. Your pages must have at least the following :

  1. one external link
  2. one internal or anchor link
  3. one image insert
  4. one background image

The assignment will be graded based on the functional and proper uses and syntax of HTML mark-up and CSS styles.  Though I am not grading on the quality of your design and layout, please put some effort into a pleasing look.  Extra credit will be given if your design attempts to reflect an interpretation of the poem’s meaning!


 Week 5— Color, Imagery, Type, Layout

CodeAcademy:CSS Display and Positioning, Color, Typography

M September 21

Quiz #1: HTML

Blackbird Project List

Developer tools: Inspect Element/Web Developer/Validation

Class Notes – week 5

CSS Quiz Review

WORKSHOP: Blackbird CSS

  • colored borders around block level elements
  • body { margin: 0;}
  • html and css formatting 
  • no page content outside <body>

Bring a Recipe to class next (two) weeks.


 Week 6—Recipe Project: Visual Hierarchy

CodeAcademy: CSS Grid

Assignment: Choose a recipe and gather text/ images. Bring to class by Thursday

Reading: 

M September 28

President’s Day -No Class
 

Week 7—Recipe Project: Responsive Design

FreeCodeCamp: Responsive Design tutorial

Reading: Overview on W3Schools tutorial: CSS Responsive

M October 5

Quiz #2: CSS LINK

Due: Blackbird project
Blackbird Project List

Make sure you Validate!

Mr. Potatohead – extra credit (5pts) – upload to server and send me the url

————–

Recipe – 15%

Design and build a single, responsive recipe page with images, a layout with distinct areas for content, a color scheme (from a color tool), and typography that considers the visual hierarchy of a recipe’s content blocks.

Your grade in this assignment will be based on your understanding of visual hierarchy (layout, color, typography) and the fundamentals of responsive design (html/css code, media queries).

Recipe Hierarchy

Visual Hierarchy – Class Notes – Design Principles – Visual Hierarchy Primer

CSS Grid Demo / Complete Guide to Grid

Responsive Design – Class Notes

Eric Meyer’s Reset 2.0

Recipe starter page

Build Recipe HTML/CSS

Mandatory Midterm Meeting:

Please set up a mid-term meeting with me. This is to check in about how you are doing so far with html and css. Below are my times to meet. You can either set up a 30 minute slot or just 5 minutes if you are feeling comfortable with the material so far.

You may also be receiving an email to set up a meeting if I am your mentor. If I am your mentor, we can set up one meeting and cover both the class requirement and discuss mentoring issues like registration and “superpowers”, etc..

My times:
Monday: 3:00-5:30pm
Tuesday and Thursday
: 3:00pm-4:30pm 


Week 8 —Recipe Project: Typography

Reading:  Typography in 10 minutes  (optional: explore the online book )

M October 12

CodeAcademy/FreeCodeCamp – HTML, CSS and Responsive Design tutorials complete!
I will check scores in class

Mr. Potatohead – extra credit (5pts)

Recipe HTML and CSS
Finish media queries
chrome web developer, browser width

Principles of Typography | Typography tutorial
Class Notes – week 8

Adobe Kuler – color schemes
CSS Grid Layout

WORKSHOP: Recipe Projects

  • validate your project
  • make sure your stylesheet is mobile first, followed by media queries for larger sizes
  • do not copy all css for media queries, only css that you want to change
  • you need at least one media query, but you may have as many as you need
  • may attention to visual hierarchy at all levels
  • style links
  • have a footer with link(s) to your source(s)
  • format your html and css so that it is readable: tab in for nested elements, keep alignments

 


Week 9—Narrative Design

Assignment: Come to class on Thursday with a Narrative Project idea

M October 19

Color slides
Adobe Kuler – color schemes

Due: Recipe project
View Recipe Project

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Narrative Project Notes

Narrative Project 15%

Build a responsive, 1-5 page website that follows a sequential path or linear progression. For example: a how-to sequence or instruction,  a story, a comic, a brief biography, a narrative about a past event.  You must include text, images and/or other media, like audio, video or gif animations. In class, we will discuss narrative sequencing, navigation, visual rhythm and hierarchy along with the basics of responsive design and scroll animations.

Your grade in this assignment will be based on your effort and thoughtful consideration of:

  • responsive design
  • typography
  • html and css syntax and formatting
  • sequential content (text and media)

Brainstorm ideas…

WORKSHOP: Narrative Projects

  • gather media and create site architecture – index cards
  • design for visual hierarchy – sketch plan
  • build structure and navigation/pagination of site (wireframe) – html, colored borders
  • add media and design elements – css, color and typography
  • add interactivity and effects – javascript/jquery
  • revise and edit: narrative, closure, time frames

 

Skrollr

 


Week 10— Spring Break

M October 26

No Class

 


Week 11— Navigation and Interaction

Assignment: Plan and sketch designs for Narrative Project

M November 2

Class Notes – week 10

WORKSHOP: Build HTML/CSS

 


Week 12— Multimedia and Effects

Assignment: Narrative Projects

M November 9

Class Notes – week 10

Narrative Project – in progress

WORKSHOP: Build HTML/CSS

  • gather media and create site architecture – index cards
  • design for visual hierarchy – sketch plan
  • build structure and navigation/pagination of site (wireframe) – html, colored borders
  • add media and design elements – css, color and typography
  • add interactivity and effects – javascript/jquery
  • revise and edit: narrative, closure, time frames

 


Week 13—Workshop & Critique

M November 16

DUE: nearly complete Narrative Project for critique (10% of final grade) 

Narrative Project

Small-group critique
WORKSHOP

Intro to Portfolio Project:


Week 14—Intro: Portfolio Project

Assignment: Research/Sketch Portfolio Projects

M November 23 

THANKSIGIVING

DUE: Narrative Projects

Narrative Project
Project Workshop

HTML5 Start with Reset

HTML5 Start with Grid

Process for Designing Portfolio:

  • Research site ideas (screen grabs, inspect element)
  • Storyboard/Sketch a multipage website (minimum 4 pages or sections)
  • Gather media and copy (images, screen grabs of projects, text)
  • Build HTML
  • CSS for responsive design and navigation (colored borders)
  • Add Content
  • Final CSS design

RESPONSIVE DESIGN PRINCIPLES:

  • mobile first! – default css is for mobile
  • flexible design (using % instead of px)
  • width: auto; is default and adjusts padding and margins
  • cascade principle -location and inheritance
     (only change styles that need to change)
  • max-width and min-width (set limit with max or min width)
  • height values are tricky! use by pixels or set height on parent
  • responsive images (100% of container parent or img {width: 100%;})
  • breakpoints based on design not device
  • turning off iOS resize:

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">

Media Queries Overview

How to Make a Nav Bar

Fontpair

CSS Grid:

WORKSHOP: Portfolio Project
Build HTML structure /page templates


Week 15— Portfolio Project Workshop

M November 30

WORKSHOP: Portfolio Project

Build CSS stylesheet

Portfolio Projects

Class evaluations

Mr. Potatohead – extra credit (5pts)

Web Development Process
Checklist

  • Validate!
  • resize images for web
  • no autoplay on audio (use <audio>)
  • wrapper under 1000px
  • h1 in header should be your name (or site name)
  • do not change navigation placement or tabs
  • navigation, screen real estate, above the fold
  • div alignment
  • make site responsive with media queries ( images 100% of container)
  • no lorem ipsum / real content!
  • format html/css to see errors

Put this in the head to fix auto resizing in iOS devices:

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">

WORKSHOP: Portfolio Project
Build CSS stylesheet

Upload Sites

Portfolio Projects

 


Week 16 – Portfolio Project Workshop

M December 8

Evaluations…

DUE: Bring (nearly) complete Portfolio sites to class – 10%
Small-group critique: Portfolio Projects

Portfolio Projects

Final Projects Due (TBA)
Class overview