MAS – Web Design 1 Outline

WEEK 1
-Introduction
-Grading and class goals.
-Get to know fellow classmates.
-Who makes sites and who’s on a web development team?
-The web design process
-Getting Started
-Skills Assessment (Typography, Color Theory, Software background)
-Hardware Advice
-Software Advice
-What is HTML?
-Should You Learn HTML
-HTML & WYSIWYG Editors
-HTML Terminology Explained

WEEK 2
-Review of web terms and technology.
-Web design process:
-Start to Finsh
-Strategy Defining Your Goals
-Helping a Client define their goals
-How to do a site map
-Storyboarding
-Flowcharting
-Brainstorming
-Navigation
-Approaches
-Site Structure
-Metaphors
-Decontructing sites: Surf and see!

WEEK 3
-Linking Basics
-Creating Links
-What is CSS
-Why use CSS
-Using DIV and SPAN
-setting a class or id attribute
-Turning Off Borders using CSS
-setting WIDTH & HEIGHT
-setting the ALT attribute
-using Thumbnails
-linking to Other Media,
-CSS Background Studies (Tiles & Tiling Backgrounds,
-Pattern Sizes, Full-Screen Backgrounds,Background Code, Seamless Tiles)

WEEK 4
-Type & Size Differences
-Web File Formats: Bitmap(raster) or Vector?
-Lossy or Lossless, GIF, JPEG, PNG
-File Size and Downloading Speed,
-Making Small JPEGs, GIFs, PNGs
-Anti-Aliasing vs. Aliasing, Dithering & Banding
-Hybrid Images (Using HTML to fill Image space)
-Batch Processing,
-What size do we make our layouts?
-Screen Resolution

WEEK 5
Presentation: Color Theory
Guest Presenter: Joel Starkey
Areas to be covered:
-Color Aesthetics
-Color Vocabulary Terms
-Color Schemes
-Contrast
-Color Relationships
-Readability
-Color Hierarchy
-Balance & Harmony
————
-Color Calibration Issues RGB Versus CMYK,
-Helpful URLs
-Using Kuler to select colors.
-Color HTML Tags
-Color Attributes,
-BODY Colors, link Colors, font Color

WEEK 6
-Photoshop Techniques
-What is Web Transparency?
-Faking Transparency
-GIF Transparency
-Problems with Glows
-Tools & Techniques
-PNG Transparency

WEEK 7
SEO – Search Engine Optimization
(Possible guest speaker)

WEEK 8
-HTML Based vs Graphic Based Typography.
-Typography – Georgia & Verdana…
-Font Embedding with Flash.

WEEK 9
Instructor reviews all projects to suggest project revisions for WEEK 10 evaluation.

WEEK 10
10th week evaluation.

WEEK 11
Projects are judged for exhibit.