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The requirements for the course are as follows: (1) Type Project (20%); 2) Image Project (20%); (2) Design Project (20%); (3) Web Project (40%); and (4) a self-evaluation (1 page, typed, single-spaced) assessing your performance in the course (not graded but required)
There are three preliminary and one major assignment in the course. All of the assignments should be part of a website (a web portfolio) that includes a home page and navigation to the various assignments. At the conclusion of each assignment, the link to the assignment should be forwarded to the instructor for inclusion on the instructor’s course page. The specific assignments are:
1) Type Assignment (preliminary)
The goals of this assignment are to demonstrate that you are aware of word processing conventions and CSSas well as the use of type as both an element in information and aesthetic design. For this assignment, create a web page that includes (on takes into account) the following:
1. title
2. navigation
3. subheads
4. leading
5. line length
6. “space after/before”
7. a call out
8. a rule
9. an image
10. endnotes
11. a block quotation
Because this assignment is meant to underpin your final web project, it would be a good idea to think about your project’s time period or subject and look for fonts that can contribute to the “look and feel” as well as the “legibility and readability” your project. One “page” of the project should be added to your web portfolio.
You are not required to buy the fonts, unless you wish to do so. (Just as one can never be too rich or too thin, one can never have too many fonts.) Although there are many online font sources, here are a few places to begin: Eyewire (a premiere site with lots of stuff), Adobe (the mothership), Fonts & Things (free Wintel fonts), The Font Fairy (free Mac fonts), fonts.com (Agfa & Monotype fonts), Atomic Media (pixel-based fonts for Flash), Pixel Fonts (more pixel-based fonts for Flash), myfonts.com (carries many small foundries), t.26 (outrageous fonts with pizzazz), P22 (good for historical fonts), and the Scriptorium (a variety of fonts). For a very interesting font, take a look at LTR’s Federal or Walden Fonts (purveyors of 18th & 19th century fonts and German black letter—take a look at Magick).
2) Image Assignment (preliminary)
The goals of this assignment are to demonstrate your mastery of image editing skills, color, and composition as well as the use of images to tell or illustrate a historical narrative. The narrative should be an account of the steps that you took to achieve the effects or a historical essay that includes the requirements. Note that combining techniques in a single image is perfectly acceptable. For this assignment, create a web page that includes the following:
1. cropped & resized image
2. a restored photograph
3. a hand-colored photograph
4. a vignetted photograph
5. an abstracted engraving
6. a “before & after”
One “page” of the project should be added to your web portfolio. |
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Images of varying quality can be found by searching the web. Several starting places are: HarpWeek (Thomas Nast), American Memory (pictorial envelopes), National Archives, Illustrated Envelopes, Corbis ($) and the Mary Evans Picture Library ($).
3. Design Assignment (preliminary)
The goals of this assignment are to demonstrate your understanding of design and its application to the presentation of history on web. To that end, choose a historical period or topic and develop a web page design appropriate to the period.
For example, if you elect to do a colonial site, the fonts, layout, illustrations, and colors should reflect the colonial period. In other words, compose a web page that integrates a design theme into its typography, composition, color, and layout so that it enhances the presentation of the historical content and creates a visual identity for a prospective site. The assignment should also implement correct typography and layout strategies. Once you have finished, add the page to your class web portfolio.
The art section in the University Library and at Borders and other large book store, stock reasonably priced design period texts. There are literallyhundreds of places online. Here are several places to begin: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943 (example of period design), ArtLex (for design history), The Bridgeman Art Library (essays and links to online images—available through the University Libraries Databases).
4. Web Site (final)
The overarching goal for the major project is the creation of a sophisticated history web site. First, the content should be solid and engaging. Second, the site should be clear in its purpose and potential audience. Third, the site navigational interface should facilitate navigation and access to the information. And fourth, the site’s design should also reflect knowledge of typography and font usage (CSS), layout, color, and competent graphic design. Finally, there should be some effort make toward interactivity or online community building. |
