requirements

There are four preliminary, one major assignment, and a blog required for 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. This site should be separate from your final project, although elements of the preliminary assignments may appear in your final project. In addition, you are required to make one post to your blog each week as well as one comment on another’s post each week. Those who make more than one comment will have their names writ in heaven, e.g. the gradebook. Reference your comment by furnishing a text link (Comment on Steve's Post, #2: Loving Design) in your own blog to the permalink of the post.

The course assignments will be weighted as follows: (1) CSS Assignment (10%); 2) Type Project (10%); 3) Image Project (10%); (4) Design Project (10%); (5) blog—including posts and comments (15%); (6) final project (25%); 7) collaborative project (20%); and (7) a self-evaluation (1 page, typed, single-spaced) assessing your performance in the course (not graded but required).

css assignment (preliminary)

For this assignment, you can choose between two options:

Option 1. Create a standards-compliant, XHTML/CSS home page for your portfolio that includes a header, footer, content area, and nav (with the various assignments as menu items) from scratch. In other words, hand code a page. Or, use a bare-bones layout. Usable, bare-bones layouts are available from the following: Stylin’, LayoutGala, or StyleMaster’s Layout Wizard. (You can download the examples from the text, Stylin' from the Stylin' website.) Concentrate on creating a solid layout and visual identity (color scheme, font, images) for your portfolio site. At a minimum, do the following:

Part 2. Using a more sophisticated template (commercial or otherwise) from any web source, create a web page that includes your content. Good examples can be found at: Andreas Viklund, OpenWebDesign, or 4Templates. The page should contain a header, nav, content area, and footer. Once you have made your choice, revise the template, making the following changes—at a minimum:

Concentrate on creating a solid layout and visual identity from the template (color scheme, font, images) for your portfolio site.

type assignment (preliminary)

The goals of this assignment are to demonstrate that you are aware of word processing conventions, CSS, and can use type as both an element in information and aesthetic design. For this assignment, create a web page that includes (or takes into account) the following:

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 might find a good fonts at one of the following:

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. Note that combining techniques in a single image is perfectly acceptable. For this assignment, create a web page that includes the following:

One “page” of the project should be added to your web portfolio. Although there are any number of image sources, these are among the best:

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, colors, and layout 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. You may find some design inspiration at the following:

individual project (final)

The overarching goal for the major project is the creation of a modest, reasonably 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 should demonstrate standards-based, accessible design, including a print style sheet. In other words, the site should have passed validation tests for both its XHTML and CSS. Fourth, the site’s design should also reflect knowledge of typography, layout, color, and graphic design. Finally, there should be some effort make toward interactivity or online community building.

collaborative project (final)

This year, the class will undertake a collaborative project using Omeka. We will decide on a subject, collect objects, documents, or other resources related to the subject to create an exhibit. Each member of the class will be responsible for ferreting out ten items pertinent to the subject, preparing them for digital display, adding metadata, and uploading them to the website. Those students who take on other tasks—developing the metadata schema or designing the digitization protocol will be responsible for fewer objects. Because this is a new project, additional information will be forthcoming as the class progresses.