1. class: Introduction to Web-design & Coding
2. term: 2nd semester
3. description:
4. The content of this course is both technical and artistic. Design topics such as layout, composition, and color are taught together with coding concepts and issues of functionality. Throughout, students are encouraged to remain rigorous in their efforts to keep organized coding and file/folder structuring practices as well. They are introduced both to HTML5 and CSS through a variety of theoretical and practical exercises which culminates in a small website for the final project.
5. In this project, each student is required to explore the full breadth of project-making, from conception to construction. Starting early in the term, they explore possibilities through sketches and storyboards, using them to refine their ideas week-by-week. This leads to mockups and proposals in graphic applications such as Illustrator or Photoshop; and then finally, in the final 5 weeks of the course, to coding the resulting design.
6. Typically, I will propose a project that involves creating a website for a fictional art gallery. They are then given the specifics of the site required and the raw materials for constructing it. We usually visit nearby galleries in person and view the websites to gauge the relationship between the physical and digital spaces. In various discussions, we tease out the possible reasons for the galleries’ particular design choices in typography, layout, and color. This type of business  requires that they weigh the value of the design they create against the value of the content presented in the design. Furthermore, they must also explore the full breadth of web-design, which includes image manipulation and editing.

(click on the images below to view the fully-functional sites)