Sessions28
- Part IProject 1: Single Page Website, MVP
- 01Wed Jan 20Welcome back
- 02Mon Jan 25Snow day
- 03Wed Jan 27Design process
- 04Mon Feb 1Mobile first and prototyping
- 05Wed Feb 3Patterns
- 06Mon Feb 8Prototype workshop, project check-in
- 07Wed Feb 10Memes and participatory culture
- 08Mon Feb 15Snow day
- 09Wed Feb 17Project 1 presentations, and typography
- Part IIProject 2: Content Management Systems
- 10Mon Feb 22Content management systems
- 11Wed Feb 24Responsive web design
- 12Mon Feb 29Preprocessors, and workshop
- 13Wed Mar 2Workshop
- Mar 7No class
- Mar 9No class
- 14Mon Mar 14Workshop
- 15Wed Mar 16One-on-one meetings, and workshop
- 16Mon Mar 21Workshop
- 17Wed Mar 23Workshop
- 18Mon Mar 28Project 2 presentations
- Part IIIFinal: Portfolio Site
- 19Wed Mar 30Your work
- 20Mon Apr 4Beauty in web design
- 21Wed Apr 6Portfolios: inspiration, aspiration, and limitations
- 22Mon Apr 11Portfolios: patterns in code
- 23Wed Apr 13Showing your work: portfolio workshop
- 24Mon Apr 18Project 3 workshop
- 25Wed Apr 20Cross-browser testing, and workshop
- 26Mon Apr 25Workshop and snippets
- 27Wed Apr 27Final workshop
- 28Mon May 2Project 3 crits: final day of class
AVT 415 · George Mason University · Spring 2016
Readings
25 readings · 13 of 28 classes
Everything the term assigns, in the order it is read. The ones the library holds open in the same reader the rest of the house uses, and remember where you stopped; the ones it does not open outward, at the address the ledger records. Each block says which class it is read for.
Part I · Project 1: Single Page Website, MVP
- January3 sessions
Welcome back
First class: a quick test of technical ability, the tools set up — Slack, GitHub, Codepen, Atom — and what the internet actually is
1 reading
Read before class- Don't Fear the Internetepisodes 1 to 4Watch now ↗
Snow day
Class asynchronous: the exercise posted to Slack, the process reading assigned for Wednesday
3 readings
Read before class- Duckett, HTML & CSSintro, chs. 1 and 2
- Chimero, "Designers vs Coding"
- Frost, "Atomic Design"talk, videoWatch now ↗
Design process
The responsive design process end to end, and the District Taco exercise: brand audit, proto-personas, style tiles, a mobile-first wireframe
2 readings
Read before class- Duckett, HTML & CSSchs. 3 to 8
- Krug, Don't Make Me Thinkintro, chs. 1 to 4
- February9 sessions
Mobile first and prototyping
What designing mobile-first actually means, and hands-on prototyping in Invision. Project 1 opens
3 readings
Read before class- Wroblewski, "Mobile First"talk, videoWatch now ↗
- Duckett, HTML & CSSchs. 10 to 12
- Krug, Don't Make Me Thinkchs. 6 and 7
Patterns
Conventions are your friend: visual hierarchy, what is clickable, why the hamburger menu costs more than it looks
2 readings
Read before class- Duckett, HTML & CSSchs. 13 to 15
- Shifman, Memes in Digital Cultureall, for the seminar
Prototype workshop, project check-in
Work session on Project 1 prototypes, Shifman finished for Wednesday's seminar
Memes and participatory culture
The first named debate: how images move, mutate and mean online, argued from Shifman
1 reading
Read before class- Shifman, Memes in Digital Culture
Snow day
The second snow day: structure and layout reading posted in place of class
2 readings
Read before class- Duckett, HTML & CSSchs. 13 and 15
- "CSS Floats 101" and "CSS Positioning 101"A List ApartRead now ↗
Project 1 presentations, and typography
The one-page sites presented, then web typography: the web is 95 percent type
2 readings
Part II · Project 2: Content Management Systems
Content management systems
Project 2 opens: the site becomes a system someone else can update, and design has to survive real content
2 readings
Read before classResponsive web design
Fluid grids, flexible media, breakpoints: the technique under everything the course builds
Preprocessors, and workshop
Writing styles like a system: variables, nesting, partials, then hands on Project 2
- March7 sessions
Workshop
Project 2 work session and desk crits
No class
Spring Break. The university is closed; the ledger skips the day.
No class
Spring Break. The university is closed; the ledger skips the day.
Workshop
Back from break: Project 2 work session
One-on-one meetings, and workshop
Individual project reviews while the room works. The beauty readings begin
2 readings
Read before classWorkshop
Last work session before Project 2 presents
2 readings
Read before class- Bowles, "Beauty in Web Design, part 3"Read now ↗
- "What Makes Something Beautiful"Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial, NYTRead now ↗
Project 2 presentations
The CMS sites presented and critiqued
Part III · Final: Portfolio Site
Your work
Turning toward the portfolio: what you have, what it says about you
- April8 sessions
Beauty in web design
The second named debate: what aesthetic judgment is for in a medium ruled by conventions. Project 3 opens
1 reading
Read before class- The seminar reading listsix pieces, collectedRead now ↗
Portfolios: inspiration, aspiration, and limitations
What a portfolio is for, and what the good ones do
Portfolios: patterns in code
The portfolio's common structures, taken apart in code
Showing your work: portfolio workshop
Work session: the portfolio's content before its chrome
Project 3 workshop
Work session and desk crits
Cross-browser testing, and workshop
The work checked where it will actually be seen
Workshop and snippets
Work session; useful patterns traded as code snippets
Final workshop
Last working day before crits
- May1 session
Project 3 crits: final day of class
The portfolios presented; the semester closed
Final critique: the portfolio
The portfolio presented; attendance at critique mandatory