Today we had an introduction to Moodboards and the role they play in the planning stage of a website. The class notes PDF also has a resource list (for downloading photos, fonts, icons, etc.) and the Moodboards Assignment.
Following a brief review of the Web Design Basics homework we will have an Introduction to Photoshop Layers. Layers are critical to all of the work we will be doing in Photoshop. They, along with selections, will make or break your moodboards and design comp assignments.
The Photoshop Layers Tutorial (above) has the homework/lab assignment instructions in it. You will need these two images to do the assignment which is due by the start of Tuesday’s class.
In today’s class we will be having an Introduction to Photoshop and creating Selections in Photoshop (PDF tutorials attached). We will be using Photoshop as a layout and design tool for upcoming Moodboard and Design Comp assignments.
For homework, before Thursday’s class you need to read Basics of Website Design (PDF) as well as Principles of Web Design (PDF and referenced webpages from within the PDF).
Today we covered a brief introduction to the internet/web. I started with a quick overview on how the internet works (HTML files, web servers, domain names, DNS, common content file types) and then reviewed the handout on JPEG Files. Remember, JPEGs are best for photographs while GIFs are best for images with solid colors.
The homework is to read an article on The History of the Internet. Optional articles to read (if you want more information) are How does the Internet work?, and a short series on the filetypes of JPEG, GIF and PNG.
Well, here we are starting MSP5-Introduction to Web Design for Spring 2009!
Today’s class is a basic intro to the class: covering the Syllabus (assignments, grading, course content, etc.), taking Attendance, starting a Wait List, and letting us get to know each other just a bit.
While this first blog entry of the semester only links to the Syllabus, each one for the rest of the semester will give you a brief summary of class and link to any tutorials and materials that I hand out in class. I’ll also post occasionally with items that I think would be of interest to you, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the blog (it does have an RSS feed for those of you utilizing an RSS reader).
Welcome and see you in class!
Website footers can also be thought of as simple bits tacked on the bottom of a webpage. Sure, they have useful information, but typically aren’t anything special. Here’s a link I just found on GreepIt! of 40+ Nice and Creative Website Footer Designs.
Many people are frustrated at the limited number of fonts available when designing websites. Of course you can use any font you would like, as long as you make it into a graphic, but that eliminates the advantages of live text (search engine optimization, enlarging text to enhance reading, etc.). I just finished reading an interesting article on Web Font Stacks on the SitePoint website where they have developed 8 font sets each made up of Windows, Mac and Linux fonts. As with the default font stacks, the users browser starts at the beginning of the list and stops once it finds a font that their computer has available. Basically this just gives the designer a few more choices.
Our class Final is scheduled for Monday, December 15th, from 4-6pm in SSF101. Make sure that you bring your final project site root folder (all HTML files and images) along with one sliced Fireworks file to turn in.
Here is a Dreamweaver tutorial with information about Site Reports, Link Checking, Web Hosting and Uploading Your Site.
HTML Goodies has a brief tutorial on embedding YouTube videos on a webpage. Of course you would paste the referenced code into your page in Code View of Dreamweaver.