Project 2: Instructions
Due: March 31

Project 2 will be a reconstruction of your current class index page. For this project you have the freedom to create your own design, and use any of the skills you've learned as we've done our demos and Project 1.

The mandatory sections you'll have will include

• Information About Yourself, on the index.html page. This is anything you find pertinent to this class, why you're taking it, what you are learning, etc. etc.
• Demos (10 total)
• Projects include Project 1 of course, Project 2 (you can just explain that this is Project 2, or just don't include it in the list), and the Final)
• Written Assignments. These should be in .doc form or .pdf. So far there has been the Final Project Brainstorm and Assignment 2 (if you'd like to re-name Assignment 2 to be "Comparative Essay" or something like that, that's fine). There will also be a Client Proposal and a Site Plan coming in the future.

For future assignments (Such as Project 3, it's a good idea to create a "dead" link now and then make it active once it's done.

In addition to these links you can also include any other information you wish, such as links to your artwork, other class websites, or some of your favorite sites you like to visit.

Design Goals:

• Create a user-friendly interface. Reflect on the design lecture (notes can be found at http://courses.wccnet.org/~tnielsen/design-lecture.htm). As you plan the project, think of the user's experience as you decide where to place navigation and graphical elements. Also remember to use good color choices that provide subtlety, contrast, and a pleasing visual experience for the user.
  
• Provide consistency in your navigation scheme, font choices, and color. Leave a clear path from one page to another so that the user will know where he/she is at all times.
  
• Use Cascading Style Sheets exclusively to control the background color and text size, color, and weight (including links). No font tags should be used whatsoever.
  
• Test every link, as you go and when you're finished, to make sure all links working properly. Any demos, homework assignments, or projects that are linked from this class site must open in a blank window.
  
• Be creative! This is a chance to show off your own talents rather than using something pre-made. Creativity will be a large part of your grade for Project 2.
  

Step One: Prepare. Work on Directory Structure/Sitemap, Sketches, Storyboards
Due: March 22

• Directory Structure Diagram/Sitemap. This is the same idea that we had in Project 1 with the Directory Structure Diagram. This should be fairly simple for this project but for the Final it will get more involved. Please see Chapter 7 of Web Design Workshop for more information.
  
• Sketches. Refer to the handouts of previous students' work:
  
  http://courses.wccnet.org/~tnielsen/nabi1_web.jpg
  http://courses.wccnet.org/~tnielsen/nabi2_web.jpg
  http://courses.wccnet.org/~tnielsen/nabi3_web.jpg
  
  and
  
  http://courses.wccnet.org/~tnielsen/kathy1_web.jpg
  http://courses.wccnet.org/~tnielsen/kathy2_web.jpg
  
  As shown in these drawings, begin the creative process with sketches of how you'd like to present the information. With simple sketches you might flesh out any graphical elements you want to create for your project.
  
  
• Storyboards. Storyboards show what each page will look like, so you have something to work from as a reference tool (again, see handouts of previous students work).

The next steps will be:

1. Create your interface in Photoshop.
   
2. Bring it into Imageready to begin slicing, figuring out dimensions of images. Please provide a copy of your layout sketch by March 24.
   
3. Create the page layout sketches (or ImageReady print-outs) for each page, showing the exact dimensions of your images. Same thing we did for Project 1.
   
4. Code and test.