Overview
Class Time: Mondays and Wednesdays 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm
Professor: Casondra Sobieralski
Email: cmsobieralski@nmhu.edu

Website: http://www.pelefire.com/designfortheweb2013
Office: Douglass Hall 239S
Office Hours: Mon & Wed 1:00 - 2:45; Tues 3:30 - 5:00 pm
Reading
Required: Mark Boulton’s Designing for the Web: http://designingfortheweb.co.uk/book/
Suggested: Lynda Weinman. Designing Web Graphics, 4th Edition. Berkeley: Peach Pit Press, 2003.
Course Description
This course will cover the creation of intelligent, organized, and accessible Web Sites. Students will learn industry standard tools and techniques and will have portfolio ready sites that are based on the industry grid.
General Objectives
The primary goal of the semester is to become familiar with web design aesthetics and proficient with web design software. The course will cover color systems, assignments that prepare bitmap images and vector graphics, and the css/html environment.
Specific Objectives
Using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver students will make an entry into web development, as well as, intermediate to advanced level Web design courses.
Students will also be able to operate digital cameras and scanners as means to gather initial inspiration and research.
Methods
The course will consist of lectures, software demonstrations, hands-on experience, inside and outside exercises, and projected critiques. There is no printing for class critiques.
Guidelines for Solid Web Design
- good design meets the needs of the audience/client, including differently abled users
- good production loads virtually the same across platform/browser
- good information architecture and structure is ORGANIZED!
- Good design considers information architecture (including database architecture), font legibility/typography, and preparing images and rich media.
Accessibility
This is a crucial sub-area of design and production. It is actually the law. Thus all web developers should understand current standards of accessibility. (Accessibility is about making web information available to people with greater vision, hearing, or physical limitations than average.)