Mindtracks

Due to being ill last week I hope to cover as much as possible this week.

Web CT at ANU all tech notes are on this site.

Discussion and description of the course.

This course covers Web Design and Network Literacy for designer makers and visual artists. The course introduces e-commerce for designers and as such it is expected that students will host their own site and register their own domain name.
In addition to web design and mastering the tools required to publish to the web, a key area of this course is developing skills and understanding Network Literacy. In other words how to represent, think, write, promote, market and engage with others online. Students develop an understanding of the social, creative, ideological, legal, and ethical implications of publication in the context of an online network. Apart from the technical skills of developing a website the course covers developments such as social software, creative production online and the implications for designer makers.
Students plan, produce and publish a web site that may assist them in their professional life as designers and visual artists. Content is created using Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Dreamweaver. Apart from website design and construction students engage with Web 2.0 technologies, RSS, blogging software and its use, as well as web design issues such as accessibility, usability, statistics collection, legal issues associated with copyright, and search engine optimisation.

Attendance requirements

Assessment procedures and criteria are on the Web CT site

Class presentations

Proposals Due Week 6 (normally they would be due in week 4 but I have pushed the date back due to me not being here for 2 weeks)

Developing a Work Proposal

Keeping a visual journal in semester 1 and a blog in semester 2

Planning on the Web CT see Planning: Or taking control of your project not having your project is controlling you.

How to take a screen shot or screen capture. The tech notes for this are on the Web CT site

Building a website and promoting it in a Web 2.0 world - What is Web 2.0?
How can all this effect a designer maker or visual artist ?

Discussion references

Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us a crash course in Web2.0 created by a group of Kansas State University students at Digital Ethnography at Kansas State University. A transcription of the text is available on the site.

Introductory discussion examples

Flickr

YouTube

bloglines

del.icio.us

technorati

DeviantArt.com caters to all types of artists and there is some very good material there. Of course there is some bad too but then I have also seen some very doubtful stuff hang in galleries too.

Some blogs to take a look at

Craft Monkeys Check out the print shop area

Design Sponge check out the shop

tsk tsk

Danny Gregory’s site Every Day Matters

Drawn

For finding other blogs check out google blog search

References and further reading

I would like everyone to read Seth Godin’s Small is the new big

This is a good news story for anyone interested in using web2.0 technologies to promote their work BBC signs YouTube gadget reviewer Susi Weaser, posted regular 2 minute technology reviews to you tube and it won her a position with the BBC

Here is a success story from flickr

Browse Blog Bib particularly parts 1 and 2

A Definition of Web2.0 in Wikapedia

In Now It’s Your Turn Time magazine suggests that

… individuals are changing the nature of the information age, that the creators and consumers of user-generated content are transforming art and politics and commerce, that they are the engaged citizens of a new digital democracy.

Another article in same edition is Enough About You

Web 2.0: What’s Hot and What’s Not makes the point that a third of the top internet sites are Web2.0

Web 2.0 Growing Faster Than Online Video, News by Mark Walsh also points out that Web2.0 is the fastest-growing category on the Web

Planning a site and thinking about Navigation

Examining Navigation models

Deciding on the scope of your site

Modular design what is it and why use it

Planning for expansion in the future

Internet business models and how they apply to designer/makers and visual artists:

Advertising
Acting as an agent to sell to other people
Build a site to to be bought
Selling your own product

References On Navigation and site design

webstyle guide by Patrick Lynch and Sarah Horton

Martijn van Welie is an interface designer and usability specialist who has put together a collection of Web Design patterns . Of particular interest is the section on Navigation and the example of an Artist site

Four Modes of Seeking Information and How to Design for Them by Donna Maurer

Bryan Eisenberg discusses methods of determining the importance of various elements on a Web page in Five Critical and Overlooked Design Elements.

Where Am I? by Derek Powazek

Essential Navigation Checklists for Web Design

The Basics of Navigation by Sean Timberlake

The Rules of Navigation by Jesse James Garrett

A flying menu attack can wound your navigation by Shorewalker

The Website Layouts Cookbook is a visual reference of over 500 website layouts. I do not suggest that students copy these but they are ideal to prompts to get ideas flowing particularly when you don’t where to start.

Other references

Andrew Johnson of Andrew Johnson’s Web Publishing blog has written Internet Business Models

For other less conventional ways of making money online which may or may not work see 10 New Ways to Make Money Online

People seek for information in different ways depending upon their needs. Some times they may be looking for a particular fact such as when did an event take place. Or they may be looking for information on how to make or do something. These people are looking to the net to answer a particular question. They know what the question is and use such things as a search field to find it.

However they may simply be browsing the net more for pleasure and stimulation in this case they do not know what information they want as they are in a different mode of enquiry. How they navigate your site will be different. What are people looking for on your site? How are people going to find information on your site? What mode of enquiry are they in are they just curious and browsing or are they seeking particular types of information?

In Four Modes of Seeking Information and How to Design for Them Donna Maurer divides the way people seek information into Known-item, Exploratory, Don’t know what you need to know and Re-finding and points to ways of catering to these needs.

Maurer concludes

The most important issue is not whether you notice a mode of seeking information that fits into one of these categories, but that a range of modes exist. Observe how your users approach information, consider what it means, and design to allow them to achieve what they need

Blogflux has published a good Webhosting FAQ

Josiah Cole has put together a list of 19 Things NOT To Do When Building a Website . This list relates to business sites but I found myself nodding in agreement with ALL of them.

Web Developer Jonathan Snook has published his Top CSS Tips

Often textile designs are made up of repeating patterns that when broken down are simple shapes. Small design elements are simply put into a repeat pattern across a cloth. Illustrator is an ideal program to do this task and creating the elements is easy.

How to Make Custom Swooshes, Swirls, and Curls using Illustrator is a tutorial provided by Bittbox which many students of textile design will find useful.

A roundup of Tutorials on photo retouching has been published by Tutorial blog.

Bryan Eisenberg discusses methods of determining the importance of various elements on a Web page in Five Critical and Overlooked Design Elements. He goes on to suggest methods of prioritising and positioning those elements using contrast.

Eisenberg also covers user expectations and perceptions some of the advice in this section such as Shopping Cart/Checkout links should be near the upper right corner and the contact information in the footer is formulaic and will change over time as users expectations change. That said the article is a useful summary aof some items to consider when designing a page.

The New Media Literacies project is a community orientated website which aims at developing both hands on and a theoretical frameworks for K-12 students. In collaborative learning environments students learn technical skills and conceptual frameworks to help them think about the role of media in their lives.

Thanks to Mindsigh for the link

Bert Monroy of PixelPerfect with has explained the often misunderstood and frustrating pen tool in photoshop. Episode 18 is a quicktime video devoted to just that tool. Other Episodes in the series are found on the PixelPerfect site