Week 13

Content population techniques and tricks

navigation

• About For Reference
  How to use this information 
• Thumbnail Gallery
  Creating a Thumbnail Gallery with the OnClick Behavior 
• Scrolling Thumbnails
  Use a DIV tag to add scrolling thumbnails to your page 
• Adding Video to Your Page
  Add video clips to your page 
• Rotating Images On a Page
  Rotating images on a page using Javascript

 

Reference files for this week:

VIDEOS

Review the FREE Adobe videos below on templates and prebuilt layouts in Dreamweaver.

• LAYERS TV: Creating and Using Templates
  NOTE – start the video at the 5:45 time stamp (skip the Illustrator portion) 
• Rapidly building layouts (using prebuilt HTML pages)
  Creating Templates
  NOTE – this video is based in CS3, but the same concepts still apply
• Using Templates
  NOTE – this video is based in CS3, but the same concepts still apply

Week 12

Info from this weeks reading:

Browser Shots
Browsershots makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers. It is a free open-source online service. When you submit your website URL, it will be added to the job queue.

More Info: http://browsershots.org/

Micro Stock Sites

iStockPhoto is a well known Micro Stock Site that features amateur photographers and digital artists and their work for sale for a few dollars per image. This is a great resource for comping or placeholders and you can purchase them one at a time.

http://www.istockphoto.com

Killer Web Content – Article about why content is king

CSS Cheat Sheet – About.com has done a great job summarizing styles, syntax and properties and their values!

CSS Page Layout Basics – Using the CSS Layouts that are included with Dreamweaver, you can select a premade CSS layout to use and customize in Dreamweaver. 

Week 11

Below are 2 links for my design comps:

Home Page

http://bcts-potomac.aacc.edu/CAT/cat16/FINAL_PROJECT/Design_Comps/Design_Comp_Home_EllenMoore.gif

Contact Page:

http://bcts-potomac.aacc.edu/CAT/cat16/FINAL_PROJECT/Design_Comps/Design_Comp_contact_EllenMoore.gif

Links from reading:

Reading: ARTICLES

1. Read Understanding CSS
   A general review of CSS rules, and the application of CSS. 
2. Estimating Your Time
   A great article on estimating time for a project.

How we really use the web
Sample book chapter with great resources 

Reading: ARTICLES

1.     Read Understanding CSS
A general review of CSS rules, and the application of CSS. 

2.     Estimating Your Time
A great article on estimating time for a project.

How we really use the web
Sample book chapter with great resources

Week 10

Welcome back from Spring break everyone!

Below are links to my design comps (1st cut for home page) for our final project:

Design Comp 1 – Ellen Moore

Design Comp 2 – Ellen Moore

References from Week 10:

Articles/Websites

• The Benefits of Slicing Images – Jim Babbage explains why it’s beneficial to slice and dice images for the web.
• Exporting CSS and Images in Fireworks CS4 – Review the article and screenshots for a better understanding of the export feature available in Fireworks CSS. (Be sure to review all three pages)
• Greeking Generator – use this website to create “dummy” placeholder text, or “greeked” text to use in your designs or storyboards ( http://www.lipsum.com/ )

Week 9

Yeah!!! Spring break.

Below are links to this weeks assignments:

• Designing with a Grid-Based Approach – an excellent (albeit long) summary of using the grid to design websites
• Dao of Web Design – a timeless article from A List Apart
• Blasting the Myth of Above the Fold – by Milissa Tarquini – a veteran of AOL, Milissa talks about her research in usability based on designs that extend beyond the fold of the traditional page. Be sure to read all of the reader comments at the bottom.
• Five Principles to Design By… – Good design is much more than making something look pretty, it’s all about problem solving.

Review each of the videos below, and post links to them on your blogs:

• The Complete Design Process >>
• Common Mistakes Print Designers Make On The Web >>

Week 8

These 8 weeks have been sailing by.  With 3 classes, all I know is school work.  At least I have family that understands 🙂

After reading about fonts in “The Principles of Beautiful Web Design” I am a new creature.  I will never, ever see fonts the same way again!  I have read about fonts in different books, but for some reason, the information was broken down in a more practical way.  I absorbed the info so much last night that I had dreams about Serif & Sans Serif fonts lol 

Below are some links that were reviewed for week 8:

Articles/Websites

• Difference between ID and Class – A description of “hooks” – or IDs and Classes – used in CSS to build customization into markup.
• CSS Typography – An overview of why typography shouldn’t be discounted on the web.

For a great resource on typography – both from a print and web standpoint – checkout www.ilovetypography.com

Here are a few short articles about web fonts, as well as the standard fonts found on most systems:

• Anatomy of a Web Font >>
• Code Style’s Combined Font Survey Results >>
  

If you are unsure of any of the terminology detailed in the two articles above, reference the Glossary of Font Terms for more information

Reference: Review the article CSS Typography >>

Link from “The Principles of Beautiful Web Design”:

List of special HTML codes:  http://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_entitles.asp

Individual Artists and Foundries:

Free and Shareware Font Galleries:

http://www.1001fonts.com/

http://www.dafont.com/

http://www.wantedfonts.com/

Fonts for Sale:

http://www.fontshop.com/

http://www.fonts.com/

http://www.veer.com/

http://www.myfonts.com/

http://www.itcfonts.com/

Individual Artists and Foundries

http://www.aenigmafonts.com

http://www.astigmatic.com/

http://www.bvfonts.com/

http://wwwfountain.nu/

http://www.larabiefonts.com/

http://www.misprintedtype.com/

http://www.pizzadude.dk/

Week 7

I just read the assignment for creating my own banner.  When I first looked at it, I did not feel like completing the assignment.  After researching the info on the Market, its history, and the topic of Fair Trade, my heart is really into this project.  I have never been involved in anything like the SERRV organization.  As of today, I am going to make sure I do what I can to support this organization.  My heart is really overwhelmed right now.   What I love about this is how people are using their God-given gifts and talents to make money to support their families.  They aren’t begging for anything.  They are working with what they have to make a better life for themselves and their families.   There is a scripture in the bible that says “your gift will make room for you”.  Thanks to SERRV and other organizations alike, for being used as a vessell in allowing that scripture to manifest.

• Information about the AACC event:
  • Review the information, discussions and photos
    • § Global Giving Market Facebook Page >>
      NOTE: this is a public Facebook page, you do not need to login to see info
    • § AACC Website Global Giving Market Page >>
    • § Global Giving Market Facebook Event Information >>
    • § Video: Service Learning and the Global Giving Market >>
• Partners in the Global Giving Market
  • SERVV International >>
  • Alternative Gifts International >>
• More about the Global Market, Fair Trade, etc.

Fair Trade Federation >>

Other links from week 7

Common Domain Name Registrars Today

GoDaddy – http://www.godaddy.com

Register – http://www.register.com

Network Solutions – http://www.netsol.com

For a full list of acredited registrars, visit ICANN

Network Solutions
http://www.networksolutions.com/

http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2168021

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/web-design-tactics

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
http://www.icann.org/

Week 6

I cannot believe how much information I have been learning.  I am so excited about this class.  Yes, lots of reading and lots of work, but its all worth it! 

Some of the links from our reading this week are:

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/breadcrumbs.html

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/familiar-design.html

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/dwmx_design_tips.html

Final Project Proposal

Name of the business, organization, etc., that you would like to work with;

The 2 businesses I am considering are:  Dominant Force Athletic Training for Kids and YNOT Entertainment. 
____

How you are affiliated with the organization;

Both businesses are just getting started, so I currently help them with their graphic design & administrative services for free. 

Dominant Force provides leadership and athletic training for kids from 5 – 18.

YNOT Entertainment provides leadership and music industry training for young and upcoming music artists.
____

How you would gain information, photos, and content for the website;

To gain information, photos, and content for either site, I will have to interview the owner.    Dominant Force has photos; however, will have to take photos or use stock photos for YNOT Entertainment.
____

Anything else that would be of interest;

I am also interested in building my own website called Dream Merchantz.  It is a non-profit organization that teaches others:  how to find their purpose in life, how to believe in their dreams, how to create visions, and  how to put effort in activating their purpose, dreams and visions.  Their only requirement is to pay it forward by teaching someone else.

Week 5

Seems like we just started class.  Week 5 already?  At least time is traveling fast 🙂  I am really enjoying this class.  Lots of reading, but worth it.  I understand so much more than I did when I first began this class.  Of all of the things I have learned, understanding  HTML code would my greatest accomplishment.  I have been helping a friend keep up with the weekly schedule on their church website, but every time I came accross an HTML issue, I ran from it because I just didn’t understand how to manipulate the code.  Well, last Sunday as I updated the info, I faced the code head on and was successful!

This week’s reading from “The Principles of Beautiful Web Design”

This week’s reading was on texture.  I am one of those people Jason talked about that keeps forgetting that lines are not just about dividers, borders & stripes.  Line is the foundation of art, drawing and design.  The chapter really opens my mind up about the use of line in my designs.

Websites from “The principles of Beautiful Web Design”

Creating Rounded Corners:
Creating Custom Corners and Borders: :http//www.alistapart.com/
Thrashbox – http://www.vertexwerks.com/tests/sidebox/
Nifty Corners – http://www.html.it/articoli/nifty/
Spiffy Corners – http://www.spiffycorners.com/

Whimsical Cartoon Style
http://www.yesinsurance.co.uk/

Building Texture
http://winamp.com/skins/whatis.php

Childlike
http://www.letsplaymusicsite.com

Gradients
http://www.mozilla.com

Advanced Photoshop Book:  The Photoshop Anthology: 101 Web Design Tips, Tricks and Techniques