Previous Blackboard Items

(9/2/03)

Welcome to "Document Design"!

Readings. For Thursday, please read David Levy's Preface (pg. xi) and Chapter 2 (pg. 21) from Scrolling Forward.

Please note that the course discussion board is not available until the second week of the semester, and so you should write your assigned "muddiest point" paragraph (explained on the syllabus under "Readings") on a piece of paper to be placed in your journal as "Journal Entry #1."

Book to Come. Robin Williams' Non-Designer's Design Book will be late arriving at the bookstore. A new edition was delayed at the publisher and the old edition is no longer available.

Zip Disks. Also for Thursday, find/purchase and bring in a Zip disk to keep your course materials on. If you already have a Zip disk to use, make sure it has most of its space available since you will create some large files and folders for this class.

Syllabus. Today, we will spend a few minutes discussing the syllabus, which describes the design and expectations of the course. Please see if you can find some questions to ask about the syllabus to help us all get a clear picture of the semester.

First Project. We will also introduce the schedule of assignments, and details of the first major project, the Revision of Ad.

Hands On. Today, we'll get our hands dirty with PageMaker, the desktop publishing software that we'll be using for print documents this semester. See the step-by-step exercise sheet that I'll be handing out in class today.

You'll need to find an image to use for the exercise. You're welcome to use this high-quality image of the Portland Malt Shop, which has not been optimized (that is, its file size lightened) for fast download on the Web.

(9/4/03)

What happened to yesterday's stuff on this blackboard? See link at the bottom of this page.

First Readings. Today, we'll consider David Levy's Preface and Chapter 2. Keep in mind what the syllabus says about preparing for meetings for which readings are assigned.

Readings for Tuesday: David Levy's Chapter 4. I will give you a "Guided Reading" sheet today to take home with you. Bring it back completed (by yourself and on your own) next Tuesday.

Door Plate Exercise. Today, you'll complete your Door Plate Exercise, print it out, and turn it in for credit--either in class, or by 3:30 Friday afternoon in my mailbox in 420 Humanities. Be sure your name appears somewhere on the Door Plate printout.

New Schedule. The delay of the new edition of the Robin Williams book has sparked an avalanche of changes to our schedule. The Revision of Ad project will now become the second assignment, due Tuesday, October 7.

The first project will now be the Logo/Banner/Icon, which will be due on Tuesday, September 23. We will discuss that assignment in detail on Tuesday, which will give us two weeks to complete it. Please take a look at the complete schedule for all that Robin Williams' publisher has wrought.

(9/9/03)

Readings for Thursday. Please read Levy's Chapter 5 (pg. 78) for Thursday. I will give you a set of Guided Reading to fill out. Also, you should be able to post your "muddiest point" paragraph to the discussion board.

Logo, Banner, Icon. Today, we can talk in detail about the first assignment, the Logo, Banner, Icon Project. By next meeting, be sure to read the online article on logos.

Discussion Board. Today, we'll attempt to get on the Webx Discussion Board for the first time.

Follow these directions:

• login at the Webx Discussion Board with your internet (email) id and the default
  password of "webx"
• change the password to one of your own choose once you login by clicking
  on the "Preferences" button at the bottom of the screen. Please make
  sure you do not change your name in the "Preferences" panel as this
  will change your login name.
• add your actual name in their preferences under "Second line of
  information"

The Banner Exercise. Today, we'll also begin learning Photoshop with Exercise #2. The Banner. If you don't already have it on disk, here again is the raw Malt Shop image. From this image, we'll make a banner that looks like this:

(9/11/03)

Readings for Tuesday. For next time, read all of Robin Williams' The Non-Designer's Design Book.

Levy Today. Today, we'll discuss Levy's Chapter 5.

The Banner Exercise. Today, we'll complete Exercise #2. The Banner. Here again is the raw Malt Shop image. The banner we're making looks like this:

Posting to the Web. Once we complete the banner exercise today, you'll put your banner up on the Web and send the URL to the discussion board called "banner URLs." I'll use this discussion to view your banners and give you credit for the exercise.

I will give you a handout for using Dreamweaver to transfer files to your Web space at UMD.

(9/16/03)

No readings for Thursday.

First Project Due Date Coming Up. The Logo, Banner, Icon project will be due by Wednesday, 9/24 at noon. More on posting these images to the Web and signing up for a conference on Tuesday, 9/23.

Don't Be a Wimp. Today, we'll talk about Robin Williams' The Non-Designer's Design Book, particularly

1. Her CRAP criteria, including

• Contrast
• Repetition
• Alignment
• Proximity

2. What she has to say about mixing type faces

We'll also pick up a few new tools in Photoshop to prepare for the Logo, Banner, Icon project.

(9/18/03)

First Project Due Wednesday. The Logo, Banner, Icon Project will be due by 5:00 on Wednesday, September 24. We'll learn in class on Tuesday about how to use Dreamweaver to "mount" your images to post to the Web.

logos. Today, we'll look at some examples of logos: good and bad.

First, I'll ask you to find some logos on the Web for us to talk about.

Then, copy and paste the URL of a logo you find in a message to the Webx discussion "Logo URL and comment."

In that message, write a brief commentary on the logo using terms and ideas from the article on logos we read previously. For convenience's sake, these techniques and principles include:

• forms
• colors
• fonts
• finishes
• proportions
• contrast
• repetition
• nuances

From Banner to Logo to Icon. We'll also work through handouts called "Banner to Logo (Cappuccino)" and "Icon from a Photograph" which I'll give you today. You'll need to download a Photoshop file of the "5220 Logo" (start by right clicking in the link) and open it up in Photoshop.

(9/23/03)

First Project Due Wednesday. The Logo, Banner, Icon Project will be due by 5:00 on Wednesday, September 24.

To submit this project, you'll need to do the following:

1. Mount the images on a Web page. We'll do this together in class.
2. Post the Web page "index.html" and the image files to your Web space at www/5220/logo (that is, in your "www" folder, have a folder called "5220" and inside of that save the .html page and image files in a folder called "logo"). See the handout "Transferring Files to the Web with Dreamweaver" for a refresher.
3. Go to the Web address of the page you posted to make sure it's there, and that the images are functioning and visible. If you've named the Web page "index.html" and arranged your folders as I've suggested, the URL should be
   <http://www.d.umn.edu/~youruserid/5220/logo>
4. Send the URL. In a message to the Webx discussion "Logo, Banner, Icon Project URLs" paste in the URL from the browser and post the message.
5. Printout a black-and-white copy of the Web page using your browser and turn it into my box in Humanities 420 by 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
6. Sign up for a conference via Webx.

Conferences. We'll not meet as a class this Thursday or next Tuesday (9/30) because of scheduled conferences. See the step-by-step list above. This one, 20-minute conference, however, will count as two days' worth of attendance so please be sure to have one.

In this conference, we'll talk about your Logo, Banner, Icon Project, but also any of these other up-coming matters, depending on what's concerning you:

• The Revision of Ad Project (due 10/7)
• The Analytical Essay I (due 11/6) and any readings from Levy, or Williams.
• Photoshop, Dreamweaver, your "www" folder, etc.

Our next meeting together will be Thursday.

Mounting Your Images. We'll use the handout "Mounting Your Graphics on a Web Page with Dreamweaver" to put your Logo, Banner, Icon Project on the Web.

Two Exercises. On Thursday, we worked through handouts called "Banner to Logo (Cappuccino)" and "Icon from a Photograph" which I'll give you today. Using Dreamweaver and the previous handout "Transferring Files to the Web with Dreamweaver," be sure to move those two final products into a folder called "logo" in your "exercises" folder on the Web (that is, 5220/exercises/logo) and then send the URL.

(10/2/03)

New Deadline for the Revision of Ad.

To turn in your Revision of Ad, do the following:

By noon on Monday, 10/13:

1. Put your revision of the ad and the original version on the same page (same side if possible). You can do this electronically or by pasting up printouts/copies of them. Label the revision and original. Do not put your name on the page.
2. Make 22 copies of the revision/original sheet (doublesided if the ads are too big for one side)
3. By noon on Monday, 10/13, bring the 22 copies to Humanities 424 (my office where you had the conference)
4. On my office door is a bin with 11 file folders marked 1-11. On the wall to the left of my office door is another bin with file folders marked 12-21.
5. Put all but one of your copies in a numbered file folder, using the lowest numbered folder that's still empty.
6. Take the copy you saved out, write your name on it and the number folder you used, and place that copy in my mailbox on the other side of the room (420 Humanities)

Between noon on Monday 10/13 and class on Tuesday:

1. Pick up one copy from each of the folders
2. Put the folder number on the copy so you'll know what order we'll take them.
3. Write your name on each copy
4. Before class on Tuesday, read and comment on numbers 1-11 to discuss in a full-class workshop. I'll collect these at the end of class. We'll do numbers 12-21 on the following Tuesday,

Scanning, Lifting and Cleaning. We'll practice cleaning up an image lifted from a scanned newspaper using Photoshop. The commands are Image > Adjust > Posterize. You'll need to right click and save from this TIFF image created from a scan.

Back to PageMaker. Bring up your "Door Plate Exercise" in PageMaker and review the steps you followed to create that document.

(10/7/03)

No class on Thursday, October 9

Revision of Ad due by noon on Monday, October 13

To turn in your Revision of Ad, do the following:

By noon on Monday, 10/13:

1. Put your revision of the ad and the original version on the same page (same side if possible). You can do this electronically or by pasting up printouts/copies of them. Label the revision and original. Do not put your name on the page.
2. Make 22 copies of the revision/original sheet (doublesided if the ads are too big for one side)
3. On one copy, write your name and all your annotations.
4. By noon on Monday, 10/13, bring the 22 copies to Humanities 424 (my office where you had the conference)
5. On my office door is a bin with 11 file folders marked 1-11. On the wall to the left of my office door is another bin with file folders marked 12-21.
6. Put your unannotated copies in a numbered file folder, using the lowest numbered folder that's still empty.
7. Take the annotated copy you saved out, be sure your name is on it, and write the number folder you used, and place that copy in my mailbox on the other side of the room (420 Humanities).

Between noon on Monday 10/13 and class on Tuesday:

1. Pick up one copy from each of the folders
2. Put the folder number on the copy so you'll know what order we'll take them.
3. Write your name on each copy
4. Before class on Tuesday, read and comment on numbers 1-11 to discuss in a full-class workshop. I'll collect these at the end of class. We'll do numbers 12-21 on the following Tuesday.

What We Say In Workshop. Take a look at some guidelines for responding to the Revisions of Ad for workshop on the next two Tuesdays.

"Visiting Day." This is the last class meeting before turning in your Revision of Ad. As you finalize your projects today, we'll have our first "Visiting Day." For 20 minutes, I'll ask

• half of you to sit (the A-Through-Go Team below) at your computer working on your Revision of Ad. If you have questions or problems, have them ready! Then I'll ask the...
• other half of the class (the Gr-Through-Z Team) to get up and circulate around, looking to see what you can learn from or help with. Look for effects you like and ask to see how they were done. See if you can help with any problems or answer any questions from those seated.

Then, for the next 20 minutes, we'll reverse roles: Gr-Through-Z Team sits working while the A-Through-Go Team circulates, problem-solving and learning.

10/14/03

Revision of Ad Workshop. Today, we'll have a full-class workshop of projects 1-7 (based on the folder numbers where the printouts were turned in). We will also workshop projects on Thursday and next Tuesday.

Here are the projects we'll do today:

1. Amazing Grace
2. Buena Vista Octoberfest (1)
3. Innerspace Scuba
4. Coffeehouse
5. End of Summer BBQ (JT's)
6. UMD Hockey tickets
7. Rick's Tree & Stump Removal

I'll collect your written responses to these at the end of class today. Be sure to put your name on each one.

We'll do numbers 8-14 on Thursday, and 15-21 on the following Tuesday 10/21.

What We Say In Workshop. Here again are the guidelines for responding to the Revisions of Ad for workshop.

(10/16/03)

Introducing the New Media Writing Project.

• The print document is due 10/23
• The Web site version is due 11/18

Revision of Ad Projects Workshopped on Thursday, Oct 16

8. Taste of Italia
9. Natural Childbirth Classes
10.
11. Electric Fetus
12. DCI Plasma
13. Fond du Lac College
14. Business Services (UMD Center for Economic Development)

Numbers. Here is the complete list of Revision of Ad projects with their folder numbers.

1. Amazing Grace
2. Buena Vista Octoberfest (1)
3. Innerspace Scuba
4. Coffeehouse
5. End of Summer BBQ (JT's)
6. UMD Hockey tickets
7. Rick's Tree & Stump Removal
8. Taste of Italia
9. Natural Childbirth Classes
10.
11. Electric Fetus
12. DCI Plasma
13. Fond du Lac College
14. Business Services (UMD Center for Economic Development)
15. CW Chips
16. Odyssey's
17. Hammond
18. Buena Vista Octoberfest (2)
19. Call of the Wild Gallery
20. Lakehead Mortgage
21. The Reef

(10/21/03)

Show and Reception. An opening reception for Judi Loff-Dircks's BFA Exhibition is being held at the Tweed Museum today from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Due Thursday. A copy of the print document you're using for the New Media Writing Project is due on Thursday, 10/23.

Conferences Next Week. We'll cancel class and have individual conferences again next week. Please sign up for one of the available days and times on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday via the Conferences folder on Webx. Follow the directions at the top of the day's page.

Numbers. Here is the complete list of Revision of Ad projects with their folder numbers.

1. Amazing Grace
2. Buena Vista Octoberfest (1)
3. Innerspace Scuba
4. Coffeehouse
5. End of Summer BBQ (JT's)
6. UMD Hockey tickets
7. Rick's Tree & Stump Removal
8. Taste of Italia
9. Natural Childbirth Classes
10.
11. Electric Fetus
12. DCI Plasma
13. Fond du Lac College
14. Business Services (UMD Center for Economic Development)
15. CW Chips
16. Odyssey's
17. Hammond
18. Buena Vista Octoberfest (2)
19. Call of the Wild Gallery
20. Lakehead Mortgage
21. The Reef

Responder of the Set. Once you've received your classmates' written responses to your Revision of Ad project,

1. look them over and decide which three that gave you the most helpful, most energetic, most thoughtful feedback. Don't just choose the ones who liked your project the best!

2. Rank the three and vote for the first, second and third best responder below.

3. Choose your own name from the last drop-down menu so I can give you credit for voting.

(10/23/03)

Due Today. A copy of the print document you're using for the New Media Writing Project is due on today in class.

Conferences Next Week. We'll cancel class and have individual conferences again next week. Please sign up for one of the available days and times on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday via the Conferences folder on Webx. Follow the directions at the top of the day's page.

Responder of the Set. By Monday, please vote for the top three responders to your Revision of Ad project.

In preparation for the next stage in the New Media Writing project, we'll learn more about creating Web pages using Dreamweaver.

(11/4/03)

Essay due Thursday. The Analytical Essay 1 project will be due this Thursday.

More Web Pages. In preparation for the next stage in the New Media Writing project, we'll learn more about creating Web pages using Dreamweaver. See our handouts "Beginning Dreamweaver 1" and "Beginning Dreamweaver 2 (Lyric)." You'll post the result to a folder called "dreambegin" and then post the URL to the Webx discussion "Lyric (Beginning Dreamweaver)."

Introducing the Bookmark/Web Page Project.

(11/6/03)

Today, you'll turn in your Analytical Essay I.

Introducing the Client Project and the Analytical Essay II.

Client Project as Community Building

• Loyalty
• Ethos
• Channels
• Tag Lines e.g., A Great University by a Great Lake

Horizontal Design. The major event of today will be the "Horizontal Design" Exercise, which you should work to complete and post to the Web by Friday at 3:00 p.m. We will continue this exercise on Thursday if necessary.

For this exercise, you'll need to get the step-by-step handout and to read and save the page "Horizontal Design Technique"

(11/11/03)

For Thursday, Read Levy Chapter 8. I have a Guided Reading page to give you.

Questions about the Client Project, Analytical Essay II, or the New Media Writing Project?

Jello Design. The major event of today will be the "Jello Design" Exercise, which you should work to complete and post to the Web by Thursday at class time.

For this exercise, you'll need to get the step-by-step handout and to read and save the page. Here are also two image you can use for this exercise.

(11/13/03)

Questions about the Book Mark/Web Site Project, Client Project, Analytical Essay II, or the New Media Writing Project?

The New Media Writing Project Web site will be due next Tuesday, 11/18. Please have it posted to the Web by classtime and send the URL to the Webx discussion "New Media Writing URLs."

Mopping up Jello?

For the Analytical Essay 2 assignment, let's think about the "question or issue" from Levy that will be the unifying idea for the essay. Let's take a look at what Peter Elbow has to say about the "Believing and Doubting Games" in the "intellectual enterprise." What are some "questions or issues in Levy" that we might take on as a topic in the last essay.

Please post three (with page numbers) in a posting to the Webx discussion "Levy Questions or Issues."

Levy Chapter 8.

Book Marks in Page Maker. The Book Mark/Web Site Project will be due a week from next Tuesday, 11/25. Today, I'll show you how to set up a book-mark style document in Page Maker.

You will be able to copy and paste any content you've already created into this template, which ensures that front and back are aligned precisely when you print.

(11/18/03)

Troubleshooting. We'll take a few minutes at the beginning of class today to troubleshoot our New Media Writing Projects. If you have no troubles, be prepared to help others with theirs.

There is no reading assigned for Thursday. Use the time to work on your Book Mark/Web Page Project, due next Tuesday, which we'll work on in class today.

(11/20/03)

I will hold optional conferences next Tuesday, 11/25, rather than a class meeting. I will be in my office during class time to talk or book mark printouts, etc. (see below).

Conferences after Thanksgiving. We'll cancel class and hold required conferences on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after Thanksgiving (December 2-4). Sign up for an available conference at the Webx discussion for one of these days in the Webx Conferences folder.

The Book Mark/Web Page Project is due by next Tuesday at 3:00. You can complete the following items anytime before then:

• Post the Web page/site to a folder on the server: www/5220/bookmark
• Post a JPEG of your book mark (both sides) to the same folder. I'll show you today how to create the jpeg from PageMaker. This will allow me to see the color of your book mark without your having to go to the expense of printing out in color.
• Print out a black-and-white copy of the book mark and Web site/page and hand it in to me with annotations.
• Send a message to the Webx folder "Bookmark URLs" with a URL for both the Web page/site and the jpeg of your book mark (front and back).

Exercise: "Creating a Color JPEG from any Document via 'Print Scrn'"

(12/4/03)

Client Project Drafts Due Monday, December 8

We will do a workshop of the BETA versions (rough drafts) of the Client Projects during the last week of classes.

To participate, you'll need to make available the BETA version of your Client Project to the class by noon on Monday, December 8. You'll do this in one of two ways depending on the medium:

• Online projects should be posted to the Web and a URL sent to the correct Webx discussion (see below).
• Paper-based projects should be turned in to the plastic bins on or near my office door. You will also send a message to the Webx discussion saying that your project is available at my office.

Since the Webx discussion will determine the order we take the projects in workshop, everyone should send a message to the discussion whether the project is online or paper.

See step-by-step directions on this process below:

Turning in the Client Project BETA version

1. Look in the lists below to determine if you're on the A-Go Team or the Gr-Z Team (based on the first letter of your last name.

2. By noon on Monday, December 8, go to the Webx discussion for your own team:

• If you're in the A-Go Team, go to Client Projects (last names A-Go)
• If you're in the Gr-Z Team, go to Client Projects (last names Gr-Z)

In the Webx discussion, post a message with the name of your client and a paragraph explaining the context and background of your client and what your project is intended to do for the client.

If your project is a Web site or other online genre, post the URL of the document so your classmates and see it.

If your project is paper-based, be sure to turn in 11 copies to one of the bins on/near my door by the deadline:

• If you're in the A-Go Team, find the bin on my door and file your copies in a folder inside
• If you're in the Gr-Z Team, find the bin to the left of my door and file your copies in a folder inside

Preparing for the Workshop

See the page "Visiting Day Workshop" for directions on preparing for the workshop during the last week.

(12/9/03)

Client Project Drafts Due Monday, December 8

We will do a workshop of the BETA versions (rough drafts) of the Client Projects during the last week of classes.

To participate, you'll need to make available the BETA version of your Client Project to the class by noon on Monday, December 8. You'll do this in one of two ways depending on the medium:

• Online projects should be posted to the Web and a URL sent to the correct Webx discussion (see below).
• Paper-based projects should be turned in to the plastic bins on or near my office door. You will also send a message to the Webx discussion saying that your project is available at my office.

Since the Webx discussion will determine the order we take the projects in workshop, everyone should send a message to the discussion whether the project is online or paper.

See step-by-step directions on this process below:

Turning in the Client Project BETA version

1. Look in the lists below to determine if you're on the A-Go Team or the Gr-Z Team (based on the first letter of your last name.

2. By noon on Monday, December 8, go to the Webx discussion for your own team:

• If you're in the A-Go Team, go to Client Projects (last names A-Go)
• If you're in the Gr-Z Team, go to Client Projects (last names Gr-Z)

In the Webx discussion, post a message with the name of your client and a paragraph explaining the context and background of your client and what your project is intended to do for the client.

If your project is a Web site or other online genre, post the URL of the document so your classmates and see it.

If your project is paper-based, be sure to turn in 11 copies to one of the bins on/near my door by the deadline:

• If you're in the A-Go Team, find the bin on my door and file your copies in a folder inside
• If you're in the Gr-Z Team, find the bin to the left of my door and file your copies in a folder inside

Preparing for the Workshop

See the page "Visiting Day Workshop" for directions on preparing for the workshop during the last week.

(12/9/03)

Permissions. Remember how helpful it was to see examples of previous students' projects?

Today, I'll handout permission forms that will enable me to share your work with future students. Please return the form either granting, denying or limiting use of your work for academic, non-commercial purposes.

Visiting Day Workshop. See the page "Visiting Day Workshop" for an explanation of our workshop today and Thursday.

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