I taught a web design class in Fall 2010 at New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University. This was my class blog. Had thought about retiring it but still find myself referring interns here so it will continue to live on. If you stumbled upon this somehow, enjoy :)
12.8.2010 | in Reference Hey guys, I just stumbled upon a great blog, CSS-Tricks, by Chris Coyier. There are loads of css tips and lots of great commentary/discussion!
Also worth checking out, is Chris' other blog, Quotes on Design :)
12.3.2010 | in Reference So you're almost done designing your first personal site - but how do you make it LIVE on the interwebs?
It's actually pretty easy.
1.) Pick a snazzy domain name! There are a million sites out there you can purchase a domain name through - I personally prefer godaddy.com. Register.com and domain.com are good as well. Most domains are fairly cheap, averaging about $12/year. If your dream domain name isn't available, you can always find out who already bought it and offer to buy it from them - - - keep in mind, this can get expensive quick, especially if they're not so nice ;)
2.) All your precious files need a home and that's where hosting comes in. Hosting basically means you pay/rent space on a server to hold your files. You can purchase hosting from a bunch of sites. Once again, I prefer godaddy. An economy hosting plan will cost about $4/month. It's usually best to purchase your hosting from the same place you got your domain, that way pointing your domain to your server space is easy as cake.
3.) Now it's FTP lovin' time! FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. Basically this is a means to transfer your files from your computer to the space you now rent on a server. There are a few ways to do this: Dreamweaver has a built-in function that I showed you all a few weeks back - it's handled in the "manage site" dropdown; FireFTP is an add-on for Firefox browsers that is really easy to use and free; Fetch is an application for your computer (my fav) that allows you to drag/drop files onto the server quickly ($29).
12.1.2010 | in Assignment Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
Just a reminder that you all will have the ENTIRE class this week to work on/wrap up your final projects. I'll, of course, be there to sit with each of you and help.
And in case you forgot, here are the project requirements:
Project Requirements:
· Site map
· Site sketches and wireframe
· A multi-layered .png or .psd file for site images
· Working navigation system using an unordered list
· Home page (index.html) and interior pages
· An attached style sheet with a minimum of 6 custom classes used throughout the site
· Inclusion of both interior and exterior links
Project Release:
· Please upload to the Dropbox before class begins as a zipped folder that contains all html/css files and a subfolder of images.
· Be ready to walk the class through your designs for critique!
Project Notes:
· Stay Consistant.
· Get as creative as possible with the layout and your content. Remember, you can still have a creative layout while using simple code by utilizing your images and background.
· Look at other sites! I can't stress this enough - inspiration is at your fingertips online - if you see something you like, by all means look at their code and structure!
· As always, email me.
Project Due Date: 12/3/10
12.1.2010 | in Reference Well guys, the semester is almost over and what on earth will you do with all this newly aquired web know-how? If you ask me, I'd tell you to freelance your butts off!
Here's a great downloadable book written by Kevin Airgid, called the...
11.19.2010 | in Reference 
Click here to grab the code. This is really helpful for if you have a large image with image maps and want a bit of text to appear below, describing the link, etc.
If you want to see this working on one of your classmates' projects - go sit with Kirsten for a few!
11.19.2010 | in Reference 
Click here to grab the code.
To see how I've put this to work, it's used on the homepage of my site and Flock's site.
11.19.2010 | in Reference 
This is a great little online book that covers all things about the Web.
Think you already know everything? Think again. This adorably illustrated and interactive book covers everything from cloud computing to validating identities.
Sounds boring? Maybe. But it's all worth knowing so you can hold your own when your programmer invites you to his Christmas party ;)
11.12.2010 | in Reading While not required for next week, you may be interested in reading chapter 14 in CSS: The Missing Manual as well. This is available on reserve in the library and for download here.
11.12.2010 | in Reading For next week, please read chapter 13 in CSS: The Missing Manual. This is available on reserve in the library and for download here.
11.12.2010 | in Reference Ok so there are a MILLION lightbox javascripts out there but the one we are covering in class today is called Fancybox (cuz we're fancy).
**Click Here to download what we did in class today**
A few others worth checking out:
