What a long, fun trip it's been!

I just wanted to take a minute to thank all of the ART 116 students from Spring 2010. This was our first semester for this class and it has been a learning experience for all of us. We made some great progress and I feel ART 116 will keep getting better and better. I want to thank the students for their constant feedback throughout the semester. I take all comments to heart and assure you I will use them in planning future classes.

You all started this class with a little apprehension about what to expect and I think you were all pleasantly surprised with what you learned. It was truly a pleasure to have you in class and I appreciate the opportunity to share a little bit of what's in my brain with you.

Good luck everyone! Have a great summer!

T.J.

Don't Forget: Missing work due tonight!

Several of you are missing certain assignments or quiz grades. They must be made up and turned in by the end of class TONIGHT if you want to get credit for them. Don't let zeroes bring your grade down!

Final websites due tonight!

O.k. everyone. You've survived the semester and should have some cool websites to show. Pat yourself on the back!

Tonight's class will be work time to finish up your final website projects. Be sure to TURN THEM IN before you leave. :) They are due tonight! It was great having you all in class this semester and I hope you see you around the SVHEC in the fall!

Continue working on your final websites

As per the the consensus in class last week, we will use class time tonight for work time. Take advantage and ASK QUESTIONS if you need help. I'll be available all evening to help you solve your problems with your websites. Remember, websites are due by the end of class next week!

Homework:

• Finish up your website!

Building your website

O.k., so you've already got your business picked and your photos taken (or found.) We will be resizing your images in photoshop tonight and building your web pages using your wireframes as a blueprint. If you don't have wireframes in class, you won't be allowed to work on your website until you make them. They must be NEAT! No sloppy hand-drawn wireframes will be accepted. If you are hand drawing them, they must be super-tight and clean. (Use a ruler.) Otherwise, a computer printout is preferred.

We will build the two pages you have wireframed and make them link from one page to the other. By the end of class tonight, you should have two, fully coded HTML pages! So, when you get to class, sit down, buckle up and be prepared to WORK! They are due TONIGHT before you leave class.

Also, it seems as though you all would like a little more class time to get this stuff done before the end of the semester. Tonight, we will discuss having some extra class time for those interested. I am willing to make the trip down to help you if you are willing to come to work outside of normal class time. We need to nail down times and dates that work for everyone!

See you all tonight!

Homework: (held over from April 12)

• Have your business picked before coming to class

• Have your photos ready. Make sure they are large enough!

• Wireframe TWO pages of your site. Make sure to keep header, footer and nav. consistent!

• Be ready to WORK tonight. They are due before the end of class!

Let's get a little flow going in our websites

The websites you turned in several weeks ago were good. Now it's time to make them great. We're going to jazz up our designs a bit with a few easy tricks to make them flow a little better, look a little nicer and generally be easier on the eyes.

We're going to talk about resizing images to fit the page. Remember, you're supposed to be wireframing your sites before you build them. You should go into the construction phase with a nice set of blueprints for how your website should look. You should know how big your images need to be before you start constructing the html.

We're also going to talk more about consistency with your navigation and footers. These need to be the same on every page, so people don't have to look for them. It is imperative that you don't make a visitor think too much, or else they may click right out of your site. We want them to stay!

Homework:

• Pick one of these types of business to build a website for: travel agency, bakery or an auto repair shop.

• Gather together some photos to use. Remember, if you are getting them off the web, make sure they are big enough (resolution) to use BEFORE you come to class. If they are tiny, they probably won't work. Please feel free to take your own photos if you would like!

• Wireframe TWO pages for your site. Remember to keep your header, footer and navigation consistent!

• Be ready to work on them in class on Monday, April 12!

Working on our Flash web banners

We will spend tonight's class time (after taking your quiz) working on your web banners. We will look at everyone's sketches and hear why you chose the local business that you did. Remember, we are trying to help out the community and hopefully get these businesses to USE these banners! Be creative! Think of what they might want to advertise and come up with something great!

After reading over all twelve chapters of the Flash Learning Guide, you should be ready to tackle starting your banner in Flash. We will talk about the basics of a new document and how to get started animating. Take your time, be patient and you'll be fine. Flash isn't as scary as you might think. You'll be animating your web banners in no time!

Homework:

Finish your web banners (if you don't finish them in class.)

No other homework tonight!