Assignments
Hypermedia – FA3900
Sullivan
1. IT"S ALL ABOUT YOU - Due September 10
The first project will introduce you to the basics of web design, both formally and technically.We will endeavor what is required of a good website, and how to create one. For the subject matter, we will start with what you know best, yourself. Remember: Speed, Simplicity, Clarity.
a. Find 2 web sites that epitomize for you the qualities of good and bad web design. Write a critique of the 2 sites explaining how they exemplify these qualities. For fun read about retro web aesthetics here,
b. Create a website with a consistent interface that promotes yourself and your art work. This should include a main introductory page, a contact page, various portfolio pages, a bio, and any other pages that might be relevant.
2. BIGGER AND BETTER - Due October 3
choose one of the following possibilities:
A. FAKING IT
The web is often used as the source of reliable information and expert opinion, but of course, as with all media, this use is suspect. Experts and crackpots, wealthy congolmorates and fiscally challenged individuals are, in theory, all equally accesible (not forgetting, of course, that access itself is a limit). The only thing that seperates them is how the information is presented. Is it convincing?
For this assignment, create a hoax, or digital hiijack, site. This site could represent a non-existent government, company, or product. It could also use irony to talk about issues you feel need to be addressed. For instance, in this city alone, i can think of racism, class issues, violence, environment, development/gentrification. Use the signs that symbolize authority and truth to give your site the air of legitimacy.
hystory:
dada - john hertzfeldt
situationists - detournement
barbara kruger
subvertising
EToy
voteAuction
rTMark - BLO and gwbush.com
the YES men - HUD performance
Annual Checkup by Lisa Erdman
culture jamming
google adwords poetry
B. VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE; HOMES, HOUSES AND HABITATS
There have always been two cities, the one that is mapped and numbered in statistics, and the one that is lived and dreamed. Occasionally, they intersect. Cities like the people that inhabit them are always changing. The places you live in change you, as you in turn can change them. New Orleans at the present moment is going through a massive redefinition. What was new orleans and what will it become? How are people affected by the places they frequent?
Think of what you find interesting about place & people and how you can utilize the web to express those interests. The place can be many things at any time; a fema trailer, a building, a neighborhood (pre-k, destroyed, or rebuilt), the river, the country, etc. The effects can be physical or emotional.
Your projects might take many forms: dynamic architecture to composite sky portraits to walking in someone else's shoes to caches of urban lore.
For inspiration, look at :
Folksongs for the five points by david gunn - a website that explores the sounds of nyc
Giorgio De Chirico,
Italo Calvino's "invisible cities," or look at some of these illustrated cities
"Formulary for a New Urbanism" by Ivan Chtcheglov and the situationists derives,
Nina Katchadourian's personal map of the US and her musical tour of nyc based on found tapes,
Antipode -
collaborative exchange project that geographically & culturally mapped
Baltimore, MD & the German town of Schwabish Hall,
Alternative City Tourism,
The Traveling Tourist Office
although not digital, i was just looking at Tony Fitzpatrick's prints, which are solidly about his place, Chicago
Project:
a. Create or gather imagery that reflects your ideas on a place in the city and its relation to the people who frequent or inhabit it. This imagery can take the form of photos you take or find, drawings, paintings left alone or manipulated, done on the computer or digitized from the real world.
b. Design an appropriate web site that links multiple pages with a mix of text and imagery (still or moving) to most effectively convey your idea.
3. IT MOVES - Due October 24
Create an animation or interface in Flash with motion. The motion and/or interactive elements should complement and enhance the content. This assignment could dovetail with the previous assignments (the web site) or be completely separate. The motion can range from disney-esque, jointed puppets, cartoon, abstract, or just interface elements that move.
For some examples of what can be done, look at jotto.com
the macromedia showcase gallery has a wide range of examples
4. FLASH IN THE PAN - Due November 21
Create an animation or interface in Flash with some level of interactivity and motion. The motion and the interactive elements should complement and enhance the content. This assignment could dovetail with the last assignment (the web site) or be completely separate. The interactivity can range from simple rollovers, buttons that play different timelines or scenes, to completely interactive games. Hopefully we will delve into some actionscript and the basics of programming.
For some examples of what can be done, look at Yugop.com, joshua davis
5. OPEN PROJECT - Due November 28
This is your chance to explore your own ideas. You must show the process by which you came about your final image(s). investigate. Present your finished project in whatever manner suits the work the best.