Projects

Throughout this course, we’ll focus on three projects that’ll synthesize what we talk about in class. They are, in part, a way to apply some of the technical skills you learn in class, but also a way to explore ideas and thoughts you have related to your practice.

If there are directions you want to take these projects that relate to your own work, I strongly encourage you to do so. Consider these prompts as jumping off points rather than as prescriptive instructions.

Project 1: World as Source

Part 1

Document a routine of yours that you do at least once a week. It should have at least 5 discrete steps and be as specific as possible. Document these instructions as text only. Your routine can be digital, physical, or somewhere in between. Some examples to get your mind going include:

Create a folder with your name on it within this folder and put your instructions in a Google Doc.

Part 2

Pick someone else’s instructions from the project folder. Document your execution of these instructions in image only. Upload your images as documentation to the folder.

Part 3

Design a website for your routine, and layout both its instructions and the execution of those instructions in an interesting way. The design of the webpage should be considered and be a reflection of its content. You are expected to deliver a GitHub pages link and repository containing semantic DOM and at least 5 different element types, as well as a CSS stylesheet. Consider Laurel Schwulst’s essay, My website is a shifting house next to a river of knowledge. What could yours be?.

Project 2: Web as Source

Part 1

On Are.na, start a channel of a web trend or topic of your choice. You can focus on how websites across the web present one specific element (such as how different museums present their collection, what Add to cart buttons look like, what the focus state of elements look like, how what checkout flows look like, use of typefaces), or how one specific website handles many things (how are images presented in different contexts and pages, what is the tone of voice for different pages). Use Are.na to collect your research.

Part 2

Design and build a website that creatively re-interprets your research from the first part. You can build a webpage which presents your findings in interesting ways, write a custom stylesheet for an existing website, or iframe existing websites into your website to provide a new perspective. Other examples include creating a custom CSS/HTML typeface, a reinvention of a site’s existing interface, etc. Or if you have another approach, let me know.

Project 3: Source as Source

Part 1

Pick a source of your choice. Perhaps it is a tool you’ve recently used, or a text that has spoken to you, or a sign that you pass every day. Perhaps it’s another person, or your phone’s alarm, or perhaps its some source code. Research this source and its history, collecting your findings into an are.na board.

Present on November 1

Part 2

Write an essay on the history of your source, and how this source influences your life. Then, conceptualize and propose how creative use or misuse of your source might expand one’s perceptions of it. Consider this essay that I wrote, Taking a Walk across the Internet, Rob Giampietro’s I am a handle, or Angie Keefer’s WHY BOTHER?.

Links due on November 15

Part 3

Make a website or digital tool which creatively pushes the boundaries of your source and also incorporates the text of your essay from Part 2.

Present on December 6