Spring 2009 week 11: 4/1

Hi everybody, As you all know by now, we are working on our final projects for the term. Also, you probably know by now that this is going to entail a significant amount of work. Therefore, I was a little disappointed by the amount of work I saw out of the class this week. I hope that for our next class you all will have made up some ground and are not so far behind. This week, you are supposed to complete the Artists Pages. There are two of these pages and they are virtually identical, with only different artists for each page. Just divide them in two, and put half on one page and half on the other. You should find a link to the text for these pages below. Each week we will produce a part of the project, which you will complete as homework. You will get a homework grade each week according to how much of the week's work you completed. If you complete it all, then, and at the end of the next four weeks, you should have most of the project completed as well as a decent homework grade. Carter-

1. TOPICS:
   1. Final Project;
      • LINK   Content Requirements;
      • LINK   Technical Requirements;
      • LINK   Design Requirements;
2. HOMEWORK—Final Project, Part II: Starting last week, the homework for each class is part of the final project. Each part will be due one week from the time that it was assigned. This means that the assignment for this week will be due in the next class. Each week I will assign a new part to the website. If you produce these assignments on time each week, you will have accumulated you will receive a decent homework grade.    The site that we are going to produce, as you should know, is for an ART GALLERY named Alpha Gallery. This week, you should design ARTISTS PAGES. For more information of what exactly should be on these pages, see below the heading of that name. SEE BELOW FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTISTS PAGES as well as all of the other pages.
3. FINAL PROJECT: Information
   • The site that you are going to produce is for an art gallery and it will have six main parts: the home/index page, two gallery pages, two artist pages, an about page, a visit page, and an exhibit page. Please read the information provided.
     1. CONTENT REQUIREMENTS: 
        1. Part 1: HOME PAGE—this page includes the following:
           1. In this page, you should establish the color scheme that you will use throughout your design for this site. This includes the colors, the fonts, and the particular imagery that you will choose.
           2. The name of the current exhibit: "ART:21 -- Art in the 21st Century;"
           3. Some kind of appropriate imagery of your choice and of your design;
           4. A brief summary, one paragraph of text, of what this current exhibit is about. You should use some of the text from the exhibit page (see below).
        2. Part 2: ARTIST PAGES—these TWO pages will look identical. Essentially, what you will do is have a small picture of one of the works by the artist, his/her name, and a blurb of text about the artist. The text for these two pages is at the link below. Each page will contain half of the artists. LINK   CLICK HERE for the text for the ARTISTS PAGES;
        3. Part 3: GALLERY PAGES—These TWO pages will also look identical. They will have thumbnail images of the pictures that I have given you of the artwork. I gave you half of the images in our last class and will give you the remaining images in our next class. Each image should be clickable. When you click on the small thumbnail images, you are linked to a page with a much larger version of the image. Accompanying each large image should be the name of the artist and the title of the work as a caption. Also, when you click on the thumbnail images in the gallery, the pages with the larger image should open up in a separate browser window or tab.
        4. Part 4: CURRENT EXHIBIT PAGE—This page will contain some appropriate imagery (you may use more than one image if you like), the title of the exhibit, and all the text that I provide to you about the exhibit here: Contemporary art speaks directly to the important questions of our time, as well as to the changing landscape of American identity. It is both a mirror of contemporary society and a window through with we view and deepen our understanding of life as it exists today. Who are today's artists? What are they thinking about? How do they describe their work? Why do they do what they do? These are some of the questions addressed in the exhibition: ART:21 Art in the Twenty-First Century. This show presents the artists without interpretive mediation through large presentations of their work. If the unknown is the space in which creativity flourishes, This exhibit desires to bring it forward, illuminate it for others, and revel in it. This is ART:21's work—to reveal the existence of those regions which all the artists traverse, forging paths of exploration and study that take them into uncharted realms of creativity. By revealing the existence of those unknown territories, inhabited by all creative thinkers, I hope to educate, delight, and to provoke the viewers. It is difficult to imagine that anyone works harder than an artist. This—the non-stop work, accumulation of information, concentration, the need to be in the studio—is a continuing mini-theme for ART:21. Most artists experience intuitive leaps of recognition and connection, and find new ideas through introspection and research in many fields beyond art, although the art of the past remains a profound resource. One might say that in order to draw, you have to learn how to see first. Well, what about making drawings and other works of art about areas, about zones and realms that you CANNOT see, about areas hidden from view, about secret realms and invisible places? This is what many of these artists have in common: they are attempting to bring to light and view things that were previously unseen.
        5. Part 5: ABOUT & VISIT PAGES—These TWO pages are NOT required but will be considered extra credit. If you decide to do these pages, the about page should have at least 3 or 4 paragraphs of text as well as an image or two. The visit page should have the gallery hours, it's address, how to get there via auto and public transportation, as well as a map. I don't care where you locate the gallery so long as it is in New York City somewhere. Most galleries in New York are located in Chelsea, not far from TCI.
         
     2. DESIGN REQUIREMENTS: 
        1. Color Scheme—you must choose a color scheme for your web-site that you can show to me or describe to me. My suggestions are to keep it simple, easy, non-complicated. Keep in mind who your audience is and what the subject matter is.
        2. Page Layout—you must use CSS to lay out all pages in a pleasing way. If you are not certain how to do this, consult our past classes and me for assistance.
     3. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: 
        1. XHTML—ALL CODE for this site must be typed using STRICT XHTML standards. This means the following:
           • that all tags and their attributes must be typed in lower case;
           • that all attribute values must be typed in quotes and with units;
           • that the DTD for strict XHTML must be typed at the top of the document;
           • that all empty tags must be typed with the slash at the end, such as with the <br/> tag;
           • that none of the deprecated inline tags are to be used, such as the <font>, <b>, <u>, or <i> tags;
           • and, in addition, that the <tbody> and the <thead> tags, as well as the height attribute for the <table> and <td> tags, are NOT permitted.
               If you are uncertain about something, you can consult the requirements at the w3schools site (LINK), or you may ask me. Furthermore, the use of DreamWeaver is permitted; however, please note that DreamWeaver does not create strict XHTML. Therefore, you will have to go through the code and edit it yourself to make certain it follows strict standards.
        2. CSS—ALL STYLING must be done using CSS. We have used it extensively in this class, so it is a requirement that this site use CSS for the styling of the page. All three levels of styles may be, and are encouraged to be used. Please consult me if you need additional assistance with this.