project selection
chose your project
- Each of the below listed projects contains three "designer" personas. In short, sample personas of who, and why, might be interested in the specific project and how do they intend to get started. See if any of these personas match your interests and professional goals. Write a persona based on yourself.
- All design is grounded in a basic concept. Good design is grounded in a clear concept. Bad design is muddled thinking made painfully clear.
projects list (select one)
your professional blognetworked with components of your portfolio ∧
A blog can be the center of your resume, see elsie.com It can also be an important part of your professional portfolio, or even the entire portfolio site.
If you have ideas, want to write about them, and then publish your writings this is a good project for you. A blog of this type can range single topic site - A Blog to Read - to something like a newspaper/e-zine - Huffington Post. Blogs can also be grouped and linked to other services - such as Flickr, Twitter, etc. - and thus become part of your integrated online portfolio -
A blog might be a useful tool to use in your chosen profession, e.g. a teacher who uses a blog to distribute materials to students. At the same time you could develop a blog that is focused on other than professional aspects of your life (hobbies, activities, groups you belong to, and other interests.). These interests then essentially become part of your portfolio. Once established blogs are easy to update and maintain when you are busy with the real world.
Note: Blogs are a basic type of CMS, see below, but the goal of this project is not for you to become an über geek of the back-end technologies CMS environment but to become proficient in using readily available blogging technologies to expand your understanding of blogs and to decide discovery how one might fit into your objectives list to meet your professional goals. Start by understanding your options Content Management System Software Review - 2009
Who might be interested in this project?
Note: Blogs are all about content. To be of any interest they need to be regularly update with new content.
Wordpress
- Wordpress is available on two sites:
- Wordpress.org
- A free download that you can install on your own server. If you already have an ISP you can usually install, and update, Wordpress via their cpanel using an application such as Fantastico.
- Wordpress.com
- Is a free service with options to add features. You can add the ability to fully style your blog for $15/year. This is the best way to go if you don't want to get into the server-side.
EZ Publish
- EZ Publish
- One of the most highly rated CMS environments. If you run your own server this might be a good choice. Or, check with your ISP to see if they support ES Publish.
Posterous
- Posterous
- New blogging environment. Easy to use and update. Check to be sure that it has the features you need.
Tumblr
- Tumblr
- One of the easiest blogging environments to use. Check to be sure that it has the features you need.
There are of course many other environments you can use. Do som research before you jump in.
professional portfolio environmentyour networked environment on the web ∧
Your Web portfolio should read like a good story. Think of your portfolio as an environment that gives anyone coming to it a real understanding of your capabilities, interests, and talents. How can you clearly give others an experience of who you are; have them feel the variety and range of your personality and skills? Perhaps by telling them "The Story of You". A little more about Web storytelling
The initial design phase of this project ties directly to your professional goal(s) statement. In that statement you have essentially defined your target audience - anyone who might help you forward in your profession. What are there interests? Refine that initial definition and then start designing your web presence, don't just start making something before you design it.
Think of the various pieces you will need to include, e.g. a website, a linkedin account, a flickr site, facebook, or other social media "presences" of you and your work. This semester you may only have time to build part of you web presence.
Who might be interested in this project?
a content management system projectchose your development environment ∧
If you are interested in backend systems this is a good project for you. Be warned this is an advanced project.
Who might be interested in this project?
designing for the mobile web for example, iphone or qt apps∧
This is an extremely active design area. You could approach this project from two paths, 1) if you are a stylist you might design a series of screens for one or two iPhone applications, or, 2) develop an actual application using the iPhone SDK, or Nokia DT. See the mobile project resources for more information.
Who might be interested in this project?
get certified chose your own path: a particular application or environment ∧
The goal of this project is for you to pass an approved (by me) certification program in either a specific application or development environment. The objective is for you to achieve demonstrable proficiency in either a specific application or in a development environment. For example, millions of people "use" Adobe applications, but a much smaller number are ACE certified. Certification is proof that you understand and can efficiently use an application. If you are interested in being an asset developer this might be a good project to choose.
If you want to be a seat-time person, a freelance concept artist, an illustrator, etc., this might be a good project for you?
Who might be interested in this project?
Setup and understanding the certification procedure, for example,
- Adobe ACE certification,
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- Work your way through the Adobe ACE and ACA information
- Select an application for ACE certification. If you are certified in one application think about Adobe's ACA program and chose an appropriate application.
- Find study guides, both hardcopy and online.
- Carefully start working through the application you selected. Hint, understand all of the menu items in the application, ALL of them.
- Avoid diddling around with simple tutorials. Focus on the application. That's also always a distraction.
- Keep an online journal. It is a good idea to keep a notebook that you can refer to before taking the test.
- Work on this project at least 30-minutes everyday.
Reporting on your progress,
- Use the project report site, or your variation, to point me to your "journal".
- Structure your assault on certification with Google Calendar. Keep a tight schedule.
- If you make examples of assets as you work through the application include them on your report site.>
Again, thus can be a major diversion - so limit time spent on making examples.
- Study the application and the Adobe online docs. Everything you need to know is there.
Commercial certification programs
- O'Reilly School of Technology
- Most of these certification programs are offered through the University of Illinois' Office of Continuing Education. About
- ZEND certification
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- PHP Certification
- Drupal certification
- Find other certification programs you find interesting and send them to me I'll add them to this section.
below the linejavascript, ruby-on-rails, java, etc. ∧
Below-the-line means the people or things you don't see on the screen.
For example, the Web is supported by a range of technologies such as CGI - PHP, PERL, etc. with ties to backend databases, additionally there are development environments such as Ruby on Rails that are used to implement Web applications and services, understanding these technologies is a deeply valuable asset for any designer. But becoming proficient in them can be a steep slope to follow. Before you launch into one of these areas be sure that this is a good path for you.
If you are tempted but a little unsure consider a softer path. HTML is all about display structure (like layout), CSS is focused on styling the objects declared in HTML, Javascript is a widely used language to make interactive features in and for the displayed webpage; virtually all browsers contain a Javascript interpreter. Either of these technologies might be a worthy area to study more deeply this semester?
Who might be interested in this project?
a self-defined projectmust be approved∧
If you have a special project that you would like to do this semester write-up a detailed project brief and we'll talk about it. Avoid small projects such as a website for your cousin. Focus on articulating what are you going to learn through designing, developing, and implementing the project you are considering. Describe clearly exactly how it will fit into your professional goal(s)?
A self-directed project must clearly push you both conceptually and technically, e.g. include, in your brief, the design methods you intend to use and why.
Who might be interested in this project?
