PMCD_5002_A_FEHRENBACH_S22

<aside> 👆 This document is the version that I submitted at the start of the course; I’ve pulled out our specific/unique content here, below.

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Course description

The web is the water that we all swim in. As designers, we must have the tools to see and then navigate this water. It is our job to understand it as a medium—how it came to be, what it is, how it flows, where the current is going and where it might take us. When we understand it, we can learn to direct it, or at least not fight the waves—and then head out into the tide.

In this course, students will build upon their typographic knowledge and design tastes with an introduction of the foundational, front-end languages of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript—the very stuff of the web. Over the course of the semester, we will consider how the web works and learn its paradigms through reading, discussion, exercises, and projects. We will then use this knowledge to participate in that web.

Learning outcomes

• Students will demonstrate a fundamental understanding of, and comfort with, the basic technologies of the web: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• With that knowledge, students will learn to identify and analyze the patterns of their use, comprehending both their limitations and their possibilities.
• They will learn to apply this understanding to type, form, and interactivity through their own lens of experience, taste, and intention.
• Because web technologies are myriad, complex, and evolving, where students do not have a technical skill, they will, in its place, acquire a vocabulary to communicate with those who do.
• Students will show their grasp of these skills with their own, distinctive foray into the web—creating a portfolio site, where they can construct (or deconstruct) web technologies and patterns, towards a self-expression.

Our community

We will collectively write and agree upon a code of conduct for our group. This agreement is intended to help us create and maintain a safe, empathetic, and productive space for our course.

• The class should feel comfortable asking the instructor anything—nothing is too trivial, or embarrassing. Tangents are good.
• We will have a break, roughly halfway through the class.
• We will be respectful, helpful, and constructive when providing feedback to their classmates.
• We will all strive to actively participate in class.
• Classmates should use our preferred names and pronouns.
• We will be respectful and listen when someone is presenting their work.
• Everyone will try their best—making a “good faith” attempt at bettering the class and themself.
• When presenting, students will “have the floor” while they take us through their work. This means everyone else will be quiet, we’ll close our laptops, and give our full attention to the person showing their work.
• We will also have a group discussion/critique of our projects, where students will keep their feedback generous and constructive. We are all in this together.

<aside> ♻️ We will revisit this list as the semester goes on.

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Assessable tasks