Project: History of Graphic Design

Resources: Library, Internet

Scenario: You are a web design student and are to give the class an oral/web presentation on a period of time in history which defines an area of graphic design. The time periods/subjects are the following:

• The Invention of Writing and Alphabets
• Medieval Manuscript Books
• Illuminated Letters
• The Origins of Printing and Typography
• Influencial Typographers
• History of Book Making
• Renaissance Graphic Design
• The Arts and Crafts Movement
• Victorian and Art Nouveau Graphics
• Bauhaus
• History of Poster Design
• Modern Art and Its Impact on Design
• Visual Identity and Conceptual Images
• Postmodern Design
• Internationalism
• The Computer Graphics Revolution
• Historic Illustrators

You will show the students an effective web site that you have created to explain your subject. The site is user-friendly and your speech will attract the students' attention.

Performance Objectives: (Things you will be able to learn...)
and Criteria: (This is how well it has to be done...)

1. Give an oral presentation that is effective by..
   a) Speaking so all can hear and understand what you are saying
   b) Speaking to the whole audience
   c) Backing up your speech by showing your web page to be user-friendly
   
   
2. Organize information to cover the subject matter in a clear and timely manner
   
   
3. Design a navigation structure for the site that flows easily, is user friendly and invites interactivity
   
   
4. Create web pages that will fit a 800 x 600 browser window.
   
   
5. Organize files and use correct web file formats / extensions by..
   a) avoiding complex naming conventions
   b) saving graphic files in gif and/or jpeg formats
   c) using a .gif, .jpg or .htm extensions
   
   
6. Create small file sizes so web pages load quickly by...
   a) using hexadecimal colors in tables and backgrounds
   b) reducing the number of colors when possible (using the web, adaptive or exact palettes when saving gif files)
   c) using compression / quality controls to improve file size reduction when saving jpeg files
   
   
7. Use ALT, WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes in the IMG tags to make the images load faster and to alert a person that has turned off images what the image is
   
   
   
8. Create web pages that load in 15 seconds or less on a 28.8 bps modem by checking download time using a website service or computer software
   
   
9. Be productive and use lab time effectively by...
   a) working in the lab quietly and on your own
   b) determining when the project is due
   c) use time wisely to get the job done
   d) keeping a time sheet on hours worked on the project