PROJECT 1 : The Frankenstein Project

DEADLINE: DUE FEBRUARY 5
(you have one week!)

1. A Title
2. Formatted Text
3. 5 Links Minimum (at least one to an external website)
4. A Table
5. 5 Images Minimum (be sure these are designed to fit into a design scheme... Ex: try all black and white photos)

The leaves of that year had withered before my work drew near to a close, and now every day showed me more plainly how well I had succeeded. But my enthusiasm was checked by my anxiety, and I appeared rather like one doomed by slavery to toil in the mines, or any other unwholesome trade than an artist occupied by his favourite employment. Every night I was oppressed by a slow fever, and I became nervous to a most painful degree; the fall of a leaf startled me, and I shunned my fellow creatures as if I had been guilty of a crime. Sometimes I grew alarmed at the wreck I perceived that I had become; the energy of my purpose alone sustained me: my labours would soon end, and I believed that exercise and amusement would then drive away incipient disease; and I promised myself both of these when my creation should be complete.

It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs.

How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.

The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep. At length lassitude succeeded to the tumult I had before endured, and I threw myself on the bed in my clothes, endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness.

DEADLINE: MARCH 5

The web can be used to entertain, but most often it is used to inform. With good design, the web can be an exciting way to educate people using both text and images. This project focuses on the web's capacity to provide information clearly, quickly, and aesthetically.

Conceptually, the goal with this project is to diagram the parts of an object. The user should be able to click on a part of an image and find out more about it. Technically, you will learn about "image maps" which allow different parts of an object to be "mapped" or "linked" to different pages. You may use either ImageMap or DreamWeaver software to accomplish this.

To complete this project:

1. Scan in or illustrate an object. Be sure to choose an object with at least five or six parts. EXAMPLES: flowers, letterforms, the human foot, the eye, a camera...
2. Do research to find out the names of the parts and any additional facts that you could build into the design.
3. Create a page layout in which the image of this object is the central focus.
4. Make this image into an "image map" so that one could click on the various parts to learn more about your image.

DEADLINE PHASE 1: MARCH 12

Create designs for project below in Photoshop, Illustrator, or Fireworks.

DEADLINE PHASE 2: APRIL 2

Using the images in the class folder, make an online commerce site that advertises and sells toys.

The site will need to include:

1. a company logo
2. at least 4 sections that create groups of items (ex: games, books, toddlers, teens)
3. eye-catching animations (at least one or two)

PROJECT 4: Interactive Art
(FLASH)

DEADLINE: APRIL 23

In this assignment,we begin to look at the web as a medium for time-based animation ideas and interactivity. Using one of the images provided, work with Flash to bring the image to life. Begin with the idea of telling a simple story and then work on how the details of the image can be used to enhance the basic movement you create.

The images can be used simple as backgrounds or they can be traced and used as 'sprites'. Feel free to change
the image as needed.

PROJECT 5: Re-Imagining the Desktop

DEADLINE: MAY 7

Make a project in which you reproduce the Mac or Windows Desktop as a web-page. You may keep a realistic look or customize the desktop as much as you wish. Now make it interactive... use the icons (trash, hardrive, pull-down menus) to reveal unexpected, cynical, or magical sounds, images, or links.

Use Flash, Shockwave, or JavaScript.

For Reference: Desktop Is by Alexei Shulgin

The ASCII Desktop by Heath Bunting

DEADLINE: FINAL EXAM DATE, TBA

Using Flash, Shockwave, or HTML, create an interface for the projects you've made in the class. Also include links to your email address, to your resume, and to any other information that you think an employer or curator might want to see.

For Reference: Online Portfolios

Rennee Levitt