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California College of the Arts
Fall 2016
Interactive 2, GRAPH-228-02
Graduate Ctr Complex Bldg 1, Room GC2
Tuesday, Thursday 7:15–10:15pm

Instructor: Mindy Seu, mindyseu@cca.edu
TA: Yan Zhuang, yzhuang2@cca.edu

About this site
  • Week 1 ... Tues Sept 6 & Thurs Sept 8
    <P1>

    Week 1 Google Doc

    Tuesday

    • Mindy introduces herself and shows some past projects
    • Yan introduces himself and shows some past projects
    • Students show their own work and two websites (add this to the Week 1 Google Doc underneath your name)
    • Discuss syllabus
    • Define class expectations
    • Sign up for weekly presentations
    • Explain P1

    Thursday

    • Look at works related to P1
    • Follow steps in Exercise: Setting up your class website with Github
    • Style your class homepage
    • Begin the search for content for P1

    Reading for next week

    • Create 3 discussion questions. Include this in the Week 2 Google Doc
    • Notes on the Internet and Art by Gene McHugh
    • Spirit Surfing by Kevin Bewersdorf, 2008
    • Dispersion by Seth Price, 2002

    Reminder

    • Make sure you pasted your class homepage link in the Week 1 Google Doc
    • Esmeralda, please prepare your presentation on Rhizome
    • Lexi, please prepare your presentation on Julian Assange and Wikileaks
    • Next Tuesday, meet in Timken Lecture Hall for the GD Convocation from 7:15–8:00. Return to class by 8:20.
  • Week 2 ... Tues Sept 13 & Thurs Sept 15

    Week 2 Google Doc

    Tuesday

    • Meet in Timken Lecture Hall for the GD Convocation from 7:15–8:00. Return to class afterwards.
    • Presentation by Esmeralda on Rhizome
    • Presentation by Lexi on Julian Assange and Wikileaks
    • Begin prototyping for P1

    Thursday

    • Reading Discussion
    • Mindy talks about A Brief History of the Internet
    • Work in class on P1

    Reading for next week

    • Create 3 discussion questions. Include this in the Week 3 Google Doc
    • Internet with a Human Face by Maciej Ceglowski, 2014
    • Balconism by Constant Dullaart, 2014
    • The Cobweb by Jill Lepore, 2015
    • In Defense of the Poor Image directed by Hito Steyerl, 2009

    Reminder

    • Try to attend the beginning of Donald Knuth at SFPL on Tuesday at 6PM.
    • Lucy, please prepare your presentation on Kevin Kelly and Wired
    • Bill, please prepare your presentation on Ted Nelson
    • Finish two prototypes for P1 that you will present to the class on Tuesday. Please make sure your class website shows your two proposals as well.
  • Week 3 ... Tues Sept 20 & Thurs Sept 22

    Week 3 Google Doc

    Tuesday

    • Presentation by Lucy on Kevin Kelly and Wired
    • Presentation by Bill on Ted Nelson
    • Reading Discussion
    • Mid-project critique: look at your two proposals for P1 in small groups

    Thursday

    • Mindy goes over a few rules
    • Class critique for ​Lexi, Yael, Shengkai and Yvette
    • Mindy talks about Surveillance and Data Mining
    • Work in class on P1
    • Mindy will begin one-on-one meetings with Marjerrie, Karen, Anisha

    Reading for next week

    • Create 3 discussion questions. Include this in the Week 4 Google Doc
    • The Language of Internet Memes by Patrick Davison, 2012
    • Conservatism of Emoji by Luke Stark, 2014

    Reminder

    • Based on the in-class critiques, finalize P1 for Thursday's presentations.
    • Yael, please prepare your presentation on Ada Lovelace
  • Week 4 ... Tues Sept 27 & Thurs Sept 29
    </P1>

    Week 4 Google Doc

    Tuesday

    • Presentation by Yael on Ada Lovelace
    • Reading Discussion
    • Work in class

    Final in-class studio format
    To prepare for the final critique on Thursday, each student must work with a partner. For five minutes, observe as your partner navigates your site. Please do not provide any verbal instructions. Analyze how they move through the site: Are they moving in the sequence you intended? Are they discovering the metadata? Is there enough content to engage for at least five minutes? For the person exploring, is the site engaging? Easy to use? Are there multiple layers of content? After discussing, swap roles.

    Thursday

    • Introduce take-home exercise: Spreadsheet Typeface
    • Final critique on P1
    • Special Guest: Shiraz Gallab

    Critique Format
    For today's critique, we will spend ~10 minutes on each person. For the first ~7 minutes, everyone but the designer can talk. The classmate to your right will explore your project, projected for the entire class to see. During this time, we should try to have a conversation about the work, or at least describe it. Then, in the last ~3 minutes, the designer can respond to the conversation we just had.

    Reading for next week

    • Create 3 discussion questions. Include this in the Week 5 Google Doc
    • What is Code? by Paul Ford, 2015

    This is a very long article. We aren't going to read the whole thing, but you can if you want to.

    Required parts:

    • all of chapter 1
    • all of chapter 2
    • chapter 3 intro, 3.1, 3.2
    • chapter 5 intro, 5.1, 5.2, 5.7, 5.8
    • chapter 6 intro, 6.1, 6.2, 6.5, 7.1, 7.5.

    Reminder

    • Anisha, please prepare your presentation on Edward Snowden
    • Rachel, please prepare your presentation on Richard Stallman
    • Complete your take-home exercise: Spreadsheet Typeface before Tuesday's class
  • Week 5 ... Tues Oct 4 & Thurs Oct 6
    <P2>

    Week 5 Google Doc

    Tuesday

    • Presentation by Anisha on Edward Snowden
    • Presentation by Rachel on Richard Stallman
    • Reading Discussion
    • Review Spreadsheet Typeface Exercise
    • Deploy P2
    • Look at some examples of typography on the web
    • In small groups, determine which letters create the foundation for the majority of characters in the alphabet. (For example, "o" creates "b", "d", "p", "q", etc )
    • Work in class on P2

    For Thursday

    For P2, create three unique directions for your typeface. Begin by sketching the fundamental letters we discovered in small group. Conceptually and formally, each direction should be uniquely different from each other. While sketching, consider how each typeface would exist as code and in the browser space. (Do this in InDesign or Illustrator and create a PDF to discuss on Tuesday.) Design with each typeface with a purpose in mind and be prepared to explain these concepts on Thursday.

    Thursday

    • In class demo for coding shapes and basic animations
    • Work in class on Exercise: Coding from Life
    • While students are working on the exercise, Mindy and Yan will have one-on-one discussions about the three typeface directions

    For Tuesday

    For the selected direction, complete your typeface (in Illustrator, etc.) as much as possible. Here are the characters I would like you to have by then:

    abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
    or
    ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
    (choose either lower or upper case)

    0123456789 (numbers)
    .?!,”“ (punctuation)

    Reading for next week

    • Create 3 discussion questions. Include this in the Week 6 Google Doc
    • Computed Type by Christoph Knoth, 2012

    Reminder

    • Yvette, please prepare your presentation on Constant Dullaart
    • Kaylee, please prepare your presentation on Donald Knuth and Metafont
  • Week 6 ... Tues Oct 11 & Thurs Oct 13

    Week 6

    Tuesday

    • Did everyone receive their grade for P1?
    • Presentation by Yvette on Constant Dullaart
    • Presentation by Kaylee on Donald Knuth and Metafont
    • Reading discussion
    • Mid-semester evaluations
    • Review character set

    For Thursday

    Please create two unique proposals (using InDesign) for the website your typeface will live on. Each direction should include as many pages as required in order to explain your concept. How can your website's focus not only reinforce but push forward the concept of your typeface? Remember to upload the sketches to your class website.

    Thursday

    • Mindy talks about Jurriaan Schrofer
    • Look over two proposals for website for P2
    • Work in class on P2

    Reading for next week

    • Create 3 discussion questions. Include this in the Week 7 Google Doc
    • Visible Wisdom by Muriel Cooper, 1994

    Reminder

    • For P2, continue developing your website and your typeface.
    • On Tuesday, I want to see it started in code.
    • Try to code all of your characters by next Tuesday so we can spend the week troubleshooting and building the sites.
    • Karen, please prepare your presentation on Tim Berners-Lee
  • Week 7 ... Tues Oct 18 & Thurs Oct 20

    Week 7 Google Doc

    Tuesday

    • Presentation by Karen on Tim Berners-Lee
    • Reading Discussion
    • Work in class on P2

    Thursday

    • Work in class on P2
    • Write your name next to a time in this Google Doc for one-on-one crits and technical assistance

    Remember

    • Next Tuesday, Waël Morcos will give a talk in E2 from 6–7PM, and then join our class for our mid-project crit. (Please refer to Rachel’s email for more info)
    • Next Thursday's class is canceled.
  • Week 8 ... Tues Oct 25 & Thurs Oct 27
    <br>

    Week 8 Google Doc

    Tuesday

    • Review P2 in-progress sites
    • Special Guest: Waël Morcos

    Each designer will have 12 minutes to present their CSS Typeface and receive feedback to apply for the final week.

    Thursday

    • Class is canceled. If you would like to attend office hours this Saturday, please email me no later than Thursday, October 27th at 11:59PM. link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1alcoGH54wDV-_-bIt4jDefN3AAMcjiy4woIEGsHioik/edit?usp=sharing text: here popup: yes

    Here is a link: https://jsfiddle.net/0tu2pxd8/7/ text: jsfiddle update to re-using your letters.

  • Week 9 ... Tues Nov 1 & Thurs Nov 3
    </P2>

    Week 9 Google Doc

    Tuesday

    • Has everyone emailed Mindy their field-trip forms?
    • Would you be available for a Wednesday crit from 12PM–3PM during 14th week?
    • Write your name next to a time in this Google Doc for one-on-one crits and technical assistance

    Thursday

    • Special Guest: Tânia Raposo
    • Final critique for P2

    Critique Format
    For today's critique, we will spend ~11 minutes on each person. For the first ~7 minutes, everyone but the designer can talk. The classmate to your right will explore your project, projected for the entire class to see. During this time, we should try to have a conversation about the work, or at least describe it. Then, in the last ~4 minutes, the designer can respond to the conversation we just had.

    Reading for next week

    • Create 3 discussion questions. Include this in the Week 10 Google Doc
    • Stop Trying to Make the Web Beautiful by Oliver Burkeman, 2014

    Reminder

    • Marjerrie, please prepare your presentation on Creative Commons
    • Lori, please prepare your presentation on Muriel Cooper
    • Next Thursday will be a class fieldtrip to 500 Capp St. (address) Meet there at 7:10 PM.
  • Week 10 ... Tues Nov 8 & Thurs Nov 10
    <P3><fieldtrip>

    Week 10 Google Doc

    Tuesday

    • Guest Speaker: Max Hawkins
    • Presentation by Lori on Muriel Cooper
    • Presentation by Marjerrie on Creative Commons
    • Would you be available for a joint presentation during Wednesday 7:15PM of 14th Week?
    • Reading Discussion
    • Deploy P3
    • Mindy talks about wireframes
    • Begin developing 2 separate ideas for P3.
    • Research Bay Area institutions and identify 2 institutions with potential lines of inquiry/exhibitions.

    Thursday

    • Class Field-trip! Please meet at 500 Capp St. (address)
    • During the field-trip, take at least 5 photographs (that include people). Be prepared to share these in this Google Drive folder

    For next Tuesday

    • Taylor, please prepare your presentation on Stewart Brand and The Whole Earth Catalog
    • Develop two ideas for P3.
    • Upload at least 5 photographs (that include people) into this Google Drive folder. (Name them "yourname1.jpg", "yourname2.jpg", etc. > e.g. "mindy1.jpg", "mindy2.jpg", etc.)
    • Produce a wireframe/sketch for each website direction
      • Begin with the home page and one detail page

    Reading

    • Create 3 discussion questions. Include this in the Week 11 Google Doc
    • Fuck Content by Michael Rock, 2009
    • Research & Destroy by Daniel van der Velden, 2005
  • Week 11 ... Tues Nov 15 & Thurs Nov 17

    Week 11 Google Doc

    Tuesday

    • Presentation by Taylor on Stewart Brand and Whole Earth Catalog
    • Reading Discussion
    • Did everyone receive their grade for P2?
    • Look at wireframes for your two P3 proposals
    • Begin designing the page templates for the selected concept.

    Thursday

    • Mindy talks about jQuery Basics with the jQuery Starter Kit
    • Work on Exercise: Hoverstates
    • Reviews your visual design sketches in small groups
    • Begin coding site

    Reminder

    • By next week, your site should be online and basically functioning as intended.
    • Mid-Project eval will be on Tuesday, November 29.
    • Next Thursday's class is canceled for the Thanksgiving holiday.
  • Week 12 ... Tues Nov 22 & Thurs Nov 24
    <br>

    Week 12 Google Doc

    Tuesday

    • Review Class Archives
    • Review initial site build
    • Write your name next to a time in this Google Doc for one-on-one crits and technical assistance

    Thursday

    • No Class: Thanksgiving Holiday

    Reminder

    • Mid-Project evaluation is Tuesday, November 29
    • Class Archives are due via email on Monday, December 19
  • Week 13 ... Tues Nov 29 & Thurs Dec 1

    Week 13 Google Doc

    Tuesday

    • Mid-Project Review for P3
    • Special Guest: Rachel Berger

    Each designer will have 10 minutes to present their Exhibition Microsite and receive feedback to apply for the final week.

    Thursday

    • Work in class
    • Write your name next to a time in this Google Doc for one-on-one crits and technical assistance

    Reading for next week

    • 8 Reasons to Turn Down that Startup Job by Mike Monteiro, 2015
    • This text is not mandatory, but I encourage you to read it. We will have a brief discussion at the start of Tuesday's class.

    Reminder

    • For next week, perfect your Exhibition Microsite
    • Class Archives are due via email on Monday, December 19
  • Week 14 ... Tues Dec 6 & Thurs Dec 8
    </P3>

    Week 14 Google Doc

    Tuesday

    • Class Evaluation
    • Write your name next to a time in this Google Doc for one-on-one crits and technical assistance
    • Work on P3 in class
    • Work on Class Archives in class

    Thursday

    • Final critique of website for P3
    • Special Guest: Jon Sueda

    Critique Format
    For today's critique, we will spend ~10 minutes on each person. For the first ~7 minutes, everyone but the designer can talk. The classmate to your right will explore your project, projected for the entire class to see. During this time, we should try to have a conversation about the work, or at least describe it. Then, in the last ~3 minutes, the designer can respond to the conversation we just had.

    Reminder

    • Good luck on Level 3 Reviews!
    • Class Archives are due via email on Monday, December 19