UPCOMING Assignments

(Past assignments are available here)

NEWSLETTER: SERIES, EPISODE, EDITION

These newsletters will be your main project for this class. Details can be found in the project sheet.

NEWSLETTER — PHASE 4: Development

Based on feedback from our critique, begin to refine your website’s design and get the development process.

Set small development goals to prevent yourself from getting stuck, for example: brick out the HTML, develop the site navigation, refine the typography, set up an about page, polish mobile styles / media queries, etc. Much of this half of the course will be focused on 1-on-1 meetings and building out your site and its content.

Please read the following:
- Nicole Starosielski: “Signal Tracks”
- Ingrid Burrington: “How Railroad History Shaped Internet History”
- LOW←TECH MAGAZINE: “About this website”
- Julian Oliver: “Stealth Infrastructure ”
Links and/or PDFs for all readings can be found in our library.
In response to those readings:
Spend some outdoors (be safe, wear a mask) and find the internet near you. Photograph at least two examples of nearby network infrastructure. Maybe you live right near a submarine cable landing point or not far from a massive data center. If not, try starting from the ground up: manhole covers, spray-painted fiber-optic cable markings, junction boxes, public routers, cell towers, etc.

Collect your images and reflect (in writing) on what you encountered. What did you find? How was the weather? Were there people nearby; what were they doing? Did you go somewhere new? Did something in the reading stand out to you? Consider Trevor Paglen’s photos of Submarine Internet Cables or Dave Greer or Peter Garritano’s Internet series, or Nicole Starosielski’s images at cable landing points. Create a page (HTML + CSS) for your images and writing. Publish to Netlify

Collection / Catalogue

Websites are often used to showcase collections or catalogues. Continuing from our style exercises in class, make a collection of something. Maybe you already have one. It could be an a showcase of artworks, rocks you’ve found by the beach, mugs, a particular type of image, etc.

Build an image-forward website that showcases your collection in some way. Think about layout, navigation, pacing, captioning, etc. Publish to Netlify

NEWSLETTER — PHASE 3: Design

Design 2 visually distinct drafts of your website and how your content will appear online. Use any tool you like to design. InDesign, Photoshop, programs like Figma or Sketch, Pen and paper (make sure to scan). Prepare to show your two directions as a presentation on July 29th in class.

A note about design presentations: don't include your name or titles or anything like that. The goal is to use visuals to communicate your ideas. Show, don't tell. Include reference images or inspiration where necessary, but the bulk of the presentation should emphasize your own unique designs. At this point, think seriously about details like navigation, title, how it feels to move through the site and what that looks like.