A demonstration of what can be accomplished visually through CSS-based design -- CSS Zen Garden
The purpose of this project is to demonstrate what you have learned about the effective use of CSS and other web design techniques during the first half of this course. Just as with the CSS Zen Garden project, you will be given an HTML document to format with CSS. You will also submit a final Design Report in which you discuss your goals and technical implementation of the project.
Every class member will have some input in final grading of this project. After the project submission date, the full class will review and vote on their favorite submissions.
Everyone in the class will post this HTML document and their style sheet (labeled style.css) to their GVSU webspace folder. You may not change the text of the this HTML document. Instead you must use CSS to change the look and layout of this document. Using CSS, you can include graphics and images to further make the style of this document your own.
Since Mozilla Firefox does a better job of supporting web standards, your style sheet should be primarily designed to work with Mozilla Firefox (or regular Mozilla). It should also be viewable in I.E 6 and degrade gracefully (e.g., it should not look like a train wreck in I.E.).
As you work on your project, load your style sheet to your GVSU webspace. From your mini-zen.html page, use the css link under "validation" to check your style sheet.
While it is okay and a standard practice among designers to borrow CSS code snippets and gain inspiration from others, as a whole, your design should be an original composition. Use only graphics and images which you have the rights to use (e.g., don't steal things off of the Internet).
In addition to posting your completed style sheet to your GVSU webspace, you will also complete a 800-1000 word Design Report in which you
Your Design Report will be posted online as design-report.html into your GVSU webspace folder. It should make effective use of headings, bullets, and other conventions of writing for the web.
The best project submissions will also apply their style sheet (or some variation of it) to their Design Report.
A draft of your Mini Zen project design will be due for workshop a few weeks before the final version is due.
As you use the Internet over the next few weeks, start paying attention to the various designs you see on the websites you visit. Spend some time surfing around CSS Zen Garden for inspiration, too. Bookmark pages and take notes from any sites which you find interesting. Review the textbook for ways of thinking about your design.