All final project files are due by Midnight on Sunday, May 16th. You will not receive a grade for the class if you do not turn in your final as described below:
- If your project is an HTML/CSS web site, please post the final files to your A server account, and post the URL to YOUR blog.
- If your project is a Flash project, please post a working version of your .swf file embedded in an HTML document and post the URL of the html document to YOUR blog. Please ALSO upload a zip file of the following and post the location of the file to YOUR blog:
- Final .fla file
- Any external media files (images, mp3 tracks, .flv files)
- If your project is a combo, do both!
If you have ANY questions about what you need to do, ask or email me immediately. Don’t make me track you down for these files, it will make me very cranky, and cranky teachers don’t give good grades!
Thanks everyone, you’ve done great work this semester!
Here’s a few Flash examples that you may or may not have covered in lab, but may be useful in your final projects:
Flash Examples
Homework
Instead of class this Friday, I’m going to ask each of you to go to the MFA Design and Technology Symposium that starts tomorrow and runs through the weekend. All the information is here:
One Zero MFADT Thesis Symposium
Please attend at least one 1 hour session and post a comment on this blog post about it before next Wednesdays class.
Final Project
If anyone would like extra help on their projects, I can be available during our normal class time on Friday. Email me immediately to make an appointment between 12:00 and 2:40 on Friday.
On the menu today:
- Work in class
- How to publish your Flash files for next week’s presentations
- Presentation Guidelines
Presentation Guidelines
We’re going to keep things simple with this presentation.
- Plan for a 10 minute presentation, with 10 minutes for critique
- Introduce your project with a brief description: what it is, what platform it is for, and what it is intended to do
- Walk us through the prototype. I realize some of your apps as conceived are more complicated than others. To make things equitable, I’m going to require that you each show at least 6 distinct screens in your presentation. Pick the screens that will demonstrate the key features of the app, and give us the fullest experience of your vision
- Discuss what you would do if you continued with this project. If necessary, show us designs that did not get included in your prototype
We won’t be having any outside critics, so I am relying on the class to critique their peers work. I’m not going to join in the critique, I’m going to take notes for the presenter, so it is up to all of you!
Today we’re going to work in class to get your designs into Flash and start writing your ActionScript.
First, some nice examples of experimental flash:
Topics:
- How to get your Design into Flash
Homework:
Due Wednesday
Designs are due for all your prototype screens. Please post them to your blogs as a PDF so I can take a look at them and comment on them. Bring your laptops to class next week so that you can work on your actionscript code during class.
Topics:
- Why your designs should be vector graphics
- Device Template resources
- Setting up your Illustrator Files
Use vector graphics for Flash designs
Vector graphics are scalable and editable when brought into Flash. This means you can change and resize them without any loss of quality, and animate them without having to create multiple frames outside of Flash.
You can also create design elements right in Flash, if you are comfortable drawing in that environment.
If you are using photographic asset, or a graphic that is too complex to create as vectors, you can use bitmaps, but you should be aware that you will not be able to scale it beyond 100%, and even scaling down can reduce quality.
Device Template resources
There are some Illustrator templates out there (for iPhone in particular) that can help you get started on your designs. Here’s a few!
Setting up your Illustrator Files
The better organized your files are, the easier it will be to bring them into Flash. Your illustrator layers match your planned Flash layers, and named accordingly. Setting them up right from the start will save you a lot of time!
Homework
Due Friday
Create the basic interface design for your App prototype. Bring your laptop to class!
Due Next Wednesday
Interface designs finished for all screens of your App. Bring your laptop to class!
Topics:
- Demo of paper prototypes
- User Testing our prototype
Homework
Due Wednesday
1. User Testing your prototype: Create 3 tasks for your users to perform with your prototype. Then test those tasks with 3-4 people. Note where they have problems or questions. Revise your prototype to address the issues that come up.
Due Friday
2. Create Design Comps for your prototype: Create interface design for each screen of your App. Keep in mind the interface conventions for your platform. There are design templates for many of these platforms out there that will save you creating elements from scratch. You want your designs to be as close to the actual experience of an App on that platform as possible. If you are creating a public interface, you should also provide a diagram of the kiosk or other physical installation.
Bring your laptops to class on Wednesday! I’m going to give you time in class to work on your designs while I talk to you one on one about your projects.