Assigned: March 4
Due: March 18, Before Class
Hand in a printout of your digital mockups in class.
Overview
Your assignment is to choose your favorite of the three designs from design
assignment #4 and make a set of digital mockups of it. The idea is to flesh
out the details of your design and make decisions on the look and feel, color,
typography, etc.
What to Do:
The goal of this assignment is to get you one step closer to creating or
redesigning your digital portfolio. Remember that you are designing your
portfolio for the web. Using tools such as Adobe Photoshop, you can make
a pixel-perfect mockup, though this is not absolutely required for this
assignment. Other tools such as Powerpoint, Balsamiq, Illustrator, HTML/CSS/
Javascript, and Omnigraffle are also perfectly acceptable. The only
requirement is that your mockups be digital, and preferably, in color.
If you'd like to get your hands dirty with Photoshop, this is a great tutorial that leads you through the steps of creating a Photoshop mockup of a website.
When refining your design, consider how you want to present yourself and what you want to convey through your work. Again, you will probably focus more on aesthetics and navigation in this assignment, although usability should still be taken into consideration (especially if you are interested in finding work in usability!).
Also consider, given your professional interests, what types of media would best demonstrate your work. Would pictures and video help users understand what you've done, and add to the narrative? How might users interact with your portfolio? Will your portfolio present projects statically, or unfold as a result of engaging user actions? Additionally, consider what companies are looking for when they peruse portfolios, and how much time they will probably spend on each one.
Link each of your mockups to the wiki before class on Thursday, March 18. Make sure that your images are scaled appropriately on the wiki so that the instructors can easily view your assignment. You should also write a brief description of your mockups in the wiki so that we can understand your motivation and design rationale. Make sure to note interactions, such as what happens on mouseovers. Talk about why you chose this design out of the three you sketched, and what excites you about this particular portfolio design.
You must also bring a printout of your mockups to lecture on Thursday, March 18, along with design assignment #4. In class we will look over all of the solutions and discuss how you came to choose and iterate on the chosen design.
Grading:
This assignment is 2% of your overall grade, which
has been broken down into 10 points for grading. The breakdown
of points is as follows:
Mockups (6 pts)
You must have enough mockup screens to show navigation and interactions
from the portfolio page to receive full credit. If the portfolio page is
just one link from your main website, you can show the splash page from
the main website, but also show the portfolio page and any subpages
extending from the portfolio page). Briefly describe what you want to
convey about yourself and your work from this design.
Completeness of the Design (2 pts)
Full points will be awarded if your design is digital and complete in
terms of navigation and interaction.
Creativity and Quality of the Mockups (2 pts)
The mockups will be evaluated on the basis of the creativity of your
design.
How to Turn In:
Visit the Design
Assignment #5 page on the Wiki. Create a new page for yourself
that links from this page. Embed your sketch images in your new page,
along with the brief description of your rationale. See the example
solutions on the Wiki for more information.