Unit 2: Digital Storytelling

SOFTWARE: Adobe Illustrator CC, Adobe Photoshop CC, Adobe Muse CC

Topics

In this unit students will familiarize themselves with the use of visual design to tell original stories on the web. We will examine the use of color, composition, and narrative in creative web projects.

Students will leverage professional design software, innovative web apps, and development workflows to create visually compelling narratives to be viewed and published on the web.

digital storyteller (dig·i·tal sto·ry·tell·er) Anyone who has a desire to document life experience, ideas, or feelings through the use of story and digital media.

The main assignment in this unit will be to create a single-page website that tells a story; further details will be provided on the assignment page, but for our purposes, a story could be a literal short story, a poem, a tutorial, an infographic, or anything that guides readers through a single path of information.

We will focus on project development and implementation strategies including: how to best realize and enhance the narrative through the use of images, typography, and user experience (UX). These visual styles will be developed above all inservice of a thematic narrative experience. In preparation for this assignment, exercises and tutorials will be provided on core design concepts and web technologies like responsive layouts.

Format

This unit includes some further information about HTML and CSS practices, but will largely focus on overall design and user experience. In order to experiment and develop visual designs, we will use design software from the Adobe Creative Suite as well as web apps focused on generating ideas and design assets.

• Lesson 3
  • Exercise 1: Breakpoints
  • Exercise 2: Design Assets
  • Assignment: 2D mockup of narrative site
  • Blog post
• Lesson 4
  • Exercise 1: Muse landing page
  • Exercise 2: TBD
  • Assignment: Narrative site
  • Blog post