GA491 - Game Art Senior Project - Syllabus
Week 1 - May 27:
- Lecture: Introduction to Class, KGA #1 and #2, Web sites that Suck
- Class Assignment: Go to one of the sites under Resources and review the game art website portfolios. Select one and describe what you like about it as a showcase for the artist's/company's work and what could be improved. Be prepared to discuss the following with the class:
- Why is a good online portfolio so important to game artists?
- What resources can you think of that may be helpful in planning and developing your portfolio?
- Besides a good portfolio, what are some other things that you can do to help get a job as a game artist?
- Project Assignment: KGA #1
- Class Folders for Projects: Set up a folder with your name and the class name on your Flash drive. Create folders for Weeks 1-9 in the folder. Place projects and assignments in these folders to turn in for grading.
Week 2 - June 1:
- Lecture: Portfolio Grading Rubric, Introduction to website design (HTML, audience, purpose, IA), 2.0 design
- Class Project: HTML page tutorial
- KGA #1 Part 1 - Due Wednesday: 2-3 page paper on finding jobs in game art industry
- KGA #1 Part 2:
- Brainstorm on your own and make a list of several pieces of art or projects you have worked on over the past couple years. List the best ones to feature on your site. This will serve as your initial asset list and will be a starting point for the collection process.
- Begin collecting and organizing your project/assets to be used in the portfolio project.
- Have an instructor in the Game Art department at Westwood review the assets for your portfolio and using the Asset Review Chart, rate them and provide feedback.
- Class Assignment: Share the job(s) you are most interested in pursuing with the class and what projects would help in highlighting your skills.
Week 3 - June 8:
- Lecture: Introduction to CSS
- Class Assignment: http://www.subcide.com/tutorials/csslayout/page2.asp
- Guest Speaker: Eve Fisher, Instructor.
- KGA #1: Parts 2 & 3 completed
- KGA #2: Update and improve your portfolio artwork/projects based upon feedback from game art professors (ongoing).
Week 4 - June 15:
- Lecture: Template selection and design mockups, Introduction to Dreamweaver
- Class Project: Modify Dreamweaver Template, Read book: Chapters 1, 2
- Possible Guest Speaker: Charles Bendert - Game Art Program Director
- KGA #1 - Due Monday: Completed and turned in for grade. Presentations to class.
- Website Project- Due Friday:
- Find 2-3 game art website portfolios that you like.
- Select a template design for your site (1, 2 or 3 columns) and create a mockup in Photoshop sized properly showing the home page design (same as the inside pages).
- Present your mockup to the class for feedback before building out your site in Dreamweaver.
- KGA #2: Update and improve your portfolio artwork/projects based upon feedback from game art professors.
Week 5 - June 22:
- Lecture: Website setup, Dreamweaver: Chapters 3 &4
- Possible Guest Speaker: Monte Moore, Fantasy Illustrator - MavArts.com
- Website Project - Due Friday:
- Modify the site design based on feedback from others in the class and the instructor.
- Slice up the graphics and identify the colors in hexadecimal format.
- Sign up for free web hosting at www.xtreemhost.com (if not using the Westwood College server).
- Select and buy a domain name (your name or company name) if hosting your site on an outside server.
- KGA #2: Update and improve your portfolio artwork/projects based upon feedback from game art professors.
Week 6 - June 29:
- Lecture: Modifying/adding navigation links to templates
- Possible Guest Speaker: Brion Franz, Westwood College Instructor
- Website Project - Due Friday:
- Select a template that will work for your site and modify the template in Dreamweaver to match your mockup design for the site.
- Define the site and set up the home page in Dreamweaver.
- Modify the CSS for the home page in Dreamweaver to match your site design mockup.
- Add the graphics and content to the home page.
- KGA #2: Update and improve your portfolio artwork/projects based upon feedback from game art professors.
Week 7 - July 6:
- Lecture: Uploading site to the hosting server, testing site (links, appearance) in multiple browsers
- Possible Guest Speaker: Sean Brown, Westwood College Instructor
- Website Project - Due Friday:
- Add/modify navigation links for the pages in your site
- Finish home page (index.html) and upload to hosting server
- Test site links and appearance across multiple browsers
- KGA #2: Present site with artwork to class/instructor for preliminary feedback. (10 pts)
Week 8 - July 13:
- Lecture: Portfolio Grading Rubric, Adding pages and metatags to the site
- Guest Speaker: TBD
- Website Project - Due Friday:
- Finish adding content and graphics to all pages
- Use Save As (home page) to create the pages for your site
- Modify each page by adding the correct title, content, graphics, metatags
- Check spelling and make sure all links are working properly
- Upload site pages to the hosting server
- KGA #2: Update and improve your portfolio artwork/projects based upon feedback from game art professors.
Weeks 9 - July 20:
- Guest Speaker: TBD
- KGA #2 Project Assignments:
- Game Art Portfolios completed
Weeks 10 - July 27:
- Guest Speaker: TBD
- KGA #2 Project Assignments:
- Game Art Portfolios completed
- Presentations to instructors, Program Director, Career Services
Game Art Resources
Artist Portfolio Sites
Website Design Resources
CSS Templates
Game Art/Graphic Design Job Sites
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