Macromedia Project (Includes Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Flash):

Project Preparation

This project should be completed before starting another course module.  Note:  I want to review your work as you progress through the course, do not wait to submit required projects.  I will not accept all of your projects during the last week of course or after you have completed the course. 

Review these art and design resources before beginning your project.

Review the article on making your documents XHTML Compliant.

Review these resources on copyright.

Before you begin your project, visit portfolios.com and browse some of the creative talent.  While you should never copy someone else's work, studying other designer's portfolios can be a great source of inspiration. 

This project should be completed before you begin other units.

Students will demonstrate their knowledge of the Web planning process.

Students should complete the Project Proposal (Word document format).

Students will demonstrate their knowledge of the Macromedia Suite by developing a five page Web site. 

Using what you have learned about Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and Flash create a Web site using the following guidelines:

This site should be a minimum of six created pages.  The content or site topic is up to you.  You may want to contact a local non-profit, a neighbor, or a small business to see if they need a Web site developed.  In the past some students have used "The Ultimate Vacation" as a topic.

The page design should be visually pleasing, professional, and should support the page content.  The page design should be appropriate for its intended audience.  The page design should be controlled with CSS. 

The images should be well designed and complement the overall site design.  The images should be created with Fireworks.  They should not be distorted and should not include negative graphic effects.  The images should be optimized and should download quickly.  All images should have ALT and height and width tags.  If necessary the images should be resized using an image editor and not via the image height and width tag.  Images from the Web can be used as long as you have obtained appropriate permission.

Notes: The graphics should be created in Fireworks.  The site should include rollover buttons, disjointed rollovers  (link) with images, and other advanced Fireworks techniques. Use Fireworks slicing tools and  and export your graphics (see the Fireworks assignment sheet for additional resources). 

The pages should use effective and professional layout.  The layout should not be cluttered. The background and text colors should be readable.  Visitors who use a 800x600 monitor should not have to scroll to the right.  Font sizes should be appropriate for the audience.  The page layout should be controlled with CSS.

The content on the site should be well written.  The content should not contain grammatical, punctuation, or spelling errors.  The content should be easy to read and use appropriate fonts.  The content should be controlled with CSS.

The site should be well organized.  All pages should have meaningful titles.  Navigation should be obvious and easy to maneuver.  Navigation should be on every page and should be easy to find.   The navigation should be consistent throughout the site. Folders should be created to store necessary files.

Everything on the site should work.  There should not be any missing graphics or broken links.  The layout and design should work on both a PC (Internet Explorer/Firefox) and a Mac (Safari).

The site should download in a reasonable amount of time.  Multimedia objects should be used with care.  All images should be optimized and download quickly.

The site should include the author's name (copyright statement) and some form of contact information (a contact form).  There should be no copyright infringement on the site.  The author should obtain permission for all images and content that was obtained from another source.  Outside sources should be credited appropriately. 

The site should contain keywords and description meta tags.  The site should be registered with Google.  For additional information on Meta Tags and registering your site with search engines click here. 

The site should include a  Web Photo Album in Dreamweaver with your favorite photos.  This gallery should be customized to match the design of the rest of your site. 

Notes: You may want to use the Web Photo Gallery extension for more stylish galleries. The Dreamweaver extension allows you to select a from a variety of design templates, change the order of your photos, and rotate the photos.  The other nice thing is that the extension will prompt you for an image caption while it is running.  This allows you to add descriptive text below each image.

The site should incorporate a Flash movie with animation.  This movie may include photos, text or drawn characters and shapes.   The movie should utilize start and stop buttons, tweening, sound, and other effects.  The movie should be well organized; Movie clips should be used for animation, symbols should be used and stored in folders within the Library.  Students should submit the original FLA file for instructor review.  Here is a sample movie; this  is a  Flash opening that one of my former students, Shizuko Angel created for me. 

The site should be XHTML compliant (transitional) and you should validate all pages prior to submitting it to your instructor. http://validator.w3.org/

Students should read the Macromedia rubric before they  begin their projects.  This rubric defines the grading criteria for the project. 

Self-evaluation and peer-evaluation

The site should be uploaded to  your account at robinshosting.com.  Create a folder on your account to store the project.

Before you submit your project to your instructor, use the Macromedia rubric to evaluate your own site. You should also ask two of your fellow students to evaluate your site using the rubric. After self and peer-evaluation, revise your site as needed. Submit your self and peer-evaluations to your instructor along with the HTML Project Proposal.

Submitting the Site

Submit your self and peer-evaluations to your instructor along with the Project Proposal.

Place a link from your homework page to your Macromedia project. Upload and place links to the FLA files that are associated with the site on your homework page or send your instructor a link to the location of the FLA files.

Notify your instructor via email, rwood@cccoe.k12.ca.us, when the site is complete.  Be sure to use the complete URL/URI in your e-mail, i.e., http://robin.robinshosting.com  (always include the http:// when you send your links out in e-mail or post them on message boards). 

Copyright information

Prior to creating your Macromedia project, read R. Delago-Martinez' What is Copyright? site. Be sure that you do not include images, text or code without permission from the originator. For additional information on copyright visit the following sites:

10 Big Myths About Copyright
United States Copyright Office (Be sure to read the copyright basics)
Copyright Information from the University of Michigan
The Copyright Website
Copyright Resources Online from Yale University
Copyright Law from the Copyright Clearance Center
Copyright and Fair Use from Stanford University Libraries
Legal Information Institute - Copyrights & Copyright Infringement and Remedies

Additional resources  http://www.tinkertech.net and http://www.putertutor.net

CERTIFICATES

Certificates are awarded to students who:

  1. Demonstrate effort to learn and problem solve.
  2. Accurately complete all required project labs (one retry is permitted per project).
  3. Utilize the Macromedia Suite in their final project.  Note:  In order to receive a certificate for the Macromedia Suite you must complete the Web Design Final Project.