An introduction to MeME
ARTD 299a is a summer session 1 course taught by jessica mullen at the university of illinois, urbana-champaign, through the school of art and design. it is an introduction to web development and design using CSS and XHTML. this course will provide the confidence to explore and manifest conceptual ideas on the web.
to excel as a web designer, one must be knowledgeable about the medium one is designing for. three main aspects of web design will be covered in this class: code, design, and concept.
just like a print designer, a web designer must be familiar with the tools to create internet media. that’s where the code comes in. using XHTML and CSS, the student will learn how to execute ideas in a standards-compliant, accessible manner.
traditional design principles apply to the web as in any other medium. elements such as hierarchy, composition, typography and readability will all be covered extensively.
concept is by far the most important element of web design. with a strong concept, aesthetic design and proper coding follow naturally. strong concepts build communities, generate traffic and propagate messages.
this course will largely focus on the creation of internet memes and their effect on internet culture. if the next focus of the internet is building communities, then we should explore what makes information travel quickly to bring those communities together.
Memetic Media Encyclopedia is a creative commons licensed aggregate of memetic explorations and commentary about the process of creating a meme. each day, artd 313a students will receive a topic around which they will build memettes (short explorations into potentially replicable pieces of internet culture). they will use these exercises to practice CSS skills covered in lecture.