Project 1: Data Mapping

For Project 1, we will explore how information is transmitted through visual representation. Data mapping (or data visualization) comprises a wide range of methods, but their focus is the same: to communicate something to a specific audience for a particular purpose.

Each student will produce a data map by identifying a specific context, audience, and purpose for the work. Examples of data maps include INA's Iconographics, the map of high school romantic relationships, Bungie's Halo 3 heat maps, the relationship chart among scientific paradigms, Worldmapper, The Shape of Song, Megan Jaegerman's iconographics, and Joseph Jacinto Mora's "Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciúncula." (Examples from previous students will be shown in class.) When students construct their data maps, they should not simply copy the methods of any of these examples and put in different data. Students' design choices should be guided by the specific context, audience, and purpose they identify.

To produce their maps, students will do critical research over visual rhetoric. Students also will analyze their work and the work of others.

A student's data map may be delivered in a print, digital, or other format. The map's final format should be appropriate to the student's context, audience, and purpose. All projects must be organized, accessible, and professional.

Project Deliverables:

• design plan
• data map
• postmortem

Due Dates:

• Design plan first drafts due by the beginning of class on Friday, Sept. 12
• Data map first drafts due by the beginning of class on Monday, Sept. 15
• Design plan second drafts due by the beginning of class on Wednesday, Sept. 17
• Data map second drafts due by the beginning of class on Friday, Sept. 19
• Project 1 final draft (design plan, data map, postmortem) due Wednesday, Sept. 24

Grading:
Grading is done holistically. This means that the rhetorical effectiveness of all three deliverables is judged as a whole. There is not a set point value corresponding to the severity and frequency of individual errors. Projects are assigned a letter grade based upon the following criteria.

Excellent design plans will:

• account for all the design plan elements outlined in Compose, Design, Advocate
• proceed through a structure based on the sequence of design plan elements in Compose, Design, Advocate
• provide a coherent narrative rather than a collection of disconnected parts
• speak in third person about how the data map functions, not in first person about the designer's process of creation
• speak about how the data map works, not about what it will or might do
• demonstrate thoroughly what rhetorical purpose the data map intends, who is targeted, what the context is, and how the message is to be delivered
• demonstrate coherence between the design plan and the resulting data map
• be in a finished, polished format appropriate for an academic/professional reader, including appropriate grammar and mechanics

Excellent data maps will:

• communicate data in a clear and organized way through a primarily visual format
• be in their intended final format
• reveal information not easily transmitted in another format
• reveal information that is complex and/or specialized rather than mundane
• accomplish a legitimate, specific rhetorical purpose not already accomplished by an existing text
• target a legitimate, specific audience other than the map creator
• have an appearance appropriate to the audience and situation, including appropriate grammar and visual style

Excellent postmortems will:

• account thoroughly for all the sections of the postmortem form
• focus on the designer's process of creating the data map
• provide valuable insight into project successes, difficulties, and what lessons have been learned going forward
• provide documentation that would be necessary in a professional setting
• be in a finished, polished format, including appropriate grammar and mechanics, such that the postmortem could be given as-is to a professional superior

Applicable Resources:

• Compose, Design, Advocate excerpt 1
• Compose, Design, Advocate excerpt 2
• Beyond Words excerpt 1
• Beyond Words excerpt 2
• This American Life "Mapping" episode
• Design plan tips
• Project 1 initial questions
• Project 1 more questions
• Project 1 postmortem

Applicable Links:

• Google search for "data visualization"
• Del.icio.us links tagged with "mapping"

Project 2: Podcasting

For Project 2, we will explore how to shape content in an online auditory format. Podcasts are a relatively new medium, but already there are podcasts for almost every topic imaginable, most of which are created by amateur enthusiasts. The one thing that all effective podcasts have in common is that they communicate something to a specific audience in a specific context for a specific purpose.

Each student will create a podcast episode by identifying a specific context, audience, and purpose for the work. This means that each student will find a specific existing venue that would be appropriate for his or her podcast episode. Examples of existing podcasts may be found through Podcast Alley, Find Podcasts, the NPR podcast directory, and Podcast Bunker, among other lists. Students can also find podcasts through iTunes or by doing a Google search for "find podcasts." When students locate an appropriate venue for their work, they should analyze its existing podcast episodes to make determinations about the venue's audience, context, purpose, strategies, and arrangement, and then craft their own work accordingly.

Each student's final podcast episode should be over 3 minutes in length, in mp3 format, and burned to a CD labeled with the student's name. Podcasts may include talk, music, interviews, sound effects, jingles, etc. depending upon context, but the majority of the podcast content on each episode should be original. This means that students can't, for example, make a podcast episode that only plays music (this also would be almost certainly a violation of copyright, which we will discuss). Student final design plans and postmortems should be printed. All projects should be organized, accessible, and professional.

Project Deliverables:

• design plan
• podcast episode
• postmortem

Due Dates:

• Design plan first drafts due by the beginning of class on Friday, Oct. 10
• Podcast first drafts due by the beginning of class on Wednesday, Oct. 15
• Design plan second drafts due by the beginning of class on Friday, Oct. 17
• Podcast second drafts due by the beginning of class on Monday, Oct. 20
• Project 1 final draft (design plan, podcast, postmortem) due Monday, Oct. 27

Grading:
Grading is done holistically. This means that the rhetorical effectiveness of all three deliverables is judged as a whole. There is not a set point value corresponding to the severity and frequency of individual errors. Projects are assigned a letter grade based upon the following criteria.

Excellent design plans will:

• account for all the design plan elements outlined in Compose, Design, Advocate
• proceed through a structure based on the sequence of design plan elements in Compose, Design, Advocate
• provide a coherent narrative rather than a collection of disconnected parts
• speak in third person about how the podcast functions, not in first person about the designer's process of creation
• speak about how the corresponding podcast works, not about what it will or might do
• demonstrate how the podcast episode fits into its venue
• demonstrate thoroughly what rhetorical purpose the podcast intends, who is targeted, what the context is, and how the message is to be delivered
• demonstrate coherence between the design plan and the resulting podcast
• be in a finished, polished format appropriate for an academic/professional reader, including appropriate grammar and mechanics

Excellent podcasts episodes will:

• be over 3 minutes in length, in mp3 format, and burned to a CD labeled with the student's name
• contain mostly original content that is not already copyrighted
• display strategies and arrangement appropriate to the specific chosen venue
• target a legitimate, specific audience other than the podcast creator
• communicate information not easily transmitted in another format
• communicate information that is focused and specific rather than general
• communicate information in a way that is engaging rather than dull
• display technical proficiency (clean editing, appropriate encoding, absence of audible clicks and background noise, etc.)

Excellent postmortems will:

• account thoroughly for all the sections of the postmortem form
• focus on the designer's process of creating the podcast
• provide valuable insight into project successes, difficulties, and what lessons have been learned going forward
• provide documentation that would be necessary in a professional setting
• be in a finished, polished format, including appropriate grammar and mechanics, such that the postmortem could be given as-is to a professional superior

Applicable Resources:

• Project 2 questions
• Project 2 postmortem
• Audacity homepage (including free download)
• Portable Audacity download
• LAME encoder download (Audacity needs this to export .mp3 files)
• Penn State podcasting resources
• Creative Commons audio
• CC Mixter (helps locate creative commons audio)

Applicable Links:

• Google search for "find podcasts"
• Google search for "what makes a good podcast"
• SecurePurdue copyright information
• Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center
• Copyright Navigator
• Link to Lawrence Lessig's Free Culture

Project 3: Client Service Learning

For Project 3, we will be working with a client organization to create its website. Class members will work in small teams. Each team will be responsible for a different aspect of the total project, so the class will function together as a whole. The class will also create a change document that covers basic information about how to make changes to the website, and a thorough design plan for the website. Testing should be incorporated into the design plan. We will be expected to get the website up and running on the client's server, but we will not provide continuing support.

All students will produce weekly work blogs of at least 200 words that are due by Friday at midnight. These blogs should document what the student accomplished to advance the project during the week.

The members page contains a class email list for communication. You are also encouraged to use the chat and wiki functions of our class Google Docs for discussion.

FINE PRINT: If the client, for whatever reason, is unable to make an evaluation before the end of the semester, I will score the project.

• design plan
• final website (with change document covering basic information about how to make changes)
• team contribution document
• team evaluation
• work blogs
• individual evaluation

• draft design plan 11/19
• draft website and change document 11/19
• final design plan 12/12
• final website and change document 12/12
• team contribution document 12/12
• team evaluation 12/12 (in class)
• individual evaluation 12/12 (by email)

• class project = 60% (class grade-evaluated by client)
• team contribution document = 10% (team grade-evaluated by instructor)
• team evaluation = 10% (team grade-evaluated by students)
• work blogs = 10% (individual grade-evaluated by instructor)
• individual evaluation = 10% (individual grade-evaluated by students)

• account for all the design plan elements outlined in Compose, Design, Advocate
• proceed through a structure based on the sequence of design plan elements in Compose, Design, Advocate
• provide a coherent narrative rather than a collection of disconnected parts
• speak in third person about how the website functions, not in first person about the designer's process of creation
• speak about how the corresponding website works, not about what it will or might do
• demonstrate thoroughly what rhetorical purpose the website intends, who is targeted, what the context is, and how the message is to be delivered
• demonstrate thoroughly how the website's medium, strategies, and arrangement accomplish its goals
• demonstrate coherence between the design plan and the resulting website
• be in a finished, polished format appropriate for an academic/professional reader, including appropriate grammar and mechanics

The class project grade corresponds directly to the client organization's evaluation. For this reason, it is paramount that we shape the website in accord with the client organization's specifications, and that all teams respond to feedback provided by the client organization.

Team contribution documents should be approximately two pages in length and give specifics about how the team has contributed to the overall class project. The other teams will use these document as the basis of their team evaluations.

Work blogs should be at least 200 words in length and posted on deadline. Work blogs should give specifics about how the student has contributed to his or her team and the overall class project during the week. A student's team members will use his or her work blogs as the basis of their individual evaluation.

• "Feuds in Student Groups"
• CFRC logos
• Adobe Illustrator CFRC logo
• .eps CFRC logo
• Team Evaluation form
• Individual Evaluation form

• Open Source Web Design
• CSS Zen Garden
• Color Schemer
• Daily Color Scheme
• Webmonkey web design tutorials and resources
• Creative Commons search engine
• List of Content Management Systems (Keep in mind that our client may or may not be comfortable using a CMS. If you want to use a CMS, you will have to discuss with your client what doing so would entail.)