Art 369b: Interactive design and the Internet – Software for People

In this studio course, students create work for the web browser. The class will cover foundational, front-end languages HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and introduce principles of interaction design including navigation, pacing, feedback, and adapting to variable screen sizes and devices. These skills provide a setting from which to make work for the public realm, and to consider the unique possibilities of the browser to contextualize and present content to an audience.

In readings and discussions, we will talk about where the internet comes from, where it is today, and where it’s going—emphasizing its continued use by artists, designers, programmers, activists, and independent publishers of many persuasions.

Beyond technical skills, the course will look at the application of graphic design principles to the web, and support the development of original, surprising projects. The browser is first and foremost a medium for creative expression.

*The course title is borrowed from composer and educator Pauline Oliveros, whose work inspires the class’s open-ended, user-oriented and attentive approach to designing for the web.