Gatlin International

Description

If you're looking to learn Fireworks, our Web Graphics Using Fireworks course is for you! This course is 100% online and instructor-led, to make learning more convenient and affordable than ever before.

If a picture is worth a thousand words; capable of communicating ideas and emotions in a way that simple text can't always explain.

This is especially true on the Web, where graphic images enhance the visitor's experience, support the site's content, and create a visual hierarchy.

Logical and intuitive interface designs provide a framework for how content is organized and what information is important.

This course covers the essentials of making superior Web graphics and interface designs using Adobe Fireworks.

As you learn Fireworks, you'll explore the technical fundamentals, including the Fireworks toolset and features. You'll also learn tips and techniques for manipulating and managing the wide range of graphics used in a typical Web design project.

You'll learn how to create compelling photographs, illustrations, animations, rollover buttons, interactive menus, and advertisements.

You'll learn from Claire Boger, a renowned Web designer and instructorwith more than 15 years experience in the Web design field.

In six hands-on lessons and exercises, you'll learn how to use Fireworks to create fully functional Web pages using timesaving batch processes, optimized photos and illustrations, animations and interactive navigation features.

You'll also explore professional case studies and learn how to use design principles to shape your personal style.

Learn Fireworks the easy with Gatlin International. Simply click on the registration button to get started today!

Outline

LESSON 1 Intro to Web Graphics Lesson One begins with the "big picture" of Web graphics: how different factors such as usage, image type, and target file size influence the process of creating Web graphics. You'll explore the Fireworks toolkit and learn the technical fundamentals every designer must know including basic drawing, type, and exporting tools. In your first exercise, you'll analyze the graphics used on a Web site of your choice, and create your own interactive tourism map, drawn completely in Fireworks.

LESSON 2 Imaging Strategies In Web design, every project brings a new challenge, and oftentimes, a host of different file formats too. Lesson Two surveys the range of source file formats you're likely to encounter in your design projects, and how to choose the right Web output format. You'll then delve into the main types of images: photos, illustrations, and text-as-graphic. You'll learn to work with each of these using specialized Fireworks features including filters, color correction commands, the Pen tool, and typography properties. The exercise will have you working with source files and image-editing techniques to create a home page for a cozy bed and breakfast Web site.

LESSON 3 Optimization Strategies Web graphics need to be optimized to load quicklyÑusers don't like to be kept waiting. But you needn't resign yourself to dull, squashed-looking graphics. Lesson Three looks at optimization strategies you can use to get the biggest bang for your buck or creatively reduce your file size. You'll explore anti-aliasing, matting and transparency, image slicing, interlacing, and more. You'll learn the hows and whys of each technique as you go, along with important exporting concerns. Your exercise will bring you into the fashion world, creating a fashion designer's home page, and optimizing its graphics effectively.

LESSON 4 Interface Design If you're a Web designer, interface design (the placement, shape, and depth of navigation bars, buttons, and icons, and so on) should be one of your top priorities. Lesson Four explores the advantages of using Fireworks for this purpose. As you'll discover, it's easy to lay out your designs and create attractive, effective navigation. The lesson explores these parameters by guiding you step-by-step through the creation of a home page which you can export as HTML. You'll be creating your own in no time, like in the exercise!

LESSON 5 Animation and Interactivity A lot of low-bandwidth animation and interactivity on the Web is produced in Fireworks, not Flash. Lesson Five looks at techniques for producing various kinds of GIF animations: banner ads, highlights, and more. It also covers the fine art of producing JavaScript effects including button rollovers and pop-up navigation menus. In the exercise, you'll create a complete animated banner ad campaign, and will add interactive navigation to one of the home pages you've designed.

LESSON 6 Workflow and Design Style Lesson Six wraps up your course with a look ahead at where you can take your Fireworks skills. You'll learn how Fireworks integrates with the Adobe Creative Suite applications, and how to structure your sites efficiently. You'll try out batch processing techniques to manipulate lots of images at once, and you'll explore design principles that help professionals find their personal styles. This leads to an open-ended final project in which you'll integrate everything you've learned into a multi-page luxury Web site.

Additional Info

Languages

English

Course Length

60.00 hours

Duration of Access

Enrolled students have access to the class for six months. During this period, questions or assignments may be submitted at any time to the instructor. Each course lesson requires an average of 10 hours of study time.

Instructor

Claire Boger is an interactive designer and founder of ImaginationAlley.com, a Web-based software training and design resource site. Claire has more than 15 years professional design experience including corporate identity and package design. Over the past 10 years Claire has concentrated on interactive media and was rewarded as co-recipient of a patent for CD-based technology AudioVisionCD. Claire has played a variety of roles in the development of both large and small scaled interactive projects for such notable corporations as Daimler Chrysler, Kodak, Merrill Lynch, Mutual of Omaha, and MasterCard. Claire has an MFA in Computer Art from SVA in New York.

Prerequisites/Audience

Courses are designed for adult learners interested in building skills and portfolio for a design career. To take the course, students simply require a computer (PC or Mac), an Internet connection (56 Kbps modem or faster), and any required software. For courses with software requirements, computers must meet software manufacturers' system requirements.

Requirements/Materials Included

To take this course you'll need an account with an ad-free Web hosting service (free services are available). An ad-free Web space allows students to upload assignments without interference from forced ads like popups or banners.

Certification

3 CEU

Sessions College is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). Certificate programs are accredited by the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools.