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Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Web Critique: Chicago Art Dept., Pros Arts, Mess Hall
Chicago Art Department (www.chicagoartdepartment.org)
The school-themed layout of this site is very cute, and not too cute--it's a fine line that they navigated successfully. In general, the organization of the site makes sense to me and the page density is not too heavy or too light anywhere I looked.
The classes/workshops look great--I hope they're still offering them (the latest listings were for Summer 2008). Are they really free?! It doesn't say anything about pricing for most of them, and one of them requires a refundable $100 deposit (which is a great idea to get people who signed up to actually show up). If I'm not missing something and these classes really are free, that would be a wonderful resource for people who are interested in art but can't afford to pay for a class.
I noticed that the info on the Exhibitions/Events page was pretty sparse. Actually, it was just the date, title, and one or no image--about as sparse as you can get. I eventually found more details about some events on the blog, so more substantial content already exists. It would be great if it could just be copied and pasted to the Exhibitions/Events page so everything is contained in one place.
Pros Arts Studio (http://www.prosarts.org/)
I miss making bowls, even though every one I made was lopsided and a little bit (or maybe more than a little bit) heavy. I just remember the excited feeling I got when I walked to ceramics class and wondered whether the bowls I glazed in the last class were out of the kiln yet. I liked the surprise of not knowing for sure how they would turn out...and I always hoped they'd look like the ones on the ProsArts homepage.
OK, so they get points for appealing to my nostalgia for ceramics class, but that probably wasn't intentional. But the things they did do intentionally while building their website earn points too. I like that the mission statement is on the homepage so I know exactly what they're all about right away. (And since I like their mission so much, I'll forgive the accidental line break in the first paragraph.)
Their in-school programming (arts integration!) sounds terrific, and I love that they offer Parent Arts Workshops to engage parents in their kids' learning. My mom was always enthusiastic about helping me get the supplies for art projects I liked making in school so I could do them over again at home. If she weren't an artsy person, she might not have known what materials I needed and where to get them. This type of workshop would help parents who want to encourage their kids to make art but aren't sure how to do it.
The calendar is very well-organized and easy to follow. It's simple and to-the-point, much like the design of this site. A little jazzing up wouldn't hurt (maybe just a colored background instead of white? Or a font other than Times New Roman?), but the most important thing is that the content is comprehensive and well-organized.
Mess Hall (www.messhall.org)
I can't figure out what these people do, but they definitely don't want me to know. The attitude in the FAQs is defensive and off-putting, and Mess Hall, whatever it is, is never open except during events. These two things suggest to me that it's kind of exclusive, which doesn't seem to be in the spirit of most arts organizations (if, indeed, this is an arts organization?) we've looked at.
The random assortment of links on the bottom and right side of the homepage include a few sites that might be cool, but I certainly wouldn't use a block of tiny white text in no particular order as any sort of home base for useful links.
I've heard of Mess Hall before and I know a lot of people are enthusiastic about it, so maybe I need to just check it out in person. (If they let me.) But based on their site, I'm much more likely to check out a more welcoming organization instead.
The school-themed layout of this site is very cute, and not too cute--it's a fine line that they navigated successfully. In general, the organization of the site makes sense to me and the page density is not too heavy or too light anywhere I looked.
The classes/workshops look great--I hope they're still offering them (the latest listings were for Summer 2008). Are they really free?! It doesn't say anything about pricing for most of them, and one of them requires a refundable $100 deposit (which is a great idea to get people who signed up to actually show up). If I'm not missing something and these classes really are free, that would be a wonderful resource for people who are interested in art but can't afford to pay for a class.
I noticed that the info on the Exhibitions/Events page was pretty sparse. Actually, it was just the date, title, and one or no image--about as sparse as you can get. I eventually found more details about some events on the blog, so more substantial content already exists. It would be great if it could just be copied and pasted to the Exhibitions/Events page so everything is contained in one place.
Pros Arts Studio (http://www.prosarts.org/)
I miss making bowls, even though every one I made was lopsided and a little bit (or maybe more than a little bit) heavy. I just remember the excited feeling I got when I walked to ceramics class and wondered whether the bowls I glazed in the last class were out of the kiln yet. I liked the surprise of not knowing for sure how they would turn out...and I always hoped they'd look like the ones on the ProsArts homepage.
OK, so they get points for appealing to my nostalgia for ceramics class, but that probably wasn't intentional. But the things they did do intentionally while building their website earn points too. I like that the mission statement is on the homepage so I know exactly what they're all about right away. (And since I like their mission so much, I'll forgive the accidental line break in the first paragraph.)
Their in-school programming (arts integration!) sounds terrific, and I love that they offer Parent Arts Workshops to engage parents in their kids' learning. My mom was always enthusiastic about helping me get the supplies for art projects I liked making in school so I could do them over again at home. If she weren't an artsy person, she might not have known what materials I needed and where to get them. This type of workshop would help parents who want to encourage their kids to make art but aren't sure how to do it.
The calendar is very well-organized and easy to follow. It's simple and to-the-point, much like the design of this site. A little jazzing up wouldn't hurt (maybe just a colored background instead of white? Or a font other than Times New Roman?), but the most important thing is that the content is comprehensive and well-organized.
Mess Hall (www.messhall.org)
I can't figure out what these people do, but they definitely don't want me to know. The attitude in the FAQs is defensive and off-putting, and Mess Hall, whatever it is, is never open except during events. These two things suggest to me that it's kind of exclusive, which doesn't seem to be in the spirit of most arts organizations (if, indeed, this is an arts organization?) we've looked at.
The random assortment of links on the bottom and right side of the homepage include a few sites that might be cool, but I certainly wouldn't use a block of tiny white text in no particular order as any sort of home base for useful links.
I've heard of Mess Hall before and I know a lot of people are enthusiastic about it, so maybe I need to just check it out in person. (If they let me.) But based on their site, I'm much more likely to check out a more welcoming organization instead.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
LambdaMOO
In class on Tuesday, we will be checking out some MOOs like this one:
http://lambdamoo.info/
Feel free to get a sneak peek before then!
http://lambdamoo.info/
Feel free to get a sneak peek before then!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Web Critique: MCA, threewalls
Museum of Contemporary Art (www.mcachicago.org)
It's rare to see a homepage that uses Flash but doesn't take forever to load or make you sit through an intro to get to the rest of the content of the site. The fancy Flashiness also serves a purpose: it switches from the new Buckminster Fuller exhibit to highlights from the MCA collection and back again. This is a good way to provide links to two different parts of the site in one space, preventing the homepage from getting too crowded.
I clicked on the Buckminster Fuller exhibit info because I read an article about him a few months ago and he seemed like an interesting guy. The page for the exhibit is incredibly comprehensive--everything you'd want to know related to the exhibit is right here. I'm really glad I could read about Fuller and definitions of key concepts in his work before visiting the museum on Tuesday. I'm curious to see if this info is also incorporated into the exhibit at the museum, or if people who visit the site get all this extra stuff.
I also checked out the teacher resources section of the site. It's pretty basic design-wise and there seems to be an issue with formatting bulleted lists, but there are some good lesson plans and ideas there, not just for art class but other classes as well.
www.three-walls.org
I think something is wrong with the hosting for this site. I typed in the address and got a "This page cannot be found" message, but then I googled "three-walls" and clicked on the link with the exact same URL, and I was able to get there. So...they might want to get that cleared up.
This organization seems to do some great things for artists in Chicago, especially thinktank, which is an opportunity for CPS teachers to get some new ideas from working artists. But how do you participate? There is no link to sign up or request more information on the page that describes this program.
I hate to be all super-critical of their site, but I was really confused by the whole Calendar section. The main page for it has very little information about what's coming up--just people's names and nothing about what the event will be about. Then, in the subcategories under Calendar, they list a bunch of other events that aren't listed on the main calendar page, but the dates for many of them have passed. So I'm left scratching my head about what's actually happening and when. They don't seem to have a ton of events going on; one comprehensive page probably would work better than subcategorizing.
Their bookstore sounds cool and Quimbys-esque. Also, they make it easy to become a member and donate money. And their blog seems fairly active. See, I'm not 100% mean.
It's rare to see a homepage that uses Flash but doesn't take forever to load or make you sit through an intro to get to the rest of the content of the site. The fancy Flashiness also serves a purpose: it switches from the new Buckminster Fuller exhibit to highlights from the MCA collection and back again. This is a good way to provide links to two different parts of the site in one space, preventing the homepage from getting too crowded.
I clicked on the Buckminster Fuller exhibit info because I read an article about him a few months ago and he seemed like an interesting guy. The page for the exhibit is incredibly comprehensive--everything you'd want to know related to the exhibit is right here. I'm really glad I could read about Fuller and definitions of key concepts in his work before visiting the museum on Tuesday. I'm curious to see if this info is also incorporated into the exhibit at the museum, or if people who visit the site get all this extra stuff.
I also checked out the teacher resources section of the site. It's pretty basic design-wise and there seems to be an issue with formatting bulleted lists, but there are some good lesson plans and ideas there, not just for art class but other classes as well.
www.three-walls.org
I think something is wrong with the hosting for this site. I typed in the address and got a "This page cannot be found" message, but then I googled "three-walls" and clicked on the link with the exact same URL, and I was able to get there. So...they might want to get that cleared up.
This organization seems to do some great things for artists in Chicago, especially thinktank, which is an opportunity for CPS teachers to get some new ideas from working artists. But how do you participate? There is no link to sign up or request more information on the page that describes this program.
I hate to be all super-critical of their site, but I was really confused by the whole Calendar section. The main page for it has very little information about what's coming up--just people's names and nothing about what the event will be about. Then, in the subcategories under Calendar, they list a bunch of other events that aren't listed on the main calendar page, but the dates for many of them have passed. So I'm left scratching my head about what's actually happening and when. They don't seem to have a ton of events going on; one comprehensive page probably would work better than subcategorizing.
Their bookstore sounds cool and Quimbys-esque. Also, they make it easy to become a member and donate money. And their blog seems fairly active. See, I'm not 100% mean.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Spiral Workshop
Many people in this class read a little bit about the Spiral Workshop at UIC last semester, but I just wanted to point out the great lesson plans on their website:
http://www.uic.edu/classes/ad/ad382/sites/Projects/P_index.html
http://www.uic.edu/classes/ad/ad382/sites/Projects/P_index.html
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Web Critique: Creative Audio Archive, AREA Chicago
Creative Audio Archive (http://www.exsost.org/creative-audio-archive/)
The mission of the Creative Audio Archive is such a valuable one. The technology for recording and listening to sound has changed so much since the earliest recordings this organization has archived--from records to tapes to CDs to mp3s (with the eight-track making a brief appearance somewhere in there). By cataloging and preserving non-mainstream sound from the days before Garage Band and podcasts, they are rescuing sound that definitely would otherwise become lost forever.
But really, not a single audio file on their entire site? Am I missing something? Seconds after I went to their homepage, I plugged my headphones into the computer, expecting to hear lots of cool stuff. Obviously they have an enormous amount of sound archived, which can be accessed by appointment, so I don't expect their staff of five people to convert every single recording to mp3 format. But maybe one or two? I'm not very familiar with non-mainstream sound or experimental music, so I'm curious to just hear a sample. That might make me interested in making an appointment to hear their whole collection or even becoming a member. I wonder if the lack of audio files on their site is a conscious decision; are they anti-podcast? Are they clinging to the good old days of records only? Do they really, really, really want their collection to be available in person only so they can control the environment of people's listening experience?
This web critique would not be complete without acknowledging that their searchable archive seems impressive; that must have taken ages. I see that it's done with XML, which I sort of dabbled in at work (we published both textbooks and online courses, and it made the process of converting from one to the other as automated as possible), and it seems to be the magical key to searching/automation in general. Hmmm, can XML automatically write a thesis?
AREA Chicago (http://www.areachicago.org/)
After spending some time with this site, I still can't decide whether I like the noticeable lack of color. On the one hand, it conveys seriousness; on the other hand, it's awfully serious. Since its content is, in the end, pretty serious, I'm going to go ahead and say the black and white thing is OK with me.
I really appreciate they have several different ways to find your way to different articles. You can find them by issue, a list of topics, a list of contributors, or a good old-fashioned search box. Through testing out all of these options, I came across interesting articles I probably wouldn't have found using the other methods. The staff obviously put a lot of time into organizing and tagging their content, which further convinces me to not really mind that they didn't seem to focus too much on layout.
I just love the People's Atlas of Chicago! I really enjoyed looking through people's maps and now I'm thinking of all the different themes for maps I can make. I've always wanted to make a list/map of places in the Loop where you can use a restroom without buying anything*, but I was devasted to find out that someone did that already--my brother sent me a link to a site called freepee.com or something like that. I'd Google it now, but I'm in a public computer lab and I don't want to get any weird glares.
*E-mail me to benefit from my years of dedicated research.
The mission of the Creative Audio Archive is such a valuable one. The technology for recording and listening to sound has changed so much since the earliest recordings this organization has archived--from records to tapes to CDs to mp3s (with the eight-track making a brief appearance somewhere in there). By cataloging and preserving non-mainstream sound from the days before Garage Band and podcasts, they are rescuing sound that definitely would otherwise become lost forever.
But really, not a single audio file on their entire site? Am I missing something? Seconds after I went to their homepage, I plugged my headphones into the computer, expecting to hear lots of cool stuff. Obviously they have an enormous amount of sound archived, which can be accessed by appointment, so I don't expect their staff of five people to convert every single recording to mp3 format. But maybe one or two? I'm not very familiar with non-mainstream sound or experimental music, so I'm curious to just hear a sample. That might make me interested in making an appointment to hear their whole collection or even becoming a member. I wonder if the lack of audio files on their site is a conscious decision; are they anti-podcast? Are they clinging to the good old days of records only? Do they really, really, really want their collection to be available in person only so they can control the environment of people's listening experience?
This web critique would not be complete without acknowledging that their searchable archive seems impressive; that must have taken ages. I see that it's done with XML, which I sort of dabbled in at work (we published both textbooks and online courses, and it made the process of converting from one to the other as automated as possible), and it seems to be the magical key to searching/automation in general. Hmmm, can XML automatically write a thesis?
AREA Chicago (http://www.areachicago.org/)
After spending some time with this site, I still can't decide whether I like the noticeable lack of color. On the one hand, it conveys seriousness; on the other hand, it's awfully serious. Since its content is, in the end, pretty serious, I'm going to go ahead and say the black and white thing is OK with me.
I really appreciate they have several different ways to find your way to different articles. You can find them by issue, a list of topics, a list of contributors, or a good old-fashioned search box. Through testing out all of these options, I came across interesting articles I probably wouldn't have found using the other methods. The staff obviously put a lot of time into organizing and tagging their content, which further convinces me to not really mind that they didn't seem to focus too much on layout.
I just love the People's Atlas of Chicago! I really enjoyed looking through people's maps and now I'm thinking of all the different themes for maps I can make. I've always wanted to make a list/map of places in the Loop where you can use a restroom without buying anything*, but I was devasted to find out that someone did that already--my brother sent me a link to a site called freepee.com or something like that. I'd Google it now, but I'm in a public computer lab and I don't want to get any weird glares.
*E-mail me to benefit from my years of dedicated research.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Comic Life
Last Friday I observed art classes in a PreK-8 private school. The fourth graders did a research assignment in the Mac lab in the library to prepare for a clay sculpture project. Some kids finished a few minutes early and started using a program called Comic Life, which I've never seen before. It looks really fun, and the kids seemed to love it. You can arrange pictures in pre-made templates that look like comic book panels, add quote bubbles and titles, etc. One boy got really into making funny faces and taking pictures of himself right within the program to make his comic strip--that cracked me up.
The school has a technology teacher, and students go to technology class twice a week. I could tell they were very comfortable with their research assignment (using Google Images to find and print photos of animals that possess or represent each student's three best qualities) and I noticed a few other ways the students used technology as I toured the school. They made pamphlets and posters for the Sierra Club that were displayed on the walls and I guessed they used some sort of layout program--probably something a little less complicated than InDesign. It made me think that setting aside time (and hiring a teacher) for technology class is one good way to make sure computers don't just sit in the corner of a school gathering dust, although I'm sure this might be challenging for a public school with stretched resources and a million standardized tests to worry about.
The school has a technology teacher, and students go to technology class twice a week. I could tell they were very comfortable with their research assignment (using Google Images to find and print photos of animals that possess or represent each student's three best qualities) and I noticed a few other ways the students used technology as I toured the school. They made pamphlets and posters for the Sierra Club that were displayed on the walls and I guessed they used some sort of layout program--probably something a little less complicated than InDesign. It made me think that setting aside time (and hiring a teacher) for technology class is one good way to make sure computers don't just sit in the corner of a school gathering dust, although I'm sure this might be challenging for a public school with stretched resources and a million standardized tests to worry about.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Web Critique: Stockyard Institute
The Stockyard Institute seems to do some really cool projects having to do with art and education. I love the radio projects--I could see kids getting really into that--and the Howard Arts Lab, a "center for research and teaching that could accommodate the visual arts education candidates and the students of the high school as partners in the development of projects and curricular strategies as a permanent station for Visual Arts Education in Chicago." That would be pretty exciting for us visual arts education candidates, huh? The site says the project has been in effect from 2005 to the present but a Google search of "howard arts lab" turned up nothing, so I'm not sure if it's still in existence.
The urban design of the site reflects their mission of collaborating with Chicago communities, and it's organized in a simple and easy-to-navigate way. I assume they like (and need) funding, just like many similar organizations, so I wonder if they could set up some sort of PayPal-type thing on their site for donations. Right now they just have the main guy's contact information under "Support," which means someone interested in giving them money would probably need to go through multiple steps to donate instead of being able to just click a button.
The urban design of the site reflects their mission of collaborating with Chicago communities, and it's organized in a simple and easy-to-navigate way. I assume they like (and need) funding, just like many similar organizations, so I wonder if they could set up some sort of PayPal-type thing on their site for donations. Right now they just have the main guy's contact information under "Support," which means someone interested in giving them money would probably need to go through multiple steps to donate instead of being able to just click a button.
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