Journalism Design Toolkit Syllabus 

• Identify the four basic components of a computer and describe what each component does.
• Navigate a file system using the Terminal, and execute basic functions on the command line.
• Demonstrate basic file organization and storage principles, and the difference between local and server storage.
• Appreciate the differences between ASCII text, rich text, and word processor files.
• Create and manipulate a raster image file using Photoshop.
• Create and manipulate a vector image file using Illustrator.
• Know when to use various image compression and file formats.
• Code a basic, semantically correct HTML page, style it with CSS, and put it on the web.
• Create a more complex webpage with links, photographs, graphics, and webfonts.
• Use Github to create repositories and bring documents under version control.
• Explain how the Internet works.
• Use Illustrator and Photoshop to lay out a single page document for print and screen.

• Internet access sufficient for instructional tools like Canvas and Zoom (minimal internet access speeds of 800kbps upload and 1.0Mbps download are required).
• Headset or earbuds (recommended)
• Webcam
• microphone (computer or external)
• A laptop or desktop computer (you really can’t do this class with or from a smartphone)
• A quiet place

• Any desktop or laptop computer is acceptable as long as you can run current versions of the required software. 
• We will use Adobe Creative Suite, with emphasis on Photoshop and Illustrator. 
• Our primary web browser will be Chrome (specifically I use Brave for security and privacy reasons). You may also use Safari and Firefox. 
• A mobile iOS or Android device will be useful for some tasks, but is not required. 
• We will use a code-friendly text editor for HTML and CSS. You may use the text editor of your choice. (If you are unsure where to start, consider Visual Code Studio, Atom, or the free tier of BBEdit.) I will be using Visual Studio Code so you might want to download and use that if you would like to follow along exactly with what I’m doing.
• We will also be using http://codepen.io to demo and do interactive coding in class. Please sign up for a free account using your Newschool email address.
• Each student will use a free GitHub account for this course. Please set up an account on Github using your Newschool email address.
• We may use pen/pencil and paper to plan, wireframe, and brainstorm. 

• Designing the Editorial Experience by Sue Apfelbaum & Juliette Cezzar
• The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst 
• Web Typography by Richard Rutter 
• ​​Butterick's Practical Typography by Matthew Butterick
• HTML5 for Web Designers by Jeremy Keith 
• CSS3 for Web Designers by Dan Cederholm 
  

• Journalist’s Toolbox Design/Visual-Journalism links
• The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web
• Frontend Focus (mailing list)
• CSS Tricks
• W3Schools
• A List Apart
• Stack Overflow (the HTML and CSS tag pages are good places to start)
• Lena Groegor’s Visual Evidence series
  
• The Coding Train’s series on Git and Github is entertaining and essential: Git and GitHub for Poets
  

Class Schedule