Participation (20%)
This will be based on your contributions during labs and lectures, and your postings here on The PixelGuild. Because this is a studio class, your opinions and thoughts on the readings and presentations will be critical to the success of the course. This includes your suggestions for The Daily Mess.D
Content strategy document (20%)
Write a content strategy document for your proposed final website. Things to include in your document:
- Core strategy statement – how your content will meet the needs of the audience while addressing the business goals of the organization or individual.
- Communications plan – include your core strategy, audience analysis, key messaging (or framing), creative direction and optionally, competitor analysis.
- Information architecture – this should include a blueprint and wireframe(s)
- Content audit and/or content map – if you plan to repurpose content, where is it coming from and what will you have to do with it to have it fit into your core strategy. Original content should be described (or written) and assigned to the blueprint.
Optional documents
- Keyword analysis and/or controlled thesaurus for writing your content
- Promotional strategy – how do you plan to increase awareness of your content, beyond SEO? Possible tactics include: PPC advertising, social media campaigns, SEM, grassroots activities, speaking, etc.
Please submit as a hard (paper) copy.
Due date: Mar. 7 (1:30 pm)
Presentation (20%)
Deliver a 20-minute presentation to the class that will address one aspect of content strategy that interests you. Topics you could cover:
Core issues: content audits, search engine optimization, metadata management, audience research & context, user experience, web writing, monitoring and tracking techniques etc. Amplify the basics!
Technology issues: tools that could prove helpful to content strategists, such as Trello, Buffer, Buzzsumo, etc. Help us build our toolbox!
Case studies: show how an organization has improved their content through implementation of content strategy. Give us context!
Due date: Mar. 7, 14, 21
Website Production (40%)
Produce the website that you have envisioned, proposed and designed. The site will be hosted on WordPress and will use a child theme that you have created yourself. You can use as many plugins and widgets as you like, but we will be measuring load time as one of the criteria for success. A complete marking criteria is available here, but the following factors will weigh heavily in the final mark:
- originality and effectiveness of content
- content that is written for the web
- download times
- design of the child theme
- ease of use & user experience
Due date: Apr. 9 (5 pm)
Lateness penalties and bonus marks:
If you need some extra time to complete assignments, that’s not a problem, but please ask me well before the due date. Assignments that are late will be penalized at 5% per day. For Website Production, sites cannot be accepted after the 12th. There is a 10% bonus if you can submit your site by March 28th at 5 pm.