This assignment challenges you to work with existing material and modify it to suit the unique design needs of a fictitious client. Through this work you will develop a better understanding of XHTML, CSS, web site construction, usability, design, and project time management.
You will choose from a selection of free, open-source XHTML/CSS web site templates and design a web site for your imaginary client, the Bloomington Coffee Estate. All text (aka copy) will be provided for you, as will any and all images. As the designer you will be able to decide how the available content is best organized within the template and what changes should be made to the template so that it looks less generic when you are finished with this project. Your final design should look like a real web site for an actual business rather than a nondescript template design.
The designs originally came from Free Web Templates. These files have been customized to suit the specific needs of this T284 assignment:
All of the templates—except for "green forest (b)"—include multiple images photographed at the Bloomington Coffee Estate. Use these to give your design more visual interest.
You will earn points on this project in several ways. Initially there are two weekly lab assignments that help you prepare for this project. In doing these you will first format your text in CSS and then lay it out in your web template. These steps set the foundation for the final design work.
This project is worth 30 points that break down as follows:
[6] site development & critique (readiness & participation in project critiques)
[10] client communication (effectiveness integrating the copy and template)—Does it look like an original site for your client rather than a generic template? Is it complete given the client's requests?
[10] technique & design (technical and aesthetic success in modifying the template to suit your client's message)—Does it work without errors or glitches? Does your project have a visual hierarchy and follow the principles of usability we have discussed?
[4] overall success & strength of the project
See the schedule on the class syllabus for due dates and times.
Your client has requested a web site with five pages: Home, The Farm, Our Story, FAQ, and Contact. The text that follows should be used for each of the five pages. As an additional design challenge, all of the templates also have "sidebar" sections with labels such as "useful links," "latest news," and"blogroll." It is your responsibility in this assignment to do something with any additional sections that appear in the template you choose: delete them if they are not needed, paraphrase the existing copy to create a new section, develop some additional content to fill the space, and so on.
Home: Bloomington Coffee Estate is the only coffee farm in the midwestern United States. It's quite a miracle! Coffee prefers to grow in subtropical and equatorial regions, but with the help of T284 students we make it appear as if coffee could actually thrive in south-central Indiana. At Bloomington Coffee Estate we grow coffee trees, pick the coffee cherries when they are in season, dry them, hand process the beans, and roast for a variety of tastes. We offer Pale, Cinnamon, New England, American, City, Full City, Viennese, French, and Italian roast for espresso. Our coffee is—from plant to cup—homegrown right here in Indiana. The Farm: In June of 2010 the preparation of the frame began with the shaping of redwood timbers shipped in from a small mill in northern California. We decided with clear conscience to build a classic New England style timber frame barn out of redwood. Over the course of two months the timbers were slowly sculpted and finished. The barn was created entirely on the ground: mortised and tenoned, drilled and framed with wood dowels, and chiseled into a six bent system. It was in the quiet of the morning on July 17th that we arrived at the farm to see the sun rise. The pieces of the frame lay on the ground before us. Needless to say nervous anxiety made it difficult to sleep the night before. So much was riding on the concept of everything fitting in perfect order for our timber frame barn to stand up by day's end. But in almost perfect fashion the barn was raised, fitted and joined by the time the sun set. As the daylight exited the barn now stood before us. With so much time spent in preparation it was an incredible feeling to see all the pieces literally come together. Two days later the rafters and purlins were lifted and set into place and the barn that appeared only in our minds and on paper finally stood before us in real life. We had come so far on a journey that had begun with a design session with our architect on a snowy night in the far northern reaches of Michigan; stretched through the months of arranging permits, suppliers and subcontractors, and finally led us to this sight—our barn standing tall with sycamore trees and Bloomington's blue sky in the background. In the midst of all this construction the farm's first coffee cherries began to ripen on the trees. Harvest season was indeed upon us! Handpicking nearly all of this first year coffee was Pete Berkeley who somehow found the time and energy to lend a hand after his long days of teaching mathematics at a local high school. It is a well documented fact that many US coffee farms were operated in the same fashion over the last century. Most families saw moms and dads holding down normal day jobs, the farm work was something that occurred after work or on the weekends. It wasn't until the recent craze for specialty coffee that farming coffee in Bloomington could be seen as anything more than a way to supplement a family's income. Our Story: (Your client has not finished writing this yet... Generate 5 paragraphs of Lorem Ipsum at http://www.lipsum.com and treat this as regular, usable site text) Midwest Coffee FAQ: Q:What are the ideal conditions for growing coffee? A: For growing Arabica coffee beans, there are two optimal growing climates: The subtropical regions, at high altitudes of 16-24°. Rainy and dry seasons must be well defined, and altitude must be between 1800-3600 feet. These conditions result in one coffee growing season and one maturation season, usually in the coldest part of autumn. Mexico, Jamaica, the S. Paulo and Minas Gerais regions in Brazil, and Zimbabwe are examples of areas with these climate conditions. The equatorial regions at latitudes lower than 10° and altitudes of 3600-6300 feet. Frequent rainfall causes almost continuous flowering, which results in two coffee harvesting seasons. The period of highest rainfall determines the main harvesting period, while the period of least rainfall determines the second harvest season. Because rainfall is too frequent for patio drying to occur, artificial drying with mechanical dryers is performed in this type of coffee growing environment. Examples of countries that have this climate are Kenya, Colombia, and Ethiopia. (source: http://www.coffeeresearch.org/agriculture/environment.htm) Q: What kind of coffee do you grow? A: Bloomington Coffee Estate grows only Arabica coffee beans. There are only two types of coffee trees that are grown today on commercial coffee plantations. Let's compare the two, shall we? Arabica (coffea arabica) is the better of the two. It's cultivated in the Americas as well as parts of Africa and Asia, but can only grow at relatively high altitudes. Around 75% of all coffee grown today is arabica. Robusta (coffea Canephora) contains more caffeine than arabica and has a bitter taste. Robusta is primarily cultivated in Africa. Since instant coffee tastes awful no matter what you do to it, the majority of instant coffee is made with Robusta. It's a more robust plant (see where the name comes from?) than arabica so it's easier—and cheaper—to grow. (source: http://www.espressoguy.com/coffee_beans/coffee_101_coffee_plants) Q: I just bought coffee at your farm, now how do I store it to keep it fresh? A: There are a few tips to follow in this regard. 1. Don't store ground coffee. Buy your coffee as whole beans, and grind it when you're ready to brew. If you do buy ground coffee for the convenience, store it at room temperature in an airtight container after it's been opened. A ceramic canister with a vacuum seal is a good choice – but avoid clear glass. Sunlight and heat are not good for your coffee. 2. Store up to a one week supply of whole coffee beans in an airtight canister at room temperature. You can use those pretty ceramic canisters, but they're really not necessary. Any canister that you can seal with an airtight seal is fine, including the can that you bought it in. 3. If you find yourself with more coffee than you'll use in one week, you can store up to another week's supply in the freezer – but you should take some precautions to keep the air and moisture away from it first. Here's how to store coffee safely in your freezer: - Put the beans in an airtight canister. - Or – put the beans in a zippered plastic storage back. Whoosh out all the extra air, or use a straw to suck it out. Then wrap the bag in one or two layers of plastic wrap and finish up with a layer of aluminum foil. - Either way, once you take the canister or package out of the freezer, don't put it back in. Refreezing your coffee will only dehydrate it and hasten the flavor decay. (source: http://www.talkaboutcoffee.com/coffee-storage.html) Contact Us: Bloomington Coffee Estate 1928 East Seventh Street Bloomington IN, 47400 812-333-3333 800-BCE-BEAN