Exercise #1: “Just ASCII About Me” (10 points)
Assignment Instructions
Becoming acquainted with web browser developer tools is an important skill in learning how to read markup and navigate HTML and CSS documents. Start making a habit of looking at the source documents for websites that you regularly visit (for example Craigslist, Facebook, Wikipedia, etc.).
Read the following article: Tom McCormack, “Emoticon, Emoji, Text II: Just ASCII,” Rhizome (2013).
ASCII art is just one example of information that you can find “hidden” in website markup. Spend at least one hour visiting as many major websites as you can, viewing the source markup in the browser developer tools, and taking note of ASCII marks, logos, art, or other hidden messages in the source comments. ASCII logos are generally found inside of and often are near the top of the document.
Collect at least three (3) examples that you find. Then, using Sublime Text, design your own ASCII mark as a brand for yourself (you can use an online ASCII generator; or you can design your logo yourself). You will include your ASCII mark at the top of all of the website HTML and CSS documents that you create throughtout the semester as a way of “branding” your projects.
ASCII Art Examples
Here are a few examples of sites that display ASCII logos, marks, and messages as comments in their source files:
Assignment Submission Instructions
Create your personal website for the class (the file must be called index.html). On that page, create an <a> hyperlink tag and have it point to a sub-page called just-ascii-about-me.html. In the on that page paste:
- At least three (3) examples of ASCII marks that you found hidden in the HTML comments of popular websites (NOT from the example websites provided above)
- Your own ASCII logo or brand for your web design studio, which we will include in our HTML and CSS source files for all of our exercises and projects
Submit your root directory folder for your class website as an archive file (either .zip or .rar - Mac instructions/PC instructions) to Canvas by the deadline posted (any submissions received late will be penalized by one letter grade, and penalized additionally for each week that they are not submitted).
