When Northwestern’s Department of Art Theory and Practice wanted a new look for its Web site, professors didn’t turn to an expensive professional Web design company. Instead, they teamed up with NU’s own Goldfish Design.
The project was conducted as an independent study within AT&P as part of the Weinberg College of Arts and Science Scholars Program.
The Scholars Program and NU’s Alumni Association each gave $2,500 in grants to four student employees of Goldfish Design. The students used the money to pay for programming, books and computer programs.
“The second day of class, Dustin presented me with a proposal for an update of the Web site,” Asst. Prof. Judy Ledgerwood said. “From that we proceeded to do an independent study with four students.”
The project evolved into a two-quarter endeavor. During the first quarter, the four students — Weinberg senior Dustin Gellman, Weinberg sophomores Kathryn Tynes and Sarah Urist and Weinberg junior Jon Zweifler — worked to develop the design and layout of the Web site.
During the second quarter, Gellman and Zweifler developed additional multimedia features for the site, which included a three-minute introduction video, a soundtrack, online galleries of student and faculty work and detailed information about the AT&P facilities.
The group of students was required to design a Web site that would represent the entire department. The final design was the result of countless hours of designing and redesigning pages, Urist said.
“The art department was very helpful,” Gellman said. “Whatever we needed, they provided us.”
Ledgerwood served as the adviser for the project and met with the group on a weekly basis, but most of the design was left to the students.
“We were pretty much on our own,” Urist said.
The Web site is scheduled to launch officially by the end of May, but much of it is already online (www.nwuart.com).
“We’re not completed yet, but it’s been a really wonderful opportunity for me to work with them,” Ledgerwood said. “It was a new experience for me because artists primarily work independently, but this was a collaborative endeavor.”
The project allowed Goldfish employees to gain both experience and course credit for their work. In return, AT&P had their Web site redesigned virtually for free.
“This is definitely something that we all wanted to make happen, and we found a way within in the university structure to be able to do this project,” Ledgerwood said.
The project allowed members of the company to develop Web design skills and work closely with faculty members.
“I was very impressed with the art department faculty and I think it was a great experience,” Urist said. “More NU students should try to do independent studies because the university is very receptive.”
