For week 8 (step 1), produce an initial proposal in order to think through your idea. Follow the project 1 proposal assignment but write it as if you are writing to a third party (not me). For creative projects, write the proposal as if you are submitting the piece to an online media journal or to an art gallery that takes multimedia pieces. For informational projects, write the proposal as if you are trying to persuade a client to hire you to do their site or are trying to get approval or funding from an academic institution. Keep these things below in mind (in addition to the info in the first proposal assignment):

Format: Keep in mind that a business letter has a particular header (To:, From:, Date:, Subject:, all left justified). I got a lot of randoom headers for the first proposal. Make this clean and professional. Use headers for the sections and feel free to use bullets when needed inside/underneath headers (don't bullet the headers). Also, expand beyond one paragraph for each section when necessary. I want to see more detail and more thought out connections than I saw in the first proposals. You probably want to avoid forcing "objective" language into the proposal. Feel free to use "I" to personalize the project and lend credibility to you as a web designer.

• Introduction: Make sure it sets the rhetorical context that will be played out in the proposal. For creative projects, discuss the real world contexts you are responding to as well as the artistic precedents you are working with or subverting. For informational sites, set your site in the context of other related sites or set the client's site in the context of his/her competitors. If you are doing a site on a particular academic topic, set up what the other sites are doing so you can later show how yours will be different. For client sites, show what the competitors are doing so you can later show how your site will make them stand out in that crowd. Establish the market or "display space" (which we will discuss later in the semester).
  
  
• Problem: For ceative projects, discuss the problem you are working on artistically. This could be an artistic problem (technique or genre), or it could be a real world problem (war or consumer culture). For informational sites, disucss the problem with respect to web development. This may be technical or promotional. If you a doing a course site, discuss the problem of communicating with students, parents, or other teachers; or, discuss the problems of organizing a course or organizing materials for a course on the web. If you are doing a topical site, show how other sites don't cover enough or the correct material. If you are doing a client site, articulate the client's main reasons for wanting or needing a site. Outline the technical problems that need to be overcome in order to get the site. These are just a few examples. They don't exhaust the possibilities. Be mindful and detailed about figuring out and articulating the problem that needs to be solved in your particular situation.
  
  
• Solution: Now show how your art work or site will solve these problems. Identify the audience for the project and what you want the audience to think or do. Discuss in detail the users your site will address and how the site will attract those users or be attractive to those users. Discuss layout, structure, navigation in relation to the problems articulated above and the users articualted here. Discuss the design elements your site will need to accommodate these users. Outline what type of content will you need for your site and show why it would be relevant to these users. Be as detailed as possible.
  
  
• Resources: Discuss in detial the resources you will need to carry out this solution. These resources can be technology-based or knowledge-based. For client sites be very detailed about costs and timelines. Reinforce the ways you will be able to attain or implement these resources. See this as an extension of the solution.
  
  
• Qualifications: Outline what technical skills you already know that can be used on the project. Discuss part projects you have done that have prepared you for such a project. Show through your language and ideas the kinds of knowledge you have.
  
  
• Conclusion: Invite the reader to take a partiuclar action. Be subtle but clear. Reaffirm the need to solve the problem and clearly articulate your overall argument. All of these things should fit together to make a persuasive argument.

Overall: Don't just riff out some ideas. Proposals should be as detailed, well thought out, and argumentatively connected as any academic essay. I know this is just an initial proposal and you will be rewriting it later once you know more about the project and situation, but start thinking in terms of detail now. If you are having trouble thinking of material, go back to the site specification document or look ahead to the activity heuristic for some prompts.

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