Learning Goals
I wish to learn how to code in HTML and CSS in order to design my own websites this semester. Most of all, I hope to be able to create my own portfolio website that I am proud of by the end of the semester.
| Date Due | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Week 2 | Website Analysis | 5% |
| Week 3 | Midterm Worksheet (8 Steps) | 5% |
| Week 3 | Responsive Mockup | 5% |
| Week 3 | CSS Selection Exercise | 5% |
| Week 4 | Grid Exersize | 5% |
| First Quarter Assessment | 25% | |
| Week 5 | Responsive Wireframe | 5% |
| Week 5 | Code Portfolio Front Page | 5% |
| Week 5 | Quiz | |
| Week 6 | Typography Poster | 5% |
| Week 7 | Current Topic Website | 5% |
| Week 8 | Portfolio: Class Presentation | 5% |
| Second Quarter Assessment | 25% | |
| Week 9 | Final: Worksheet | 5% |
| Week 10 | Final: CSS3 Collateral | 5% |
| Week 11 | Final: CSS3 Animatic | 5% |
| Week 12 | Final: HTML/CSS | 5% |
| Week 12 | Final: Modular Navigation | 5% |
| Third Quarter Assessment | 25% | |
| Week 13 | Final: Multimedia | 5% |
| Week 13 | Final: Alternatives | 5% |
| Week 13 | Final: Peer Review | 5% |
| Week 14 | Final: Forms | 5% |
| Week 15 | Alternative | 5% |
| Final Quarter Assessment | 25% | |
| Week 15 | Final: Presentation | 10% |
| Two assignments dropped: | -10% | |
| Total: | 100% | |
| List of sources and services used |
Open AI Text Dialogue
ME: Hi, I'm Nish Bakshi, I'm a sophomore majoring in product design at Parsons. Help me plan my future after graduation.
CHAT GPT: Hi Nish. I’ll treat this as a planning problem under uncertainty, not a motivational speech. Below is a clean, first-principles framework to plan your post-Parsons trajectory as a Product Design major—with concrete options, decision criteria, and timelines.
1. Start from Constraints (not aspirations)
Premises
- You graduate from Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Product Design.
- You will compete in a portfolio-driven labor market, not a credential-driven one.
- Design jobs bifurcate early into conceptual prestige vs commercial viability tracks.
Constraint reality
- Entry-level design roles are scarce and underpaid.
- Generalist “industrial designer” roles are shrinking.
- Hybrid designers (design + X) are winning.
2. Choose a Directional Bet (you must pick one)
You should explicitly choose one of these tracks by junior spring. Drifting is the default failure mode.
Track A — Commercial Product Designer (High employability)
Focus
- Consumer products, hardware, UX-adjacent physical products
- Manufacturing realism, DFM/DFA, cost, materials
Signals employers want
- Manufacturable prototypes
- CMF logic
- Vendor communication fluency
- Tolerance stacks, tooling constraints
Typical roles
- Product Designer (junior)
- Industrial Designer
- Design Engineer (light)
Risk
- Work can be less “conceptual,” more executional
Confidence this track remains viable: ~0.8
Track B — Conceptual / Critical / Exhibition Designer (High prestige, low income)
Focus
- Speculative design
- Social critique
- Installations, museums, galleries
Signals employers want
- Strong narrative framing
- Writing + theory
- Visual provocation
Outcomes
- Fellowships
- Grants
- MFA → teaching
- Studio assistant roles
Risk
- Income instability
- Long runway to sustainability