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Graphic Design: Digital Layout
Course Syllabus

Art 51.4
Spring Semester 2003
Instructor:  John Sappington  - john@basearts.com - 707.874.9786

Location and Schedule:

Tuesday 1 - 4pm - Barnett Hall Room 1261
Thursday 1 - 4pm - Barnett Hall Room 1261 and/or Analy Hall708

http://www.basearts.com/typography.com

DESCRIPTION:
Basic understanding of computer operation is necessary. Extensive use of the computer as a design tool to develop creative page layouts for print and screen. Several popular Mac-based software programs are explored to design with text and display type in a variety of formats. Applications include: Adobe Illustrator Ver. 10, Adobe Photoshop Ver. 7, Adobe InDesign Ver. 2, Pagemaker Ver. 6.5. for those working from home newer features available in the most current versions will be required to complete certain class projects. Projects include the layout and design of ads, newsletters, and booklets. Topics include: the art of typography, design and composition, aesthetics, and an overview of past and present design styles.

Outcomes and Objectives:
1. Create original layout designs in a digital format.
2. Explore various design concepts and design principles for page layout.
3. Become familiar with page layout software, and other graphics programs, specifically intended for designers.
4. Gain an understanding and appreciation of good design through practice.
5. Understand effective use of white space as a design element.
6. Become familiar with a wide variety of type fonts and their use for effective communication.
7. Refine design thinking skills (analytical and intuitive) and the ability to use one's creative imagination.
8. Learn to use the digital scanner, laser printer, photocopier and other design tools.
9. Become familiar with visual resources: books, magazines, and other publications for the graphic design field.
10. Learn about the World Wide Web/Internet as a graphics and information resource.
11. Gain an historical perspective of the important events, individuals and art/design movements relative to typographic design.
12. Exercise the ability to make critical aesthetic judgments through participation in class critiques.
13. Become familiar with the vocabulary and terms used by designers.
14. Define health and safety issues that could arise from the use of artist's tools and materials.
15. Develop projects to build a design portfolio.

Topics and Scope:
The primary intent of Art 51.4 is to develop the foundation for students wishing to pursue the study of graphic design while continuing to refine visual literacy and performance using digital tools and media.

This includes:
1. The ability to integrate new technology into the design process (computers, scanner, laser printer, photocopies, etc.)
2. Develop an understanding of visual communication concepts and problem solving for graphic design.
3. The ability to develop design work progressively from rough ideas to more resolved comprehensives.
4. The practice of design principles and visual elements central to art and graphic design.
5. The ability to make aesthetic decisions and judgments about design in the development of visual compositions.
6. The ability to perform specific techniques using the computer to demonstrate these elements (produce thumbnails and finished comprehensives using the computer, scanner, and laser printer.
7. The ability to intelligently use and care for the tools and materials of Art 51.4 (disks, computers, scanners, laser printer, color printer, color ink cartridges, and papers).

The scope and sequence of the course will be presented as follows:
1. Through lectures concerning the concepts, elements and historical precedents of art and design.
2. Through lecture/demonstrations of the proper use of equipment, software and techniques.
3. Through student practice and demonstration of compositional, expressive and technical concepts.
4. Through evaluative one-on-one discussions with individual students.
5. Through group critique discussions and presentations of in-class and homework visual compositions.

Specific areas within Art 51.4 include:
1. An overview of the computer and page layout programs.
2. Demonstrate several ways graphics software can be used to create original graphic designs.
3. Demonstrate basic design principles for the layout and design of the printed page.
4. Demonstrate and use the digital scanner to capture images.
5. Explore the design process from preliminary studies (thumbnails) to more finished designs.
6. Review the aesthetic concerns of typographic design.
7. Study the grid concept as a layout structure.
8. Demonstrate designs which successfully integrate text with graphic elements.
9. Create designs in a variety of formats: ads, newsletters, booklets, Web pages, etc.
10. Experiment with type as an expressive design element.
11. Study a variety of typeface designs and their unique aesthetic qualities.
12. Review digital type designs from the large (Adobe) and small (Emigre) type distributors.
13. Examine typographic and layout designs from various historical periods.

Assignments:
May include the following:
1. Create a simple lettermark design (monogram).
2. Explore several typographic designs for a business card.
3. Create a set of three ads (such as a dance center) using type only.
4. Create a series of three different ad layouts combining text and image image.
5. Create page layouts which express four important historic styles: Classical, Industrial Revolution, Modernism and Post-Modern.
6. Develop a set of "type pictures" for a class booklet.
7. Develop a set of thumbnails which explore the grid structure.
8. Design a newsletter using the grid concept.
9. Design a half-sheet order form.
10. Design a home page for the World Wide Web.
11. Design an exhibition schedule for the campus Art Gallery.
12. Experiment with type for a broadside layout (tabloid format).
13. Create a small personal book/Web Site combining text and images.

EVALUATION:

This is a degree-applicable course, but substantial writing assignments are not appropriate because the course primarily: Involves skill demonstrations or problem solving

The problem-solving assignments required:
Homework problems

The types of skill demonstrations required:
Class performances

The types of objective examinations used in the course:
None

Other category:
Portfolio of completed work, attendance, effort, growth, participation.

Writing assignments: 0% - 0%
Problem-solving demonstrations: 10% - 30%
Skill demonstrations: 10% - 30%
Objective examinations: 0% - 0%
Other methods of evaluation: 40% - 80%

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Units: 3

Recommended: Art 18, or Art 51.1, or Art 51.2, or Art 51.3, or enrollment in the Applied Graphics Program

Grade code: CR/NC option

Repeat code: 8

Transferability: CSU

REQUIRED SUPPLIES:

Students are required to obtain a 100 MB Zip disk formatted for either the Macintosh or PC to backup project files.

Students are also required to have an e-mail account.  These are available through the school *see below or may be a free account like those available from Hotmail, Yahoo, Freemail, Excite, etc.  Students will be expected to check this e-mail account at least once a week.  General class announcements will be reported via e-mail.

If you are a current SRJC student, you're eligible for an account on the server Student. Student offers many Internet services, including access to Internet e-mail, remote login (ssh), file transfer (scp, sftp), Usenet news groups, and the text-based (i.e. no graphics) World Wide Web browser, Lynx. Student does not support dial-in, telnet, or ftp access. You must use an encrypted access method such as SSL or SSH.

http://student.santarosa.edu/ <--- click here

ATTENDANCE POLICY:

Students are expected to attend all of every class meeting unless they have received prior permission from the instructor. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class meeting. Anyone absent when attendance is taken will be assumed absent from the class.   If you are late to class it is your responsibility to make sure your attendance is acknowledged by talking to the instructor. 

If a student misses two weeks of class without being excused, it can be assumed that the student is intending to drop the class. 

If you stop attending classes, you do not drop the class, and the instructor has not dropped you from the class; the instructor may be required to give you a grade of F for the class.

Graphic Design: Digital Layout

Art 51.4

READING LIST:

DWR - Design Writing Research Writing on Graphic Design, Elen Lupton & Abbot Miller Phaidon, 1996 *Required
TonT - Texts on Type, Critical Writings on Typography, Steven Heller and Philip B. Meggs, Allworth Press, 2001 *Required

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Recommended Technical :

Illustrator 10, Visual Quickstart Guide, Elain Weinmann & Peter Lourekas, Peachpit Press 2003
Photoshop 7, Visual Quickstart Guide, Elain Weinmann & Peter Lourekas, Peachpit Press 2003
HTML for the World Wide Web, Visual Quickstart Guide, Elizabeth Castro, Peachpit Press 2002

Web Style Guide, Patricia J. Lynch and Sarah Horton, Yale University Press, 2001

Recommended Reading (Theory):

The Digital Dialectic: New Essays on New Media, Peter Lunenfeld, The MIT Press, 1999

Snap to Grid: A User's Guide to Digital Arts, Media, and Cultures, Peter Lunenfeld, The MIT Press, 2000

The Thames & Hudson Manual of Typography, Ruari McLean, Thames & Hudson, Ltd., 1980

the abc's of (symbols - triangle, square, circle) : The Bauhaus and Design Theory, Ellen Lupton and J. Abbott Miller, editors, 1999 *reprint.

The New Typography, Jan Tschichold, University of California Press, 1995

Looking Closer 2, Critical Writings on Graphic Design, Edited by Michael Bierut, William Drenttel, Steven Heller, and DK Holland, Allworth Press, 1997

Graphic Design Cookbook: mix and match recipes for faster, better layouts, Leonard Koren & R. Wippo Meckler, Chronicle Books, 1989

Great Type and Lettering Designs, David Brier, North Light Books, 1992.

Creative Typography, Marion March, North Light Books, 1988.

Type Design, Color, Character & Use, Michael Beaumont, North Light Books, 1987.

STUDENTS PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT BUY TEXTBOOKS before checking with the SRJC Bookstore.
These titles are representative only, and may not be the same ones used in your class.

Graphic Design: Digital Layout

Art 51.4

Course Schedule

Weeks 1-9 Course Calendar and Assignments

Week 1	01.14	Introduction to Digital Page Design - Course Structure and Objectives - Signature Moment	01.16	Portfolio Presentations - Review Signature Exercise show and tell : 3 examples(photos) of typography/signage from life. type in life
Week 2	01.21	Application: Illustrator Assignment: Modify Limited Character Set - Alphabet +0-9 and example of use. Example files - Letterform Manipulation A and B	01.23	Review: Character Sets Remaining Portfolio Presentations Presentations Assignment: 1 + 2 Representative Letterforms Select and perfect modified letterform (lower and upper case)- producing 1 assigned letter from the alphabet and 2 others of personal choice. show and tell : 3 compelling product labels
Week 3	01.28	Application: Illustrator w/ Intro to Photoshop ( unanswered questions - letterforms to swatches, bit depth control?, ?) Lecture/Dialogue: Letterforms Parts of the Letter (supporting materials)	01.30	Review: Mastered Letter(form) Lecture/Dialogue: Letterform Histories - Type Classifications - Parts of a Letter - Legibility - Traditions - Digitization Critique : Letterforms
Week 4	02.4	Review: Remaining Critique of Mastered Letter(form) Finishing up Photoshop / Illustrator / Intro to page layout. Exploring the digital page. Reading: DWR - Chapters - Deconstruction and Graphic Design	02.6	Lecture/Dialogue: Submit: Mastered Letter(form) Final Dimensions - 4.5 x 4.5
Week 5	002.11	Application: Pagemaker Page Exercises: 1-24 - PageExplorations1-24 (supporting materials) Single Page per excercise, 4.5 x 4.5 Reading: DWR - Chapters - Laws of the Letter & Period Styles	02.14	Lecture/Dialogue: NO CLASS
Week 6	02.18	Application: Pagemaker continued... Principles of Page Layout Reading: DWR - Chapters - Modern Heiroglyphs, Language of Dreams	02.20	Lecture/Dialogue: Critique "Favored Text" Layout Second iteration of "Favored Text" Layout show and tell : product, graffiti
Week 7	02.25	Application: Re-Critique "Favored Text" Layout Reading: DWR - Chapters - Body of the Book & Language of Vision	02.27	Lecture/Dialogue: Historical Periods Assignment: Utilizing "favored text" create 2 layouts that imply or reference 2 of the historical periods below: Illuminated Manuscipts Early Printing- Block Prints German Illustrated Renaissance Neoclassical Industrial Victorian Arts and Crafts Art Nouveau Critique : Historical Layouts - Section I show and tell : universal symbols
Week 8	03.4	Reading: TonT - Principle of the New Typography pgs.115-128 DWR - Chapters - Disciplines of Design	03.6	Review: Historical Styles / Critique: Historical Layouts - Section I show and tell : contemp. ads w/ historical references/implications
Week 9	03.11	Lecture/Dialogue : Historical Styles - Section II Assignment: Utilizing "favored text" create 2 layouts that imply or reference 2 of the historical periods below: early Modern Vienna secession Influence of Modern Art Pictorial Modernism? Bauhaus Constructivism De Stijl (The Style) Reading: TonT - The Bauhaus Tradition and the New Typography pgs. 129-138 TonT - A Post-Mortem on Deconstruction pgs. 45-47	03.14	Lecture/Dialogue: Historical Periods Continued Critique: Historical Layouts - Section II Mid-Term - Individual Reviews Reading: TonT - From De Stijl to New Typography, pg. 100, The New Typography, pg. 108 DWR - Low and High, pg.15

Week 10	03.18	Lecture/Dialogue : Historical Layouts - Section III Mid-Term - Individual Reviews Assignment: Utilizing "favored text" create 2 layouts that imply or reference 2 of the historical periods below: Mid - Late Modernism Post-Modern Reading: TonT - on typography, pg. 110, Grid and Design Philosophy, pg. 198 DWR - McLuhan / Fiore, pg. 91	03.20	Lecture/Dialogue: Historical Periods Continued Critique: Historical Layouts - Section III Mid-Term - Individual Reviews Reading: TonT - Zombie Modernism, pg. 139 DWR - Line Art, pg.73
Week 11	03.25	Application: Historical Layouts - Section III Mid-Term - Individual Reviews Continued Reading: DWR - Graphic Design in America, pg. 168	03.27	Critique: Historical Layouts - Section III Completed
Week 12	04.01	Assignment: Create "Favored Text" Final Design - Larger format (Minimum 11X14 Maximum 13X19) for Exhibition Analy Hall April 15-25. Reading: TonT - Electronic Typography - pg.233, The Trouble with Type - pg. 223, A Plea for Authentic Type Design - pg. 34	04.03	Assignment: Favored Text Design Continues Reading: TonT - An Existential Guide to Type - pg. 21
Week 13	04.08	Assignment: Favored Text Design Continues Reading: Review Internet Resources - Artists and Designers Listing. Scour internet and compile Favorites Listing and comment. Review this link: http://www.netzwissenschaft.de/kuenst.htm Continues through 5.13	04.10	Assignment: Submit Final "Favored Text Design + Print for Exhbition Analy Hall April 10-25. Page Explorations 24-END - PDF Template
Week 14	004.15	Projects: Project Teams - Define and Scope	04.17	Projects: FIELD TRIP TO RODNEY STRONG - LEAVING JC AT 2:00 REVIEW PRODUCT LABEL SUBMISSIONS TO DATE.... Research, Writing and Design. Client Meetings?
Week 15	04.22	Spring Break - No Class	04.24	Spring Break - No Class
Week 16	04.29	Projects: Research, Writing and Design. Client Meetings?	05.01	Projects: Research, Writing and Design. Client Meetings?
Week 17	05.06	Projects: Design	05.08	Projects: Design Final
Week 18	05.13	Application: HTML Basics - Dreamweaver Reading: Review Favorites Listing http://www.cedesign.net/help2j.htm Submitted by KC Also, check out the internet resources available for HTML basics. http://www.basearts.com/resources.html#html	05.15	Application: HTML Continued - CSS - Style Sheets -
Week 20	05.20		05.23	Final Day

Class Projects:

• type in life
  

• letterform
  

• graffitti
  

1) Chef Franco's - Menu / Web Site? /

http://www.basearts.com/cheffranco/index.htm

2) Rodney Strong - Port Label

http://www.basearts.com/rodneystrong/index.htm

3) StrollAbout - SF Startup

Materials in Class Folder (MCL Server)

4) Angelo's - Olive Oil Label


• Samplesheet 1
• Samplesheet 2
• Samplesheet 3
  

 

Internet Resources