Standing Assignment:
These are assignments that we are to work on independently throughout the semester. These are expected to be completed by the end of the semester if you wish to earn a passing grade.
- Blog
- Morgue
- Descriptive Essay
- Designer Essay
Blog:
Instructions HERE for setting up your blog. Once setup, copy the link and email it to me with your full name.
The blog will be where you will publish all of our assignments as we do them. This will be your portfolio at the end of the semester, from which a very large part of your final grade will come.
How to use the Blog:
The blog is going to be where we keep all of our work.
Home or main page of the blog, is where we are going to post our work for critiques, or request discussions about design issues we are having with a particular assignment.
Individual ‘Pages’ will be made for specific projects, such as essays, and our portfolio at the end of the semester.
Each entry is to be clearly titled to describe what it is, ex. Mid-Process – Assignment V: Logo Design.
All posts and discussion is to be directly related to the class and the assignment at hand.
Morgue:
The morgue is simply a collection of work. A Morgue is what artists and designers call their collection of work by other artists and their own. It is used to inspire future projects and to learn from. We are going to use it for these purposes, with an emphasis on Learning. The best way to develop design skills is to expose our selves as much as possible to good design. You are to collect a minimum of 200 pieces (emphasis on MINIMUM) Don’t let the number scare you, you will be surprised how fast you get that many an more with very little effort. I suggest using Pintrest.com for this purpose. You can find LOTS of work, add your own, organize it into categories, and keep track of how many you have.
Descriptive Essays:
Through out the semester you should select 8 pieces to write a brief descriptive essay about. These pieces are to be published on a page in your blog, along with your essay. Due dates below.
While this is not an English class it is University, proper sentences, grammar, and punctuation is expect. If you are unsure about your writing this is a good opportunity to visit the tutors and smooth out your rough edges.
So what do I write? How do I pick the pieces? How do I know good design from bad? ARE YOU NUTS? Last question first... no... well... hmmm maybe –(long silence – crickets chirping, frogs croaking) – Okay. Yes, but that has nothing to do with the issue at hand.
What you write is basically just what you see. This is not intended to be a critique but rather exorcise for your eyes. Describe the piece, and write about how, what we learn class is employed in the piece. These should be 3/4 to a page (that is 12pt type 29pt leading). Your essays should include; a simple description of what you see, value, type used, colors, flow. Then move on how the principles, and elements of design, gestalt, and typography. You can’t really get it wrong, you can be lazy or unobservant, being wrong would be difficult. This is a description of what you see, not a quiz.
How do I know good design? This is not something that can be summed up easily. Nor is it something that we will understand overnight. Developing an eye for design is a process that will continue through out the semester, and in fact your life should you decide to peruse a career in the arts... so have some patents. As stated above your essays are expected to be short and simple in the beginning and develop through out the semester. That being said, we have to start somewhere so lets start with some basic questions. Once you have describe the piece discuss how effectively the message is communicated.
And don’t forget, LIKE is DEAD!
Deadlines dates for the essays.
September 1
September 15
September 29
October 13
October 27 (History Week)
November 10 (History Week)
November 24 (History Week)
December 8
History Essays:
Select a designer from the list below, research, collect work from, and write about them. (Minimum 2 pages as described in the descriptive essay). The essay should include the basic biographic info, born (died if applicable), where they lived, where educated, what they did, how they influenced the field and about what you find interesting about him or her. Your essay, and samples of the artists work, is to be posted on or before the assigned date. APA style, and references expected. Sources must include book, and Internet.
In addition to writing your own essay, you are to read and write a comment on the rest of the classes essay’s. Nothing elaborate, simply write about 2 or 3 things you find interesting about the designer. You comments must come from the essay itself, not just the work.
NOTE: The weeks that your history essay is due you are exempt from the Descriptive Essay. If done this will count as extra credit on your final grade.
October 27 (Group I)
November 10 (Group II)
November 24 (Group III)
