Graduate Intro to Comm Design 1

Instructor

Ruth Schmidt

Tomoko Ichikawa

This semester's foundation class will provide the fundamentals for conveying visual information in a way that is effective and clear. The basic premise is that by analyzing content you can discover its structure, whether it's a process or hierarchy, etc. Simultaneously, by understanding and applying the visual elements, techniques and principles, designers are able to craft visual messages that will be effective. Considerations for context of use will add to its effectiveness.

We will start with basic typographical concepts, and move on to the application of those concepts to various types of information. Over the 15 classes, students will understand the techniques and elements they have to manipulate as designers, and equally demonstrate the ability to apply them to the creation of clear visual messages.

Format & Grading

The class meets for the full day. The morning session will consist of project assignments, critiques and lectures. Homework will be critiqued every morning session. The afternoon session will start off with either a continuation of the morning critique or additional lecture and in-class exercise. If there is no exercise, studio time will be used to start your homework assignments, closing with an evaluation session to see if your progress is on course. Assignments will typically be two-week projects.

A constant stream of your effort throughout the semester in the form of assignments and class participation will be the basis of your grade. Each week you will be required to do something new to demonstrate cumulative knowledge throughout the semester. Timeliness is critical; late assignments will be marked down one grade. Also, due to the cumulative nature of the work, there will be no mid-term or final project. There will be 2-3 formal opportunities in the semester for a face-to-face feedback session to let you know how your progress is going.