Everything you'll need to get started with the class, including the term's schedule, supplies, and syllabus, can be found at this website. Course content will be shared with students weekly during class lectures, as well as with YouTube videos, reading assignments, and podcasts.
Semester Overview
In-class work will take place, and assignments will be done by students outside of class hours, often called homework. How much time you spend on homework can vary. What we do:- in-class activities, small, "low risk" but worth something, often 5–20 points
- quizes, given electronically and worth 5–20 points
- Modules introduce students to techniques, concepts, tools, and ideas to help them solve a problem
- a Project is a large-scale design assignment, a problem you solve using the things you learned during the Modules; a Project is generally due on a Tuesday, so you have the weekend to finesse things and finish the work; all Projects have a required writing component.
- by Mid-Term, students will have completed a Research Paper & Lecture about a font and how they will use it in a Project
- our Exam Day will be used for a final critique of your design work, see class calendar for day and time
Books: Textbooks found at the campus bookstore are recommended, and you may buy them. But they're also available for free in Winthrop's ProQuest/Dacus database of ebooks, both linked from our class website, top-right menu, "ebrary" will take you to the books. On campus, you can automatically access those books. Off-campus, watch this video to see how to access ebooks on any internet-enabled device. When reading assignments are given you may use the printed book or digital book, either is fine.
Materials: Students should have the following tools & materials to complete the work assigned and participate in class…
- smartphone with camera and internet access
- tablet or laptop or personal computer and internet access
- web browser, Safari or Chrome or Firefox, Opera works well too
- headphones with microphone (optional but encouraged for best video conference experience)
- notebook or sketchbook and pencil or pen, for taking notes as needed; Google Keep or Apple Notes also work well for this, as does Dropbox Paper
- Dropbox (free account, 2GB tier, instructions forthcoming)
- your mailbox.winthrop.edu email tied to Winthrop's Google Meet & Google Drive
- access to newspapers, magazines, printed advertisements, and other paper
goods with type and lettering on them, food packaging can also work
- Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, other apps are optional provided they're appropriate for our assigned tasks
- (optional) Instagram account for visual research and sharing your own work
- in addition to this class website, course communications will be routinely sent to students' mailbox.winthrop.edu email which you are responsible for checking
- if email becomes burdensome, use rules and filters to help sort messages, and also consider using important and priority inbox designators
Design work during the term is composed of a Module+Project.
- Modules come first and are smaller tasks that help you build your Project.
- Modules include small, bite-sized tasks worth a total of 25 points.
- Spread across multiple days, a Module series (5+5+5+5+5) gives you the 25-point total Module score.
- Formal Project values are 100 points, with craft, composition, and concept evaluated using multiple tiers of points, sometimes 20+25+25+30, sometimes 10+30+30+30.
- Module (25 points) + Project (100 points) = Design
- No work, no points.
- Deadlines matter for each Module and the subsequent Project.
Revisions
- Students will have the option of revising & resubmitting one project, resubmitting it to receive a replacement grade.
- Resubmission alone or resubmission with minor changes does not necessarily warrant a higher new grade.
- The original rubric used for the original grade will still apply to your resubmission.
- Don't risk a resubmission getting a lower grade, really really revise it and improve it significantly before resubmitting.
Naming FINAL Files: course number last name first initial project number (optional details) file suffix, examples below for a "Project-01" file name
- 21F_VCOM258_Lastname_S_01.pdf
multi-part project: steps/parts a, b, c - 21F_VCOM258_Lastname_S_01a.pdf
- 21F_VCOM258_Lastname_S_01b.pdf
- 21F_VCOM258_Lastname_S_01c.pdf
unless otherwise specified, a project with multiple parts, such as 8 unique designs, should all be packaged into a single PDF file; in some cases, 8 separate PDF or JPEG or PNG files might be requested, named as such - 21F_VCOM258_Lastname_S_01_1.jpeg
- 21F_VCOM258_Lastname_S_01_2.jpeg
- 21F_VCOM258_Lastname_S_01_3.jpeg
- 21F_VCOM258_Lastname_S_01_rev01.pdf
- use rev for revision and 0X for revision number
such that rev01 means first revision
DEADLINE 1
- Sign into your mailbox.winthrop.edu email to get a link to the online survey.
- Complete online survey before our first class, or at the start of class.
DEADLINE 2
- Use class time to complete the following work.
- Read the Syllabus.
- Students will be quizzed on the syllabus in class, open note, worth 10 points.