The End

“I’m so glad we had this time together…”

We’ve finally come to the end and I hope you each are looking forward to continuing your studies in Communication Design and here at City Tech. I also hope that this class created in you a love for type and design, and challenged you enough to explore on your own.

Final grades will be posted by May 31, 2016, and any outstanding projects should have been submitted today. You have until mid-night to add any outstanding items to folder LATE OR RESUBMITTED ASSIGNMENTS.

Stay in touch. I like to see how my students progress. If you want to keep up with me on social media, I can be on found on Twitter and Instagram.

Have a great summer and the best of luck in the rest of your studies.

Guest Speaker Shayne Alexander

On May 16th we welcomed former City Tech student, Shayne Alexander to our class. He spoke to us about life as an art director at the prestigious advertising agency of BBDO.

Along with sharing samples of projects that he has worked on, Shayne also shared with the class the path that lead to his current position and took questions from the class. Hopefully it was an encouraging hour for everyone in class.

A Brief Video Excerpt – It’s a bit shaky but it will give you an idea of the discussion.

 

Final Exam Reminder and Final Project

This is a reminder, but everyone should know by now that we are having our final exam on Monday, May 23. The topics will include everything we have covered this semester—including all reading assignments, all class discussions and whatever is here on our website, where many resources were made available throughout the semester.

Also, be sure to submit your final digital Chap Book. And remember:

  • Please name your files correctly: COMD1167_FirstInitialLastName_ChapBook2 (example: COMD1167_MBrown_ChapBook2) Do not use your full name. It will make the file name too long and it’s not necessary.
  • If you need to submit different versions to show all the functionality, create a FOLDER with your name and place your project files (corrected named as above) in the folder. If you have a SWF file that has video and/or audio files, you need to place all those items in a resource folder. Place this folder inside the folder with your final project. If these files are not added, I will not be able to correctly view your final SWF file.

Reminder: Chap Book Interactive Edition

I’ve been reviewing the printed Chap Books  and you have done a pretty nice job with the project. Now we have to convert the printed content into an interactive document for use on an iPad or other tablet device or web browser.

Homework Reminder – Due Monday, May 2, 2016

  • As a first step, set up an interactive document in InDesign.  You will find this option when you create a NEW DOCUMENT. In that option window under intent, select DIGITAL PUBLISHING. In the area for PAGE SIZE, select IPAD. See the image above.
  • Layout out your Chap Book to fit this new page shape. You can cut and paste the elements from your first Chap Book in this new layout.
  • For Monday, May 2nd class you should have your cover and one other page prepared for us to review.
  • By Wednesday, May 3rd we will begin completing the layout for all 12 pages.

 

 

Research Homework Assignment – FINAL REMINDER

Due Monday, 4/11/16 — Each student is to research for three (3) websites that make good resources for graphic design students. The website can be about typography, graphic design, fonts, color or related information. For each site you are to write 1-2 paragraphs describing what the site is about and why it would serve as a useful resource for the students. This is to be posted to this website. Everyone should not use the same title, but it should be something interesting.

Remember, all homework assignments count.

Project No. 2: Chap Book

Now that the Type Book is finished, we are ready to begin the next project. We will began this project in class, but here are the details so that you can make certain you stay on track.

  • Your Chap Book project will be a 12-page booklet, including the cover.
  • It can be  autobiographical or on a topic of your choice that your interested in. Please have your topic cleared by me.
  • All of the content will be your own. You will do the writing and the photos or illustrations or graphic elements. Any content you find elsewhere must be properly created, otherwise that would be copyright infringement.
  • When you set up your pages in InDesign, the measurements are 5.5″x8.5″ (or 33picas x 51picas).
  • You will determine the number of columns for your grid system.
  • We will begin learning the anatomy of magazine pages, so you are expected to use these elements in your Chap Book design.
  • When the design is complete, you will assemble the layout for printing, then staple down the center of the spine to create saddle-stitching.
  • You may print in black and white to save money, but your design will be in color.
  • After the print version, you will be taking your design and adding interactive elements (video, music, etc) and producing the Chap Book that can be viewed on tablets as well as web browsers.

 

The project is on a tight deadline and I will try to keep you on track as much as possible. It may at times seem like I am rushing you. The print version of this project should be complete by the time we have our spring break.

Due Monday, 4/11/16: You should be finished with your cover design even though you may not have any idea about your coverlines yet—they can come later. The important thing is to have the cover design be finished with the suggested revisions from the critique. You should also begin layout for your interior pages. This means over the weekend, set up your master pages, paragraph and character styles. If you need help with these things, make use of the videos that I have already posted on this site.  This also means that you have already begun to collect the content for your project. In class on Monday we will continue to work on the interior pages.

Type Book Assembly

There seems to be some confusion about what is included in your finished Type Book. Every type book exercise is to be included. The list that was handed out in class was based on the titles on the assignment sheets. Some of those handouts included more than one exercise. Hopefully this list will offer a bit of clarity.

  • Front Cover
  • Anatomy
  • 5 Families (5 pages)
  • Variations (6 pages)
  • Alignment
  • Alignment2
  • Leading (2 pages)
  • Tracking (2 pages)
  • Kerning
  • Type on a Path
  • Legibility (in color)
  • Type Color
  • Hierarchy
  • Grid (2 pages)
  • Pattern
  • Embellished Quote
  • Logotype
  • Putting it All Together Poster (a poster design that incorporates everything you have learned about typography. In the fifth column, the Title will be Putting it All Together. You will use columns 1-4 only for your design)

These books will be printed out and bound along the short left edge, where we left space for such details. They should have a clear vinyl front cover and a black vinyl back cover with spiral binding along the left side.

The finished books are to be submitted no later than Monday, April, 4, 2016. 

Mid-Term Exam

The mid-term exam is scheduled for Monday, March 28th. It will cover all that we’ve learned so far. Please take the time to review your notes, the reading assignments and the updates that have been posted on this website.

You may also want to download this document, Adobe Type Primer, which contains most of the information about typography that we’ve covered.