Due: 11:30, Friday, September 10

Categories: figure-ground letter digital, interweave, & simple design

To Do

1. 1. refine your letter
   2. comment
   3. read & comment
   4. watch & comment

 

1   Refine: your letterform

1. 1. 1.  Create 6 new marker sketches of your figure-ground letter
      2.  From the 6 sketches, choose 3 that have equal black and white.
      3.  Digitally create 2 variations of each for a total of 6.
          Use a bold, heavy, or black font for your letter
         Make each sketch approximately 6-inches square
         Use any program.
      4.  Experiment with letter cropping,  sizing, turning, etc until you achieve balance. 
      5. Refine your letter until you have an equal amount of white and black space

• • • • As you work, when you think that you have something close, save it as a jpg or a screenshot.
      • Then work on the same image to further refine, save as jpg, refine more, etc
      • When you finish, you should be able to show your process with the many different jpg versions of the same letter.

Instructions for cropping letterform

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A video showing the digital figure/ground process is available
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/childers-comd1200fall2021/wp-admin/index.php

 

 

 

5  Choose your two best  examples,
Make sure they are very different.

Examples of figure-ground studies

 

 

 

 

 

 

6  Label your work
•  label one cropped letter: “figure-ground letter digital” 
Use A, B, C etc to differentiate 

7.  Post your work:

• • • • In the WordPress Dashboard, (on the left side of the screen) click on “Posts” > Add New to create a new post
        • Name post  “figure-ground letter digital_firstName lastName”

• • • • • Assign a category (the right side of the screen)
          • Under “category sticky” choose “Homework Completed“
          • Under “Categories” choose “Homework Completed” and “figure-ground letter sketches” and  “assignment posts” in the menu on the right side.
        • Be sure to select “Homework Completed,” NOT “ Homework Assignments”
          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More info on adding a post:

• • • • • Make a new post. https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/blog/help/help-category/using-a-site/

• • • • • For more information: Adding a post

 

2   comment: on 2 different student’s cropped letter posts

criteria

• • • Comment using the assignment criteria and the figure/ground relationship.

Give your assessment in terms of what is working or not clear. Use descriptive language; words like nice and good don’t explain much. Be direct: too much white? too much black? Explain why.

 

3.  read: Graphic Design, The new basics.

1. 1. Read pages, 85-90 online or download

online:  https://docdownload.net/page.php?title=Ellen+lupton%2C+jennifer+cole+phillips+graphic+design+the+new+basics+princeton+architectural+press+%2820&doc=ellen_lupton__jennifer_cole_phillip&user=felekantofkuln&id=150722020306-cd5da8f46810a1b218a9f8c7c65be224&count=248

download:Graphic Design, The New Basics, p85-90

2. The authors state that “Unlike conventional depictions where subjects are centered and framed against a background, active figure/ground conditions churn and interweave form and space, creating tension and ambiguity.”

3. comment: what do the authors mean by “interweaving” form and space?
category: interweave

4. watch: Michael Bierut: The Genius of the London Underground Map

1. 1. watch this 3-minute video
   2. comment: What does Bierut mean by the term “simple?”
      category: simple design