Category: Resource (Page 1 of 2)

Grades will be awarded using the College’s standard grading scale, but evaluation of your coursework will take into consideration effort applied, participation, and creative use of resources. Your final grade will reflect how well you explored and demonstrated the concepts and practices introduced in this course.

Grades will be posted on the class site using either Blackboard Grade Center and/or OpenLab Gradebook. Your instructor will provide timely feedback via comment or email.

Grades will be based upon:

• Reading Responses 25%
• Research Papers 20%
• Research Journal 10%
• Research Project & Presentation 25%
• Productivity & Participation 20%

Course Assignments

Weekly readings and written reading responses are central to this course. Completing every reading is necessary for the successful completion of the course. Your weekly written responses, two short papers, and class discussions will be posted to the class website. The course will also require independent research using a Research Journal and will culminate in a Research Project and Presentation.

Weekly Reading Responses (25%)

Each weekly reading will be posted on the class site and will include a set of questions or prompts intended to promote critical engagement and class discussion using Hypothesis and OpenLab. You will be expected to write a 3-4 paragraph comment reflecting on the text presented and provide feedback on your peers’ reflections in Discussions. Responses with links to Hypothesis annotations must be submitted to the class site on the date due.

Research Papers (20%)

Twice during the semester, in lieu of the weekly reading response, you will submit a Research Paper, 2-3 pages (750-1000 words) in length, typed in double-spaced 12 pt Times New Roman, with all references and quotations properly cited according to MLA guidelines. These papers will be formally structured essays concerning assigned readings and your individual research. These readings may relate to your research topic and/or may take the form of an exploratory essay to help guide your research.

Research Journal (10%)

Each week you will add to your online Research Journal, documenting and critically reflecting on your influences, history, culture, likes, and dislikes. This practice of being curious about your own design aesthetic is a way to gain experience engaging with critical design theory. Your Research Journal is a place for collecting ideas, freewriting, images, links, videos, and other media to help you develop your ideas and formulate your research topic. It can also be a place to reflect on the readings and write your rough drafts before they are put into a formal post, comment, or paper.

Your journal may be private or public throughout the semester but it should be submitted at the midterm and end of the semester for review.

Research Project & Presentation (25%)

By Week 7, you will present a well-defined research topic and outline of a final research project to be presented in class and/or posted on the class site for feedback.

In the final three weeks of class, you and your peers will present your independent research. You will be expected to articulate a clearly defined topic concerning contemporary design and theory, by way of a well-designed poster or slide deck with voice or video narration. Your research project should serve as an opportunity to connect your own design practice with professional research methodologies and the design theory presented in this course.

The research project and presentation will:

• include a 5-10 minute slideshow and audio/video presentation
• demonstrate professional research practices (written, verbal, visual)
• connect graphic design history and theory with the contemporary design field
• demonstrate a connection between your design practice and theoretical concepts covered in the course
• include an outline, annotated bibliography and glossary
• demonstrate methods of primary and secondary source evaluation

Productivity & Participation (20 %)

Discussions of assigned readings will play a critical role in this course. Class conversations, whether face to face or asynchronous, should not only provide a better understanding of the readings but should also make the course more engaging for everyone.

Effective participation is demonstrated by:

• Posting and commenting on the shared class site by the set deadline, including contributing to discussions, or giving peer feedback.
• Actively participating in group annotations, presentations and discussions.
• Following best practices for face-to-face and online learning.
• Class preparedness; coming prepared for class and checking the class site for instructions, prior to the class meeting.
• Timeliness; arriving to class on time and completing assignments on time.
• Asking questions, volunteering answers, and helping other students
• Paying attention during demonstrations and presentations
• Following instructions and taking notes

Make-ups

If you will not be able to present or hand in an assignment on the scheduled due date, it is your responsibility to notify the instructor BEFORE the due date.

Points are deducted from your final grade for late assignments and missed discussions. It’s better to turn in incomplete work than late work and participate in the class. If you turn in your work on time, you will have the opportunity to rework to improve your grade!

TOPIC

Your research should explore the relationship between
1: specific theories
2: and the contemporary design that puts these theories into practice.

The design work that you address should be a project completed in the past 40 years, with a definite form and scope. You do not need to limit your research to a singular work, but it is not an examination of a designer’s full career.

For example, “the work of Paula Scher” is far too broad. “Paula Scher’s environmental design” is a better topic, but should still be more exact. “Paula Scher’s brand identity campaign for the Public Theatre, from 1993 to 2004” or “Paula Scher’s environmental design for NJPAC” are both excellent premises.

The theory that you apply can begin with one of our assigned readings, but should branch out to include related or derivative ideas and texts.

Keeping with the “environmental design for NJPAC” example, you might explore the influence of Rodchenko’s manifesto, “Who We Are…,” on Scher’s conceptual approach and formal aesthetics. This is a good starting point, which opens the discussion to a wide range of possibilities; Rodchenko was a prolific writer who wrote many more texts; designer-writers such as László Moholy-Nagy, Vladimir Tatlin or Sergei Eisenstein expanded Rodchenko’s ideas in new directions which are also relevant to Scher’s work; and Scher herself has written about and discussed the ways in which she applies Constructivist ideas to her own work. All of these should be considered. Or you might connect seemingly unrelated ideas; perhaps McLuhan’s media theory helps to identify ways in which Scher’s all-over graphics use Constructivist ideals to convey her message through the medium of architecture.

From here you might develop a new theory, such as “Paula Scher utilizes Neo-Constructivist design strategies to reinvent the expressive potential of existing media.” Using the example of NJPAC to demonstrate this theory would make for an excellent presentation.

RESEARCH

Conducted in a rigorous manner, as if completing a 10-12 page paper.

In addition to assigned readings, you must cite
• at least 10 sources, including proper citation information and a bibliography in MLA format.

You will submit your bibliography, along with a digital file containing your poster to our OpenLab site on May 9.

Poster / Slide Deck

Instead of typing a research paper, the results of your investigation will be presented as an academic Poster Session. This format is well-suited for our purposes in that it allows you to present ideas and findings in a visually stimulating manner, while also provoking new discussions.

Poster Sessions are commonly held in academic conferences, where recent research findings or studies-in-progress are presented, typically for a relatively small group of peers and colleagues. Information is generally presented as a network or web with different strains of thought branching out from one another, or in a linear progression from a starting point to a final outcome. The former often appears much like the outline for a paper, while the latter can be a sequence of presentation slides. Either of these approaches are fine for our purposes, as are combinations or derivations of the two.

As design students, you will be expected to create visually appealing posters or slide shows. Information should be organized clearly and succinctly, in a style evocative of the designs and ideas under consideration. Though the visuals are ostensibly an aid to your presentation, they should be interesting and engaging in their own right.

The traditional format for a poster is exactly that – a large sheet of paper displaying information. Obviously the online learning environment has altered the conditions of these presentations, for both our class and for academia as a whole. Yet research has continued around the world, and we will continue to adapt to our current situation.

As designers, we must not only respond to this environment, but re-write some of the rules. This presentation should offer an opportunity to explore the limits of visual representation in the asynchronous online classroom. We will obviously all need to record our presentations to be shared with the class. For this video, you could do this with an interesting slide deck. Or you could hold printed graphics in front of the camera. You might experiment with a flow chart in Prezi, or create and walk us through a simple interactive website. These sorts of ambitious visual aids can be powerful tools for delivering your message.

Video Presentation

You will be responsible for assembling and recording a 10-15 minute presentation, during which you will present your topic, aided by your visual. You should consider the ways in which you will navigate information to outline your topic in a compelling, engaging manner.

You will be required to view, and comment on, all of your peers’ presentations. Your grade for the presentation will be determined by the quality of your own presentation as well as your contributions to every discussion.

Presentations will be shared during our final two weeks of class, beginning on May 9 and May 16. You are required to have your bibliography and visuals completed and posted by May 9. Half of the class will be required to post final videos on May 9, the remaining half will be required to post on May 16. We will determine a schedule for presentation uploads in the weeks leading up to the 9th.

You will be required to post versions of your presentation and bibliography to OpenLab in the weeks leading up to the final poster sessions.

Expectations

– Visuals should present clear, coherent information, in a logically organized manner.
– Viewers should be able to readily identify your research questions, your method of inquiry, the literature employed, and your overarching thesis.
– It should be clear that original research has led to a synthesis unique to your subject.
– Your visuals should be neat and professional, utilizing design standards consistent with the topic at hand.
– Relevant images should be carefully selected and placed within your presentation, with considerations made for reproduction quality.
– Organization and care in assembly will be taken into consideration.
– Presentations should be equally clear, with ideas confidently articulated.
– Presentations should be rehearsed, and should adhere to a planned narrative or script
– Pace and diction should be stimulating for your peers, offering information in a manner that can be grasped and processed in a thought-provoking manner.
– Presenters should pose questions intended to engage viewers with the ideas presented.
– Viewers should ask questions that challenge assertions in a productive manner, inviting the possibility for further research or for applying theories in additional contexts.

We should all begin to consider ideas that we might like to address in our presentations. Potential topics will begin to play a role in discussions and assignments in the coming weeks.

Students

This example post demonstrates how student posts are organized using the category “Reading Responses.” This post is displayed under Student Posts > Reading Responses” in the site menu. Make sure your work is accessible on the site and check the assignment instructions for the required category, tags, and title for your posts.

Submit your coursework using posts and give feedback on your classmates’ coursework using comments.

Revisiting the Avant-Garde (Heading H2)

Armstrong, Helen. Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field, Princeton Architectural Press, 2009. Pages 9-15.

Questions / Prompts (Heading H3)

• According to this author, what role should design play in society?
• What distinguishes the field, or fields, of design from other creative occupations?
• Why should designers concern themselves with unsolvable theoretical questions?
• What role does technology play in shaping design?
• What are the most urgent problems facing designers today?
• How, and why, is a designer responsible for solving these problems?

Response (Heading H3)

Sed porttitor lectus nibh. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum ac diam sit amet quam vehicula elementum sed sit amet dui. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Sed porttitor lectus nibh. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Sed porttitor lectus nibh.

Nulla porttitor accumsan tincidunt. Nulla quis lorem ut libero malesuada feugiat. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Donec velit neque, auctor sit amet aliquam vel, ullamcorper sit amet ligula. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Nulla porttitor accumsan tincidunt. Vestibulum ac diam sit amet quam vehicula elementum sed sit amet dui. Quisque velit nisi, pretium ut lacinia in, elementum id enim. Cras ultricies ligula sed magna dictum porta.

Annotation Links: (Heading H3)

1. 1. Reference Image: El Lissitzky
   2. Rephrasing / Question: The avant-garde effaced the artist/designer through the quest for impartial communication
   3. Definition: Aesthetic