1. For this week’s assignments, you are to work on your two visually enhanced quotation projects and have two concepts posted on your Academic Examples Page/GRA111, Visually Enhanced Quotation Page.

2. You are also to take photographs of the classifications of type you learned in today’s class and post these photos on your open lab site on your Blog page. Add a caption for each photo identifying what classification of type you saw. These photos can be done of signs in stores, on the highway, billboards, on the sides of buses–anywhere you see type.

3. Take out one typography or design book from the library here at CityTech or your local library and bring it in for next week.

4. Study for your quiz on Graphic Communications History which will be given next week.

Homework Assignments

• Reading Assignments – Should be Completed by February 18th
1. Please read  “The Adobe Type Primer”. See link to this on Blackboard
2. Please read the article “To the Letter Born” at http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/to-the-letter-born/?scp=1&sq=gotham%20font&st=cse.
3. Please read the article “Top Ten Election Design Guidelines at http://www.aiga.org/election-design-top-ten/
4. Take the quiz at the nytimes web site “Are you an Optimist or a Pessimist?” at http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/09/are-you-an-optimist-or-a-pessimist/ and then read the follow-up article to this quiz that was published later.

• Writing Assignments/Other Projects

1. Choose a quote for your visual quotation project and begin working out sketches/designs. Your visual quote project will be designed for a print postcard and should be 8.5” X 5.47”. It can designed either landscape or portrait but be sure to design your concepts with this trim size in mind. If you are not familiar with software such as Indesign, you can draw your concepts and they should be put on a sheet of paper cut to the appropriate size. You can use collage or cut or paste type in the design you would like, using colored pencils to show color. If you know Indesign or Illustrator, you can use those programs to do your designs. Be sure to set up your document to the size specified in these programs and to use the print layout template. Photoshop may also be used to do your initial concepts. However, later on they should be brought into Indesign or Quark. See free tutorials on Adobe programs at http://tv.adobe.com and http://www.lynda.com/home/freeTraining.aspx. If you draw your concepts by hand, take a photo of your sketches using your phone to submit for your intial two concepts.

Be ready to share your quote/early sketches with the class next week.  Review the website http://www.designingwithtype.com/cooper6/6_grid_01.html for examples of visually enhanced quotations. You can also view samples of designs by previous students in my classes on Blackboard in your asssignments folder on the Epotfolio sites provided to you in the Course Documents Folder /Week Three. You should have at least two working concepts to share with the class on your open lab site by February 25th.

2. Continue working on your home page introduction and logo concept. You should have a second draft of the home page copy ready by February 20th.

Reading Assignments–Due February 11th

1. Please finish reading Chapter 1, “Introduction” in Digital Media Primer the required text for this class.
2. Please read the following sections on the Gutenberg site at the University of Texas Ransom Center at http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/gutenberg/:
The book Before Gutenberg
Johann Gutenberg
The Printing of the Bible
The Spread of Printing
The Appearance of the Bible
Digital Gutenberg Project
3. Read the two articles on Gutenberg from Volume I and II the of Art in Production Journal posted on our Blackboard site in the Assignment section, week two.
4. Please read the articles on Type History and Early Alphabetss in “Level One: A Typographic foundation ” on the web site fonts.com at http://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology/level-1
5. Please read the article “Eight Tips for Type on the Web” at http://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fyti/typographic-tips/8-tips-for-type-on-the-web
6. Watch the video on youtube, “The History of the internet” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hIQjrMHTv4
7. Begin thinking/reviewing about a quote you would like to visually enhance.

Project Work-

1.Logo History Report assigned last week due February 11th.

2. Personal Logo Design– Due February 18th. Please create a logo design concept for your own name, one that you feels reflects your goals & personality. This logo, after revisions and changes, will ultimately be uploaded onto your E-portfolio web site. Your logo design should be accompanied by a paragraphs describing the rationale behind your design. The logo design can be done on the computer or drawn by hand. Use the Before and After Article as a reference and the AIGA site shown in class. Upload your logo sketches to your openlab site page for next week’s class. If your logo was drawn/sketched by hand, take a photo using your Iphone and upload that to your site. If done on the computer, upload the file as a JPEG to your site from photoshop.

2. Please revise the short bio you wrote for homework last week. This bio should contain  a description of yourself, your interest in graphic communications and your goals for your academic career at New York City College of Technology .If you have taken other courses in this major, mention then and cite key items you learned. If this is your first graphic communications course, discuss any experience you have from high school such as drawing classes or computer software classes. If you know Photoshop or any other graphic software, mention it. Also, cite sources that have influenced your career choice such as artists or designers you like, magazines or websites you find visually appealing and write about why they appeal to you. This description will be the draft of the copy for your home page on the E-portfolio site. This assignment should be no more than one or two typed paragraphs–with each paragraph being 4 or 5 sentences long. Your draft must be typed in Microsoft word or another word processing program. Please use spell check and be sure that you are paying attention to your grammar and punctuation. See examples of student bios from previous classes that are linked to on Blackboard as Sample Eportfolio sites. Please post your  revised bio on the home page of your openlab site.

As I read the articles, the one that really interested me the most was the article regarding company logos. With what I read, I never really gave it much thought about how significant a logo was to a company that would want leave an everlasting impression on customers, and for one thing, catch their eye and make them want to buy that product. Like with Coca-Cola and Kelloggs, both well known brands today have had those designs of their names for many, many years, with people knowing exactly what brand it is and lead to them wanting to buy their products. With that in mind, it also makes me think of the logos of things I love, such as Marvel Comics, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Resident Evil, etc that I can instantly recognize what they are by their respective logos and icons that represent them.