Faculty: You can include your course schedule here with links to each agenda. Start with this template or change it. Feel free to substitute readings and media as needed. Be sure to add “Week –” links throughout the semester so students can refer to past weeks.

ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE FOR COMD 3504-OL01 SUMMER 2024 

***The following schedule is subject to change. Refer to the Weekly Agenda posts linked here for up-to-date content.*** 

THE FOLLOWING COURSE WORK IS REQUIRED TO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE COMD 3504: 

  • Design Research Journal – 3-4 posts per week in OpenLab (public) If you prefer private posting, please submit Design Journal entires via Brightspace. 
  • Weekly Readings. (12 readings total; Readings #4-5-6 are the basis for Paper #1, and Readings 9-10 are the basis for Paper #2.)
  • Written Reading Reponses of 2-3 paragraphs for each reading)
  • Two Analysis Papers: 750-1000- words each, MLA research paper formatting
  • Final Research Project: 10-15 slide Presentation on Research of a Topic of your choice
  • Discussion on OpenLab site: post written feedback on Other Students’ Design Journal postings

Week 1: 

  • Post first 3-4 paragraph Reading Response to Reading 1: Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field. Princeton Architectural Press, 2009 (excerpt). Comment briefly on the topic of “Why Theory?”
  • Reading 2:  Topic: Laying the Groundwork for Design Theory
    Hall, Sean. This Means This, This Means That: A User’s Guide to Semiotics, Laurence King Publishing, 2012 (Chapters 1 & 2); Ferdinand de Saussure, Course in General Linguistics (excerpt) 
  • Reading 3:  Topics: Language, Linguistics, Symbols, Signs  
    F.T. Marinetti, “Manifesto of Futurism”; Aleksandr Rodchenko, “Who We Are: Manifesto of the Constructivist Group”; El Lissitzky, “Our Book” 
  • Start Design Journal with images and references inspired by the reading topics. Post at least 3 times per week.
  • Post 3-4 paragraph Reading Responses to each reading below. ○ Due June 3: Decide on your topic for your FINAL PROJECT: Research PRESENTATION PROJECT topic. Written proposal is due June 17. Final Project is due July 5.
  • Start work on Research PAPER #1, which is due June 12.

Week 2:

Due June 12: Two-Page Research PAPER #1 based on Reading 4-5-6

■ Walter Gropius, “The Theory and Organization of the Bauhaus” 

■ Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, “Typophoto” 

■ Herbert Bayer, “On Typography” 

○ Topics : Manifestos, Movements and the Avant-Garde; Bauhaus Function and Form 

Due June 12: Ongoing Design Journal with images and references inspired by the reading topics. Post at least 3 times per week. 


Week 3: 

Due June 17: Research PRESENTATION PROJECT Proposal due. Submit your Topic in the form of a question, submit your Presentation Title, and include one paragraph stating your method of research and hypothetical answers based on research so far. 

Due June 17: Ongoing Design Journal with images and references inspired by the reading topics. Post at least 3 times per week. 

Due June 17: Written Responses with 1-2 paragraph responses to each reading.
Reading 7:  Celebrating the African-American Practitioners Absent From Way Too Many Classroom Lectures by Madeleine Morley; Typography as a Radical Act in an Industry Ever-dominated by White Men by Silas Munro; Design Gets More Diverse by Alice Rawsthorn 

Reading 8: Paul Rand, Good Design is Goodwill; Steven Heller, Underground Mainstream ● Topics: International Style Evolution; Mainstream Modernism + American Corporate Identity 

Week 4: 
Due June 24: Two-Page Research PAPER #2 based on Reading 9-10
Roland Barthes, “Rhetoric of the Image”
Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media (exc.) 
Topics: The Medium is the Message; Persuasive Media; Context and Representation; Stereotype in Advertising Media; Visual Rhetoric 

Week 5: 
Due July 1: Two-paragraph reading response to Readings 11 and 12. 

  • Reading 11: 

○ Katherine McCoy and David Frej “Typography as Discourse” 

  • Reading 12: 

○ Rick Poynor “The Evolving Legacy of Ken Garland’s First Things First Manifesto“ 

  • Topics:  ○ What is Post Modernism?  ○ The Digital Revolution & Social Responsibility  ○ Graphic Authorship & Social Responsibility now and then. 

Due July 1: Ongoing Design Journal with images and references inspired by the reading topics. Post at least 3 times per week. 

Due July 1: Complete work on Final Project: Research PRESENTATION PROJECT which is due July 5. 

Week 6: July 2 – July 5 

  • Assignment Due Date July 5: Complete Final Project: Research PRESENTATION PROJECT 
  • Due July 5: Final research Project Presentation 
  • All work Due July 5: Design Journal and Reading Responses. All work due.
  • July 5-7: Wrap up, Grade Survey, Course Evaluations 
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