Mercedes Alvarez’s Profile

Student
Active 1 day, 15 hours ago
Mercedes Alvarez
Display Name
Mercedes Alvarez
Major Program of Study
Communication Design

My Courses

COMD3701 Design Studio, SP24

COMD3701 Design Studio, SP24

Working independently, each student researches, conceptualizes, and develops an in-depth project across media channels, which uses design thinking to address a contemporary issue. ** Any faculty member teaching this course may clone and adapt the course. **

COMD3601 Information Design, F2023

COMD3601 Information Design, F2023

Theory and practice of designing with information. Topics include graphs, charts, pie-charts and diagrams. Through advanced assignments related to information graphics, exhibition design and wayfinding systems, students will synthesize and design complex data sets. Preparation of final work using current design software applications.

COMD3505 Special Topics in GD, Fall 2023

COMD3505 Special Topics in GD, Fall 2023

This skills course offers rotating topics in the graphic design field. Topics may include signage and way-finding systems, exhibition design, lettering, experimental typography, and others. Students can take this course more than once (and up to 2 times) with a different topic. 2 hr. lecture, 2 lab hrs, 3 cr Prerequisites COMD 2400 or department permission FALL 23 Topic: Experimental Typography and Lettering

COMD3527 Advanced Typography Fall 23

COMD3527 Advanced Typography Fall 23

2 cl hrs, 2 lab hrs Explores design and type sensibilities, challenging students to strengthen their creative and visual aesthetics. With emphasis on sensitivity to type, exercises integrate type within a variety of different mediums including page layouts as well as kinetic design. Prerequisite: COMD 1257

COMD 3504 EO05 COMMUNICATION DESIGN THEORY Spring 2023

COMD 3504 EO05 COMMUNICATION DESIGN THEORY Spring 2023

Course Description This course will offer an in-depth introduction to communication design theory, examining theoretical perspectives of design practice within the larger discourse of design and visual culture. Communication models, the nature of representation, the dimensions of context and semiotics will be explored through critical readings from key documents written between the early decades of the twentieth century and the present. In this context, “theory” doesn’t mean “a hypothesis to be tested” (as in the sciences), but rather points to a set of working beliefs about how the world—or in this case, visual communication—works. Some aspects of certain visual communication theories are based on observable “facts,” but the way these facts are woven together says more about how we construct meaning than it does about empirical answers to factual questions. So why does a design professional—typically an eminently practical, hands-on person working toward a specific end for the benefit of a specific client—want or need to engage with visual communication theories? First, “doing theory” promotes a sophisticated level of reflection about design work—far beyond the touchstones of “did they like it?” and “did it serve its purpose?” Second, it encourages designers to think holistically about the contexts for their work—beyond the immediate job at hand to the larger contexts of the social, the cultural, and the historical. And finally, it recognizes the obvious: today, graphic design shapes our visual world and puts each person at the nexus of thousands of messages each day. In this course, we, as senders and receivers of such messages, will attempt to make sense of all this through our verbal discussions in class, our blog postings, and our research poster design and presentations. We will be looking at two types of theories: generative theories, that explain the “how” of visual communication; and critical/sociocultural theories that explain the “what, where, and when” of design, or the historical, cultural and social contexts. By developing the ability to look at design through these different lenses, professional designers can enhance the quality of their decision-making and have a better grasp on the multiple contexts and frameworks for clients and audiences. We can better understand and evaluate the many issues about local usability and usefulness within broader contexts of ethics, aesthetics, professional and social responsibility.

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