PROJECT 1 - THE LIBERATED PAGE

Welcome to the first major project!


The WORDS exercise – with the development and feedback from students – has helped the class to use words to visually communicate the action of the word’s meaning. This has helped build communication skills for the LIBERATED PAGE project. 


BACKGROUND

The printed page is the product of 500 year old technology. The organization of type and graphics results from the physical limitations of the printing press and the financial constraints imposed by the publisher. Historically, metal type and rectangular images are presented most economically when condensed into narrow columns and arranged in a grid. Design has thus been influenced by these limitations. Yet even as technology has afforded the designer more freedom in the use of text and visual imagery, print media continues to reflect tradition. Even Web pages mimic the form of the book.


How to explore the potential of digital technology? Designers are still restricted by the frame of the monitor or the electronic print, but a solution may more easily  be focused on speak to a more visually literate audience. Is it important to reach a wider audience… communicate more economically… create a cross-cultural communication?


PROJECT

Design a work that speaks out on a contemporary issue. Choose a specific theme (social, political, environmental, etc.) that interests you. Conduct the appropriate research to inform your message.


Express this message with type, considering the visual qualities of the letterforms, and also the elements of design which can be used to convey this message — shape, scale, line, space and texture; emphasis, balance, rhythm, pattern, color, and unity.


The type design must function on two levels: text as image &image as text. At first glance, the design should suggest a visual attitude that will influence the viewer’s perception. Upon closer examination and reading, the textual content will be revealed, reinforced by the visual attitude.


The text should not necessarily take the form of an object or recognizable visual element. Instead, the type forms should be treated as visual objects themselves, and arranged in a way that suggests a mood or attitude.

Your role as a designer


Focus this message on one aspect of chosen topic. Remember, the designer’s job is to Persuade, Inform, and Educate.


To help encourage focus and clarify the point of communication, consider the following questions:

  1. Who is the client (imaginary or based on a real organization or business)?
  2. What specifically are they communicating?
  3. Why are they hiring you to communicate message – (persuade, educate, sell…)?
  4. Who are they saying it to?
  5. What visual attitude will you use to communicate the meaning behind the message?

Once the answer to these questions are understood, executing the design (choosing the words and imbuing them with a visual attitude) will be much easier, and the conveyed meaning will be more clear. Consider using the answers to these questions as part of your project proposal/statement.

Requirements

  • One text/image design using Illustrator no larger than 11″ x 17″, effectively dealing with the theme and concepts as stated above.
  • The piece should refer to principles of graphic design such as composition, color theory and typography, either by incorporating them or purposefully rejecting them. Design must make use of text as image and text as type.
  • Raster imagery may not be used

TIMELINE – project given on March 4th / Due March 30th

  • Consultation 1 — Proposal: Submit a proposal in class, meet individually to discuss the specifics.
  • Consultation 2 — Image: Preview a preliminary layout with your instructor
  • For Critique, prepare a written statement, print a hard copy of student design, and upload Illustrator file to the appropriate dropbox folder before class.

Deliverables

  1. Color laser print of Illustrator file
  2. Upload Illustrator file according to instructor’s instructions.
  3. Note: Fonts should be converted to outlines before saving final version for submission.

Grading

This project will be graded on (in order of importance):

  • creative and effective approach to subject matter
  • demonstration of technical proficiency with advanced Illustrator procedures
  • fulfillment of project requirements
  • effective visual and oral presentation of solution
  • involvement in group critique
  • punctuality.

Examples

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GENERATIVE ART WITH PROCESSING!

  EXERCISE 04: GENERATIVE ART WITH PROCESSING Overview Generative (or Algorithmic) art is art or design produced by an artist or designer or anyone who chooses to create and explore imagery by writing computer programs by oneself or with the aid of a programmer. “Processing integrates a programming language, development environment and a teaching methodology into a unified system. It was created to teach fundamentals of computer programming within a visual context. Students, artists, design professionals and researchers use it for learning, prototyping and production.” ( Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers, Second Edition,  Casey Reas and Ben Fry.) It is built on a simplified version of Java. Objectives Learn enough Processing coding to enable execution of the final project for the ART303 course. Develop a basic understanding and facility for solving visual problems algorithmically. Explore aesthetic ideas and visual structures through algori...
Read more

PROJECT 2 – SYNTHESIZED MEANING

Overview Synthsized Meaning  is an exploration of the impact on communication when images are recombined, repositioned and reprocessed, when the lines of “reality” are blurred. Students will collect and assemble found or original images into a Photoshop montage. The original “meaning” of each original image will evolve in relation to the others. It will be seen that meaning itself can never be fixed, but that it changes relative to the point of view of the observer, cultural preconceptions, and the context in which it is perceived. Montage  [Fr.: “mounting”]. Assemblage that results from the overlapping or joining of various materials, images or objects to form a new single picture. Timothy Druckrey wrote in the article From Dada to Digital that “one of the central considerations in the emergence of electronic montage is the redefinition of narrative. Sequential or arrayed, information is created in forms that suggest that the single image is not sufficient to serve as a recor...
Read more

PROJECT 3 — INTERACTIVE VOICES

Overview Interactive Voices  is an exploration of the meaningful integration of sound, movement and interactivity. The student will create an work of generative art combining audio, motion and interactivity. This Project will utilize skills covered in Lectures 4 and 5, and Exercise 4 (Hour of Code, In-Class Demos, and review of examples.) Assignment Theme:  The content of the project is entirely at your discretion, and the audio and visual elements may be objective or non-objective. Sound sources may be found online, sampled audio, or recorded by you. Visual elements will be generated from within Processing. What is most important is that the sounds interact meaningfully with the appearance and movement of the visual objects. Avoid using simple narrative. Do not approach the project as a music video or cartoon. Rather than telling a story, try to create an abstract experience, as in the Oskar Fischinger films. Think of this as poetry (literary work in which special i...
Read more