Course Outline

This is an advanced studio seminar in graphic design. The course includes in-depth explorations of contemporary and historical graphic designs in context, and an emphasis on skill development.

Skills covered will include: typography, layout, illustration, branding, posters, image manipulation and compositing, book and magazine design, package design, print technologies, project management, and special effects.

As the majority of the coursework takes place in class, consistent attendance and work habits are required. We will be producing several publications during the year including a class zine and the 50^th Anniversary Commemorative Publication.

The Curriculum covers the following broad areas within the framework of graphic design:

Communication Technology Fundamentals

Communication Technology Skills

Technology, the Environment, and Society

Professional Practice and Career Opportunities

Blog

Course Content is posted on the class blog. Be sure to check daily. 12graphic.blogspot.com

Username: wcigraphicdesign Password: GraphicDesign

Units

Units are compact . One floating unit is devoted to layout and design of a commemorative 50 year publication for WCI. At least 2 of the finished pieces during the year must have been created for a real client.

	Intro	(3 weeks)	Design Principles and Elements, Graphic Design Fundamentals
	Image	(5 weeks)	Digital Photography, drawing, illustration, Vector Illustration, Posters
	Text	(5 weeks)	Typography terms and identification, Type Design, Layout and book design
	Information	(1 week)	Infographics
	Summative Part 1	(3 weeks)	Self-Promotion identity kit and portfolio
	Hands	(2 weeks)	Hand made collage, cutting, assembling, lettering, Zine 1
	Society	(4 weeks)	Public Service Announcements, Ethics, Demographics, Adbust
	Print	(2 weeks)	printing technologies, prepress, standards, alternative techniques
	50 Year Book*	(2 weeks)	Collaborative design and production of a 50 year commemorative book for the 50th anniversary of WCI
	Package	(3 weeks)	Graphic design for packaging
	Portfolio	(1 week)	10 pieces
	Summative Part 2	(4 weeks)	A client

Supplies

Sketchbook (preferably grid) – these will be collected on a biweekly basis

Pencils, white gum erasers, good quality pencil crayons, markers, pens, compass, ruler, glue

Memory Stick Students are required to keep a USB memory stick with at least 1GB for the course. These must be backed up on a weekly basis. Lost memory sticks are not accepted as a reason for missing work.

Optional supplies:

Digital Camera

Tablet

Laptop

inks and watercolours

Mark Breakdown

Exercises 10

Projects 50

Written Work and Tests 10

Summative 30

Clients

During the year you will be required to produce 2 pieces for an actual client. It is up to you to find the client and carry out a piece according to their timeline. Clients may include school groups, clubs, teams, events, and outside agencies. Posters, business stationary. Make sure to consider possible clients early in the year.

Zine

We will be producing an in-house zine each term. This will feature graphic work, writing, experiments etc...created during the class.

Copyright

No copyrighted images are to be used in this course. Any work submitted containing copyrighted work will be given an automatic zero and subjected to school plagiarism policy. Creative Commons imagery is permissible provided it is significantly altered to the context. Just do your own work.

Generic Rubric

Included below are the typical parameters for project assessment. These should be used to illustrate the level of rigour I want to see you apply.

Thinking and Inquiry, Knowledge and Understanding, Communication, and Application, are the main categories assessed in projects. Aesthetic, Project Management, Teamwork are also applied to most projects. More specific parameters are applied to projects as the need arises.

	LEVEL 1 (-49)	LEVEL 2 (50-69)	LEVEL 3 (70-79)	LEVEL 4 (80+)
Knowledge and Understanding	Little or no evidence of relevent knowledge. Improper or missing research.	Concepts are partly understood, minimal research has been undertaken.	Strong understanding of concepts backed up by relevent research.	Demonstrates a detailed and nuanced understanding of concepts related to the project. Evidence of excellent research strategies
Communication	Project doesn't communicate message, or is	Message is partly communicated.	Project communicates intended messages clearly to a well- defined audience	Project communicates sophisticated message to intended audience with a nuance and precision
Thinking and Inquiry	Project shows little or no thinking.	Project shows minimal thinking and decision making.	Project shows numerous possible solutions and some logic used in decision making	Project shows a wide array of possible solutions and a strong decision-making model. Project exhibits a clear internal logic
Project Management	Project was lacking major detail, submitted late or incomplete	Project was submitted with rushed or incomplete details. Sparse attention to detail	Project was submitted complete and on time with good attention to detail.	Project was developed with excellent efficiency, submitted on time with excellent detail and all relevent support materials
Application	Techniques are incomplete or inadequately applied	Techniques are minimally applied. Appears to be a first attempt or a poorly edited submission.	Relevent techniques are applied at a highly proficient level. Evidence of refinement and editing	Relevent and novel techniques are applied at a sophisticated level. Strong attention to detail. Evidence of meticulous editing.
Teamwork	Inadequate level of contribution to the team.	Work was done unevenly and with little evidence of planning	Work was done efficiently within the group. Contributed amply to the project.	Strong leadership characteristics are demonstrated throughout the project.
Aesthetic	Aesthetic is poorly executed, and incompatible with the concept	Aesthetic is haphasardly executed and bears only some resemblance to the concept.	Aesthetic is well executed and exhibits strong application of design elements and principles. Aesthetic suits concept	Unique and memorable aesthetic that applies excellent design strategies enhancing the content
Concept	Little evidence of a concept. Derivative, poorly tied to the challenge	Concept is partially developed. Concept partly suits the challenge	Concept is well-thought out, and addresses the challenge well	Concept is innovative, layered, unique, and strongly tied to the challenge