Next Project: Magazine Spreads

Design a magazine. Select a genre and consider the audience profile. 

Research

Visit your bookstore an look at magazines. A lot of them.  Sit down at a table and really study the magazines. Take note of things you like and dislike- noting ideas about typefaces usage, columns, subtitles, content pages, folios, images, color and graphical details. Choose three magazines and write a more formal description of your audience profile, concept for your magazine, visual language and style use, as well as your educational goals for yourself as a designer. Your goals can be in the form of questions. Your write-up should be a 350-500 words in length posted to your blog.

InDesign Skills:

Grid, typesetting, character/paragraph styles, master page usage for production and more.

Specifications:

• Size: dimensions are your choice
  
• Color: CMYK or spot color
  
• Type: select from course font list
  
• Images: Make your own images.
  
• Binding: saddle stitch
  
• Copy: found online
• 6-10 spreads / 12-20 pages

Required elements:

Front/Back cover

Content page

3 short articles

1 feature article

Hand In:

Individual Blogs must document research and design process, and project concept write-up

Mockup thumbnails, sketches, images, etc.

Magazine bound and presented

Homework:

1. Go to a bookstore to do begin research.
   
2. Bring your sketchbook, ruler, pen, and tracing paper.
   
3. Draw out three GRIDS that you found in magazines. Be ready to discuss and share your grids with class Monday. 
   
4. Write your project description {this might evolve over time}.
5. Read article "The Grid: History, use, and Meaning" by Jack Williamon
6. Make entry in blog about the reading.

Due Date: 

Still to come but keeping in mind, we want this to be a project for you sophomore portfolio review.

Critique Wednesday, April 29th

Today we will have a final critique of the Narrative Mapping Publication.

It is required that you have your publication bound so that we may experience the publication in it's final form.
It is not required to have a the publication covered. I believe so of you might want to make some final edits for you portfolio.
The cover will need to be put on and shown to me before long.

For extra credit: Design the cover!
Be creative. Stamps, transfers, book jacket, band...

April 27th

We will be hand building in class today.
Bring all your supplies!
Oh- lets do the cover too!

nice stop motion entertainment

April 13th

Today is a work in class studio day. Remember that this week we are going to be working hard in class and out of class time to design our publication layout. 

Technical questions can be addressed during class. Don't be shy about asking for another demo.

Sophomore Review INFORMATION MEETING

This year's Sessions will be held on the following days, at the following times:

Thursday, April 16th : Noon-1pm
Thursday, April 16th : 5-6pm
Monday, April 20th : Noon-1pm


Note that all Sessions will be held in Room 200 of the main Art Building. Please note, also, that you'll be contacted soon about volunteering your time for the Help Sessions that the graphic design program will be hosting in order to give students one-on-one time with faculty to review/critique portfolio pieces. As we all know, the Sophomore Portfolio Review is a crucial benchmark in the academic careers of all PSU graphic design majors. Any aid and support that we are able to give the students during this intense, demanding time will be of tremendous benefit -- both to the individual students and to our program as a whole.

Please feel free to be in touch with either myself or Lis Charman if you have questions, feedback, or would like to discuss anything related to the Review.

April 6th

Today we will be looking at our images for the visual narrative. I'd like to get everyone to make a quick slideshow in Powerpoint so that we can experience all the narratives as a sequence. We will also discuss the written narrative and its relationship to the visual narrative.

Also we will do a small InDesign demo. Review quickly the master pages and attributes. Work flow and Process.

More tools: type tool, frame tool, rectangle tool.

Font List for Term

Serif
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Baskerville Family

Garamond Family

Goudy Family

Bodoni Family

Adobe Caslon Family

Slab San Serif
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Clarendon Family



San Serif
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Futura Family

Trade Gothic Family

Univers Family

Meta Famliy

Helvetica Family

Welcome Back! It's Spring term.

Happy Spring!

This is the ART 200 Digital Page course Blog. Please refer to this Blog for class announcements, schedule, and projects.

When you have created your personal Blog please make a comment to this post with your name, e-mail address, and blog URL.

Thank you.

Course Objectives

Course Overview
Studio course introducing concepts, applications, and projects in page composition, document design, and color pre-press. Text processing, typesetting, image capture, color correction, page layout, and pagination. Emphasis is placed on workflow and project management for production of documents in print and electronic media. Prerequisite: Art 120.

In this course we will be studying and exploring design methods and methodologies.

We define design methods as:
1. a procedure, technique or planned way of doing something.
2. order or system in doing anything: to work with method.
3. orderly or systematic arrangement, or sequence

We will be working with design methods during this term. The core theme is MAPPING. Mapping is a method whereby, we can study a system through documentation and analysizing relationships. We are able to give meaning to these “studied” relationships by visually translating one form of knowledge to another.

It is through mapping that we will explore and define the following principles:
1. Narrative or “storytelling”
2. Meaning
3. Visual Structures

A methodology is defined as:
1. a set or system of methods and rules used in a given discipline
2. an arrangement of something according to a given method.

We will be exploring visual strategies to create individual design methodologies. The core strategies are:
1. repetition= timing and pacing
2. Scale
3. Voice = type treatment
4. Type and image relationships

Publication Presentation

We will be making publications in this class with Adobe InDesign as our layout tool. We will be learning how to hand build our publication projects with blades, claps, glue and paper.

FYI: You are required to make your own photographic images for the publications in this course.

Project One

Mapping a Daily Routine
Find a small routine that occurs in your day. Like brushing you teeth or walking to your favorite coffee shop. Or doing a task such as cooking a dinner. MAP your routine with a narrative. Within your narrative record time, an action, length of time an action, how you are feeling, and any other personal perspective you would like to record. Write a lot and organize it later. These notations will all become possible systems that we will analysis. Or start with a structure as a concept and write with that in mind. 

Now record the same routine the next day and make photographic images of your routine. Be careful and thoughtful about making your images. Think about micro verses macro, perspective and framing. 

How do the images relate to the written narrative? 

Is there a contrast? 

Be careful about illustrating a story- it can lead to stereotypical images.

What are stereotypes and how can we be more creative with storytelling?

What visual strategies can be used to tell a point of view and story?

We will then analysis both types of mapping: narrative writting and the visual narrative. Refine and edit. We will be combining the mapping of your personal routine narrative and images.

Time and Pacing = Page Layout and Design
We will make a layout that is a visual mapping of time. Make a simple visual system that communicates the passage of time or time spent doing something in your routine. Think about scale and repetition as you two visual strategies for commicating time. Please think about the pace of which someone might turn a page or haw many they turn in the overall story.

Type selection
Please use the Font sheet for type use for this project. Select one font to use. A second font can be used only is a projects’ concept depends on it. Create a simple visual system for the type and image relationship. Remember you are a storyteller. What is the relationship of the images as a voice and the text as a voice?

Project specifications:
Hand-made publication- Perfect Bound w/ cover
2 Color: black and one spot color
Images bk/w, text color
spreads: 8.5x11 folded
pages: minimum of 16, defined by project
Font: select one font from a given list

In-Design skills:
Project/Document Set-up
Master pages
Image color manipulation and placement
Text tool and font selection
color theory: CMYK verses RGB
color calibration and correction
PMS color matching system
spot color + four color
image links

Calendar and Due Dates

Week One

March 3- First Day of Class 

1. introductions
   
2. read Blog together
   
3. discuss mapping and process
4. read Project One brief *note:need access to a digital camera
   
5. review font list
6. create individual blog accounts and send URL to Michelle
   
7. collect e-mail addresses
8. text and image basic semiotics 
9. writing structures and storytelling
10. image, sequencing and storytelling

Homework: 

writing assignment 

send URL of personal Blog address

April 01

1. review writing as small groups then as a class
2. publication show and tell
   
3. PMS color matching system 
   
4. review project one again and review process of mapping as a way of finding a concept
   
5. review writing assignment as groups
   
6. what makes a good photograph? What are the visual strategies?
   
7. Loading fonts 
8. InDesign tutorial
9. PowerPoint slideshow

Homework: 

Make photographic images and put them into a slideshow sequencing.

Review your writing as mapping concept and redo if need be.

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Week Two

April 06

1. Look at slide shows
   
2. Discuss concept building and visual structures
   
3. Text and image structure as it relates to page layout and sequencing
   
4. Image preparation Photoshop
   
5. InDesign turtorial
6. 
   

April 08

1. InDesign tutorial
   
2. Working day
   

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Week Three

April 12

Work day

Informal Mid- Project Critique

April 14

Work Day

Homework:

Make printouts over weekend and be ready to hand build your publication Monday.
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Week Four

April 20 

1. Come to class with printouts of publication.
   
2. In-Class  handbuilding Demo and support for making the publication. 
   
3. Hand-out Project 02 Brief
   

April 22

Critique of Project 01

1. discuss project two
   
2. show and tell
   
3. review of mapping as a process and how it relates to this next project

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Week Five

April 27

Handout Grades for Project 01

Grids and layout lecture

show and tell books/magazines

Work day

April 29
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Week Six

May 04

Read Article: The Grid: History, Use and Meaning by Jack H. Williamson

May 06

Read Project 03 Brief

Homework:

Content and concept making
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<..>

Week Seven

May 11

May 13

InDesign Tutorials: 

Character Styles

Color palette
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Week Eight

May 18
May 20
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Week Nine

May 25 Holiday No Class

May 27
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Week Ten

June 01

June 03 No class due to Sophomore Portfolio Review

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Week Eleven: Final exam week

June 08

Final Critique Day

June 09

Final Hand In

No projects will be accepted beyond this date. Failure to make this deadline will result in a Failure for the course.
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IMPORTANT DATES:

Sophomore Portfolio Review Dates
June 03 - 04

Final Exam Week
June 8-13

Attendence Policy

Class Attendance is essential to do well in this course. We will be covering a lot of technical and theoretical information. As a result, attendance is mandatory. Arriving late, leaving early or failing to attend class will directly effect your grade as described below. Students are allowed one excused absence during the term to allow for illness or personal circumstances. If four classes are missed, an automatically F [=failure] will be given. This does not mean you are allowed to miss three.

One absence= Allowed
Two absences= 5 pts off final grade [half a letter]
Three absences= 10 pts off final grade [one full letter]
Late Arrivals = 2.5 pts off

Supplies

Storage

You are require to have a personal storage device. Either a flash drive or better yet, a removable external drive.

Digital Camera

We will be making our own images. Please have a digital camera other than your cell phone to complete projects.

Textbooks

I do not require a textbook or manuals. I do however, want you to take responsibility for your own education. If you think learning InDesign would be helpful and better for yourself to have a reference manual beside you while learning then, please buy yourself a textbook. There is also an online Adobe reference manual which is a free resource. Look under the Help category while working in InDesign.

Suggested textbook:
InDesign CS3 for Macintosh and Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide) by Sandee Cohen

Amazon has great ways to get used books. Powells bookstore- technical bookstore- is a great local location to purchase too.

Tools:

1. exacto knife and replacement blades
   
2. two wooded flat sticks 12" long and 1/2+ wide - wooden rulers work too
   
3. elmers glue or book binders glue
   
4. cutting matt- bigger than 9" x 12"
   
5. woodworkers small spring clamps

Grading

Overview
I will asses your motivation and personal learning individually . Everyone learns differently and is at different levels of their education. I will not be comparing you to anyone else other than your own learning. I will asses where you are individually and how much you are motivated to learn. Ultimately, I believe that we actually teach ourselves. We are responsible for our own education. I will only provide a structure and environment for learning. Motivation and interaction with your peers and me, is what I need to see. If I see that you are just trying to simply “earn the credit”, there is no way for you to get a grade above a “C”. In my book a “C” is average work. “B” means you are applying yourself and motivated to learn. An “A “means that you are going far beyond the expectation of the course.


Assignments
1. Mapping a Daily Routine


2. Magazine Publication


Process-
Everyone is expected to document project process. We will do this all digitally through individual Blogs and Flickr sites. The Blogs will be the written component of your process. You will need to describe your concept development, goals, outcomes and reflectings [or self evaluation] for each project. 

A Flickr site for the course is http://www.flickr.com/groups/art200. You will be asked to submit images for process and final outcome. You will receive a grade for your preocess alone. Please set up your Blog sits ASAP and send me your Blog’s URL so that I can post it on our Course Blog.

I had to make adjustments to the grading point system because we are doing only two projects.

Grading Point System

 

ASSIGNMENTS 

project 01

Narrative Mapping Book

20 pts final presentation

10 pts handcraft skills

10 pts  individual design process

 

project 02

Magazine Spreads

20 pts final presentation

10 pts handcraft skills

10 pts individual design process

 

Documentation  {for all projects} - 20 pts

blog entrees - writing skills and project descriptions

fickr site contribution - images and captions

 

100 Points Total

 

Extra credit:

project 01

Book cover design 5 pts

90-100 = A

 80-90 = B

 70-80 = C

 60-70 = D

 50-60 = F

Attendance is the last factor to change your letter grade. Please refer to attendance policy.