Humanities Dept. ARTH 3311 The History of Graphic Design 3 class hours, 3 credits

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1 Humanities Dept ARTH 3311 The History of Graphic Design 3 class hours, 3 credits Catalog Description: The major designers, and the aesthetic and technical developments in print media from antiquity to the present, are studied in their cultural and artistic contexts. Renaissance to modern practices are extensively examined. Prerequisite: ENG1121 Required Text: Philip B. Meggs, Meggs History of Graphic Design, 4th edition, John Wiley, 2005 Suggested Texts: Steven Heller, ed., Graphic Design History, Allworth Press, 2001 Grading: Creative Projects 15% Midterm 25% Term Paper 25% Final 25% Participation (In-class assignments, journal) 10% Assessment: Exams consist of slide identifications (artist s name, title of work, date, significance of work), short answer questions, comparison essays, and definition of terms. Student will work on a series of creative projects that explore the application of historical styles to contemporary design issues. The 5-page paper is based on a work of graphic art in a New York collection and must discuss the designer and style associated with the work. Class participation is assessed on student performance in class and in online discussion blogs. Attendance and Lateness Policy: Students are expected to attend all classes. College policy allows absences equivalent to 10% of class time, that is, 3 absences if class meets twice a week, or 1.5 absences if class meets once a week. Absences beyond that limit may result in a grade of WU. Three latenesses are equivalent to one absence. Course Objectives: The underlying goal of art history courses is to increase the visual literacy of the student.

2 The study of major works of graphic design, movements, styles, concepts, and important practitioners from Antiquity to the present, will help students attain an understanding and appreciation of the graphic arts. Students will recognize the stylistic features of graphic design, be able to describe the primary materials and techniques used in different media, and identify various methodological approaches to graphic design history. They will learn how to use visual evidence to support analysis and they will develop visual vocabulary and theoretical methods to analyze relationships between formal elements (i.e., style, composition) and the ideological or thematic contexts of works of graphic design. Student projects will develop the creative application of historical styles and be assessed on the organization, presentation, and appropriateness of the design. The museum paper will emphasize logical organization, the development of ideas, research skills, formal analysis, and interpretation. Lecture Schedule WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION: THE INVENTION OF WRITING AND ALPHABETS Pictographic and writing systems of ancient cultures Egyptian, Assyrian, Arabic, Asian. WEEK 2: MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS The evolution of letter forms from Roman times to the middle ages. The integration of word and image in illuminated books of the medieval period. WEEK 3: ORIGINS OF TYPOGRAPHY AND THE PRINTED BOOK Gutenberg s invention of movable type and the impact of the printed book on the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, and on the expansion of secular culture in early modern Europe. WEEK 4: GRAPHIC DESIGN IN THE RENAISSANCE TO ROCOCO Book design in Italy and France to the invention of diverse type faces in the 18th century. WEEK 5: THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION Changes in printing technologies, the influence of photography, the development of display type, and the rise of advertising. WEEK 6: THE ARTS & CRAFTS MOVEMENT

3 William Morris s Arts & Crafts movement and the revival of craftsmanship. WEEK 7: ART NOUVEAU The impact of Japanese art, especially Ukiyo-e prints, Alphonse Mucha, and artists of the Vienna Secession. MIDTERM Week 8: THE IMPACT OF MODERN ART The relationship between graphic design and the avant-garde art movements of Cubism, Futurism, Dada, and Surrealism. WEEK 9: PICTORIAL MODERNISM Plakastil, World War I posters, and Art Deco. Week 10: CONSTRUCTIVISM TO BAUHAUS Innovations of designers such as Rodchenko and El Lissitzky in revolutionary Russia, pioneering designers in Holland and Germany including Moholy-Nagy and Bayer, and the impact of the Bauhaus school on design. WEEK 11: THE INTERNATIONAL TYPOGRAPHICAL STYLE Swiss designers such as Josef MŸller-Brockmann and the search for universal and objective graphic expression. WEEK 12: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL The post-war economic boom in the U.S. is related to changes in mass magazines and advertising, with a focus on the designers Paul Rand, Bradbury Thompson, and Saul Bass. WEEK 13: POSTMODERN DESIGN Postmodern designers challenge the modernist s obsession with progress and deliberately violate the Bauhaus tenet that form must follow function. WEEK 14: THE REVOLUTION OF COMPUTER GRAPHICS The impact of digital technology and web-based data on traditional and new communication forms, from book to website. WEEK 15: REVIEW AND FINAL EXAM Select Bibliography Lewis Blackwell, 20 th Century Type, New York: Rizzoli, 1992.

4 Richard Buchanan and Victor Margolin, Design: Explorations in Design Studies, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Mel Byars, The Design Encyclopedia, New York: John Wiley & Sons, David Diringer, The Book Before Printing: Ancient, Medieval, and Oriental, New York: Dover, Joanna Drucker, The Visible Word: Experimental Typography and Modern Art, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe, Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, Ellen Lupton and J. Miller Abbott, eds., The ABCs of The Bauhaus and Design Theory, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, Steven Heller and Elinor Pettit, Graphic Design Timeline : A Century of Design Milestones, New York, Allworth Press, Steven Heller and Philip B. Meggs, Texts on Type. Critical Writings on Typography, New York, Allworth, Richard Hollis, Graphic Design: A Concise History, New York: Thames and Hudson, Roland Marchand, Creating the Corporate Soul. The Rise of Public Relations and Corporate Imagery in American Big Business, Berkeley: University of California Press, Josef MŸller-Brockmann, A History of Visual Communications. From the Dawn of Barter in the Ancient World to the Visualized Conception of Today, Switzerland: Arthur Niggli, John Thackara, ed., Design After Modernism: Beyond the Object, New York: Thames and Hudson, Rudy VanderLans, et al, ƒmigrž (The Book): Graphic Design into the Digital Realm, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1993.

5 New York City College of Technology Policy on Academic Integrity: Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. The complete text of the College policy on Academic Integrity may be found in the catalog. Prepared by Sandra Cheng, Assistant Professor, Humanities Department, October 2009