Class Time: Thursdays, 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m CCL - Clarence Cook Little Building

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1 Term: Winter 2015 Class Time: Thursdays, 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m CCL - Clarence Cook Little Building Instructors: Vadim Besprozvany [email protected] Elena Godin [email protected] Daytime Phone: (emergencies only) Office Hours: Wednesday - 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Room 3339, North Quad Friday, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. Room 2124, Shapiro Library Refer to the Google calendar for classes and office hours locations and possible changes: goo.gl/yhjfb Course Description This new multidisciplinary, hybrid course is for those SI students who want/need to deepen and broaden their graphic communications skills developed in SI 520 Graphic Design. This new course supports further professional development of SI students by enhancing their conceptual problem solving skills and technical proficiency through set of projects. The conceptual part of the course broadens the reflections on the graphic design theory discourse. Students will reinforce the practical application of critical thinking, and learn how to apply it to more complex context (with particular attention to audiences and contexts that design solutions will address, including recognition of the technological, sociocultural, and cognitive human factors that form design decisions.) Tentative topics to be covered: Creative techniques (bisociation, aleatoricism, conceptualization) Visual semiotics and visual rhetoric in their practical application Graphic communication in/for post-postmodern society Visual identity styles exploration Web and mobile environment and graphic communication; Visual patterns Data visualization aesthetics In the hands-on part, this course is a continuation of the skills learned in SI 520, involving projects that are broader in scope. Students will advance their rendering skills with Adobe Creative Suite, and continue to build their portfolio. Students will work on multi-pieced versatile tasks that will include: Expanding modular grid techniques Applying mediums and styles Thinking through identity to effectively span physical and digital media (including mobile environment) Designing for complex web interfaces Producing icons and infographics Exploring techniques to illustrate large amounts of data, such as data dashboards or intricate visualizations Course Goals and Learning Objectives:

2 Students will develop ability to define, investigate and evaluate visual design concepts and practices by: o Exploring formal creative techniques (bisociation, aleatoricism, conceptualization), visual semiotics and visual rhetoric o Understanding modern design trends and movements, and how they form design work o Learning core intellectual skills and applying these to their own work o Evaluating the design projects (done by both professional designers and students peers in class), and critically analyze their work, relying less on intuition and more on rational evaluation Students will work on their perceptual development; deepen their understanding of the graphic design process by exploring production cycle for both fully staffed web team (assuming that here the students accept the role of the designer team members) and smaller teams, where one person is responsible for planning, visual strategy, and implementation of visual solution for a project based on client brief (accepting roles of informational architect, art director, and graphic designer who will transfer the deliverables to developers). Students will understand how cultural and social factors play a vital role in shaping visual design solutions. This goal will be completed by active students participation in lectures, in-class discussions for projects, and case studies demonstrations and critiques. Students will acquire greater comprehension for visual nuances to effectively visualize and present complex design solutions and concepts in a clear and concise manner. Students will develop professional-level expertise in theoretical knowledge, and improve their technical skills for growth over a professional career. Assessment & Grades Students will be evaluated based upon the successful completion of all projects and creative group work and participation. Attendance and participation grades are based on your presence in class, discussion involvement, and comments you leave for your classmates work on M+Box. Grading Scale Course grade is based on the following: Attendance & Participation 20% Assignments (Projects) + Revisions 60% Portfolio 10 % Design Pitch 10% Assignments (Projects) should take about 6-8 hours of work to complete. Brainstorming, sketching, research are done prior the given class; Discussion covers the conceptual solutions and areas of improvements. After completion, students may be asked for Revisions. Revisions are essential part of creative process. There will be optional and mandatory revisions (this will be indicated on the checklist). Design Pitch students share their own experience with graphic projects and problems, review modern trends, designers, and schools in the light of the thematic clusters, and/or present case study in web/ui solutions. Topics vary every term. Activities Lectures, readings, in-class discussions, techniques demonstrations (screencasts), hands-ons, topic research and presentation, homework assignments, final project.

3 Textbooks There is no textbook required for this class. You may use Visual Quick Start Guides (available via ProQuest) or other resources (like Adobe Help center) for your reference while mastering the software. Required reading materials (articles, manuals, etc.) will be available online (CTools, Safari Books). Software Adobe Acrobat (Professional version preferred) Adobe Illustrator Adobe InDesign Adobe Photoshop Note: you can use Adobe CS 5 or 6. CS 6 is preferred. Creative Cloud is also an option. Sketches & Process Notepad Sketches are a required part of concept development, discussion and brainstorming sessions. Please use them for all projects. You will be asked to attach your sketches to home work submission package Assignments Assignments are due at the beginning of the class. Due dates will be listed in the assigments specs. Students submit printed cop (if indicated) and upload the optimized version to M+Box. Late porjects are accepted, however, late submission will result in lower grade (-10%). Assignments containing inappropriate images or language will receive no credit. Students are expected to make corrections on time and resubmit assignments as new package, and re-upload the files to M+Box. Assignments are graded on the following criteria: conceptual strength, following specifications provided, technical accuracy, and craftsmanship, effective use of skills developed in SI 520, and fulfillment of the assignment objectives. Attendance and Participation Attendance is 20% of the final grade. Valid reasons for not attending the class are: illness, conference participation, job interview, and family emergency. Notify instructors before the class via ; bring standard medical note if absent due to medical reasons. Students arriving after 15 minutes since class start time are considered late (-10% of the grade for a scheduled class). Students who are not in attendance for at least 75 percent of any scheduled class may be considered absent for that class. Students should discuss missing portions of a class with their instructor to determine how their grade may be affected. Sign up via CTools "Attendance" menu at the beginning of class. Participation is monitored via in-class discussion involvement and M+Box comments posts (students are expected to leave valuable comments for the work of their discussion peers). Each discussion comment is 10% of the grade for a scheduled class. Accommodations for Students with Disabilities If you have a documented disability (Learning, Psychological, Sensory, Physical, or Medical) you may be eligible to request reasonable accommodations. In general, it is the responsibility of the student to make

4 their disability status and subsequent need for an accommodation known to the appropriate University official. Refer to these U-M resources. If you think you need an accommodation for a disability, please let us know at your earliest convenience. Some aspects of this course, the assignments, the in-class activities, and the way we teach may be modified to facilitate your participation and progress. As soon as you make us aware of your needs, we can work with the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) to help us determine appropriate accommodations. SSD ( ; ssd.umich.edu) typically recommends accommodations through a Verified Individualized Services and Accommodations (VISA) form. We will treat any information that you provide in as confidential a manner as possible. Academic Misconduct You are expected to participate in the class by contributing your own ideas and understanding to each assignment. All projects and assignments submitted for grade must be your own original work created for a specific assignment. In instances of cheating or plagiarism (or other breaches of academic integrity) students receive 0 points for the assignment. In addition, we are required to report cases of academic misconduct to the office of Academic and Student Affairs. This office will determine any additional sanctions: academic probation, educational activities, or for very serious or repeated instances, dismissal from the program. Schedule Theme Assignments Suggested Reading - TBA 01 01/08 Review and Intro Review: Color, Composition, Typography - graphic fundamentals Design Etiquette (professional approach to environment) Project 1: "My Internship" infographic Who When Where What (...I did and what I did not do) Skills used "I wish I'd know that before..." Lessons learned Level of happiness Software: Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat

5 02 01/15 Global trends Bauhaus and us Mediums and styles. Exploring trends and understanding graphic design movements on the crossroads of art and craft Project 2: "The Dream Place to visit" Expanding modular grid techniques. Random/ Hierarchical grids for web layouts 03 01/22 Graphic communication in/for postpostmodern society The Templated mind. Remixability Grid and structure Design Pitch (Team 1): Paul Rand Software: Photoshop, Illustrator Project / / /12 07 Visual semiotics and visual rhetoric. Signs and symbols Design Pitch (Team 2): Otl Aicher Visual semiotics and visual rhetoric. Social aspects of visual communications. Design Pitch (Team 3): Massimo Vignelli Creative Techniques: Conceptualization Design Pitch (Team 4): Milton Glaser Creative Techniques: Aleatoricism and bisociation Project 3: Set of badges Software: Illustrator Project 3 Project 4 Snakes poster Software: Photoshop, Illustrator Project 4

6 02/19 Koestler on creativity [video] - TBA Design Pitch (Team 5): Ikko Tanaka 08 02/26 Visual identity. Thinking through identity to effectively span physical and digital media (including mobile environment) Design Pitch (Team 6): Saul Bass Project 5: Craigslist redesign 03/05 - Spring Break 09 03/ / / /02 The message - Applying mediums and styles Lecture: Casey Reas: "The Thing that Makes the Thing is More Interesting than the Thing" Data visualization aesthetics: Techniques for visualizations: appealing and informative Design Pitch (Team 7): Paula Scher Data visualization aesthetics: Exploring techniques to illustrate large amounts of data Design Pitch (Team 8): Wolfgang Weingart Web and mobile environment and graphic communication; Visual Patterns for UI - Recurring solutions that solve common design problems Design Pitch (Team 9): David Carson Project 6: Use of Infographic kits (types of data). Synced project with SI 649: Information Visualization, Phase I Software: Illustrator, Acrobat Project 6 Project 7: Custom UI pack Software: Illustrator, Photoshop or Fireworks

7 13 04/ /16 Web and mobile environment and graphic communication; Designing for complex web interfaces Design Pitch (Team 10): Neville Brody Portfolio for creative professional. Final Project Project 7: Grid-based branded app mockup Software: Illustrator, Photoshop or Fireworks Portfolio Software: InDesign Portfolio includes assignments completed in class + design /sketching process documentation, Design pitch, Final project