by Prof. Hopkins

FINAL PORTFOLIO DAY

Hey there. It’s the end of the semester, we made it!

Requirements for Final Portfolio Day: THURS, MAY 2

BEGINNING OF CLASS CRITIQUE  on your Infographic Project AND hand in of your final portfolio CD.

No exeptions. No time to save files. Walk in, on time… be ready or points will be deducted from your final portfolio grade for lack of professionalism. (10 points will be deducted for failure to meet this beginning of class deadline)

Final Portfolio Requirements: (This counts as your Final Exam)

 Turn in a burned CD, in a soft/hard/paper/jewel case with a cover design incorporating your name on it and “Graphic Design 1” SPRING 2013. (I don’t care what kind of case you have, just have one!)

Design Projects :

The CD should have the following projects saved individually in PDF format:

Please label them as follows:

  1. ABC Poster.pdf
  2. Pictographs (full set).pdf
  3. Graphic Design Ad Branding  (poster + ad + ticket) .pdf (ALL 4 files in ONE PDF)
  4. Infographics.pdf

Design Statement:

1-2 page (typed) designer statement answering the following questions in paragraph format: (save as designstatement.docx on your burned CD)

What did you learn this semester? (Technical + conceptual)

How is your view of graphic design different after taking this class?

Which projects did you enjoy the most/the least?

Is there anything specific that you would have liked to have gone over?

How can you improve your design skills for the future?

Taking a look at the historical timeline of design history in your textbook, what themes do you see included in the “2010 – current” era?

What is your understanding of visual hierarchy and its importance in Graphic Design?

Anything else you would like to tell me?

FINAL CRITIQUE WILL BE ON Thursday, May 2

 

WE WILL CRIT YOUR LAST PROJECT AS WELL AS  VIEW YOUR ENTIRE PORTFOLIO

 

BE READY, BE PROFESSIONAL!

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by Prof. Hopkins

Infographics: Chart it.. graph it.. and map it

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Infographics Design Project: Charts, graphs and maps: 

Continuing our studies of visual communication, our next assignment is to produce an infographic on a subject matter of your choice. You can approach this from anything to a scientific manner to a humorous/witty manner. Charts, graphs and maps are all part of graphic design – we see them as accompaniment to magazine articles, newspaper spreads and web graphics. Publications from anything such as the NYTimes, to National Geographic, to Maxim use infographics, not to mention countless information based and news websites. Try using a mind map for brainstorming to develop your design approach for this assignment.

Anything from bar graphs, to pie charts, to Venn diagrams, to “pinned maps” to an original idea is acceptable.

You may use hand drawn elements, vector graphics, simple lines and shapes or a combination of several.

See these links for visual research: I love charts and Food Infographics. Also see Pinterest “Infographics” or “Graphs” Also take a look at Cool Infographics for inspiration or this one or this link for tutorials and examples.

This site Pop Chart Lab has a bunch of beautiful vector based charts and infographics

Check out this new link on infographics for social media

Also check out this artist, Chad Hagen for his “Nonsensical Infographics” which I personally love.

David Byrne (of the Talking Heads) also makes art: His book Arborteum has some really interesting diagram drawings.

First things first: Scour the internet or newspaper or a magazine for an article you think would be appropriate for illustration through an infographic. The best articles include statistics, literal communication devices and images as well as a sense of “measuring”.

Ideas to consider: 1. Monetary worth 2. Usage Statistics 3. Compare/Contrast (Something vs. something else) 4. A “How to” 5. Dissecting an object/idea/concept 6. Top 10 ____ 7. Percentage of _____ 8. Demographics. (Check out Palm Beach State College’s demographics as an example)

Element your design must have: 1. Chart or Graph or Map – or combination of the three. Design must combine images and numbers to balance a sense of measuring.

Second step: Technical: Be sure to watch the lynda.com video on Illustrator CS5: One on One Mastery. Chapter 27, Charts and Pictographs

Also check out this easy to follow technical tutorial on infographics and this one as well

Final design: 11″ x 17″ vector graphic design. (Illustrator) Also – you must turn in a hard copy/web link of the article (if applicable)  you are illustrating.

DUE DATE: MAY 2 last class)

by Prof. Hopkins

Jaffe Center Field Trip

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Meet on the third floor of FAU Wimberly Library at the Jaffe Center at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday, April 4 (Make sure you leave enough time for finding parking!) We should be done by 11 a.m., giving you plenty of time to get back to campus/work, etc.

Get ready to see some beautifully designed books, old type presses, broadsides, wood type and inspiration for poster design. This is your graphic design history field trip!

Link to directions to FAU – off the Glades Road, Boca Raton exit on I-95.

Link to a FAU campus map. If you pull down the drop down menu to “Library” the map will show the Wimberly Library in red circles.

Link to the Jaffe Center, FAU  its on the 3rd floor of the Wimberly  Library.

Visitor parking information: Park at a meter to be safe!

by Prof. Hopkins

Ad Campaign Design Project

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Our next assignment is to design an advertising campaign for our own Fine Art Student Show in the fall. The gallery needs your design help in making an ad campaign, highlighting our “finest” students.

Prep:  Read Chapter 13: Advertising

Pay particular attention to page 346: “The Do’s and Don’ts of Advertising”

Also re-visit Ch. 10: Visual Identity (specifically page 245)

Brainstorming and Critical Thinking:

How can we present the Fine Arts Department in a new light?

Who is the target audience? What new groups can we appeal to?

Before you even get to the computer, create a design brief to solidify your design campaign.

See page 333 for an example.

Design Specs for Fine Arts Student Show Ad Campaign:

Poster design (11”x17”) +  BLACK AND WHITE newspaper ad (2”x3”) + front and back of postcard (6” x 9”)

Campaign can be done cross platform (Illustrator + Photoshop), but must be professional and ready to print. CMYK!

See this link on the college’s branding guidelines.

Each design must contain the following:

1.  PBSC logo – download here including PBSC address (on postcard ONLY)

2. Text: “Fine Arts Student Show” Oct. 1, 2013 – February 6, 2014. Opening Reception: Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013. from 5 to 7 p.m. Jan and Gary Dario Gallery, Humanities Bldg.

Part of this process is making/taking images for your ad campaign.  This is a great chance to do something creative and unexpected that will present the department in a new light. We will talk about the history of music/ dance/ art poster design. Remember all of your reading about the grid system, composition, color theory, visual hierarchy as well as interesting typography solutions. Make sure you are creating a cohesive ad campaign within the poster, newspaper ad and postcard design.

Reminder:

Four keys to Designing Connections:

   1. Color 2. Logo  3. Type  4. Shape

 

by Prof. Hopkins

Thursday, Jan. 31

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CRITIQUE ON ABC POSTER + INTRO TO PICTOGRAPHS

PLUS: in-class discussion on your “well-designed object”

Pictographs (also called pictograms) are an effective form of communication that have been used since the Egyptian hieroglyphics. They can communicate a task, an idea, an object, and even a short story. They are pure, visual, non-verbal communication tools that are seen on signs, (think of wayfinding systems that help guide you through an airport, restrooms, driving signs package design and web icons)

Homework:

Read Chapter 5: Visualization and Composition. Notice history of signs and symbols. Note differences between signs, icons, indexes and symbols. AND.. Do a warm up exercise in your sketchbook emulating the graphic on page 107 of your textbook. Choose one object to illustrate in the following graphic forms: Notation, Pictograph, Silhouette, Linear, Contour, Light and Shadow, Naturalistic and Expressionistic.

In 1974, AIGA  and the US Department of Transportation designed a standard set of symbol signs that we see all around us.. in parks, at the airport, etc. Also take a look at The Noun Project.

Design Project: Using vector graphics design a unique set of 12 Pictographs that communicate a common theme. This set should have a theme of your choice. The theme could be based on a location, emotion, type of tasks, sports, etc. Use your creative energy to brainstorm 12 different pictographs that work INDIVIDUALLY and AS A UNIT.(Remember that “micro” and “macro” thinking approach we talked about last class)

Specs: 8 x 10″ .ai  document. Pictographs should be approx. 2″ x 2″ each. Vertical or horizontal orientation. Final project should be saved as a PDF.

Visual Research: See above slide show for examples as well as these two links: Wine label as pictograph and Movies as Pictograph and this

NOTE:

If you are not comfortable in Illustrator, please watch Illustrator CS5 One-on-One: Fundamentals on Lynda.com.

or these are also some good tutorials: HERE and HERE and HERE

Due date: TBA