Week 1: 9/29/20—Group Crit
Syllabus & Expectations
Syllabus & Expectations
WELCOME
Today we will discuss the class syllabus and student expectations. Choose a small crit group and one-on-one session time. These time meetings will be cosistent for the full semester term.
→ Please fill out the class questionnaire.
→ Sign up for a Group crit block.
→ Sign up for a One-on-one time block.
Instructor
Philip DiBello
pdibello@sva.edu
Course Description
This course will provide a emphasis on developing a designers sensitivity to typography through both restrictive and open-ended assignments. Projects will be a combination of experimentation and formal exercises with a focus on typographic systems as well as the details of macro and micro typography.
Technological advancements of type will be examined through readings and historical materials. Theory, dialogue, process and personal practice will be central themes discussed to establish a students own opinions about design. Classes are a combination of critique, in-class workshops, and one-on-one meetings with occasional guest lectures and critiques.
Throughout the semester readings will be assigned along with each project. Readings will accompany your assignment.
Student Expectations
This course is constructed for a higher level junior design student. It assumes you already have knowledge of fundamental design and typographic principals. Some assignments will be open ended. You must take initiative in every project and make it your own. You’re expected to engage in critique, both by giving and receiving feedback.
Your level of effort will dictate your success in this class. You must be disciplined and self-motivated. To get good work here or anywhere you must put in the time. Coming in un-prepared is not only disrespectful to me, but is also unfair to your fellow students and yourself.
This is a space to discuss and understand graphic design. It is not about a job, or approval, or client and designer relationships. Understand you’re here for yourself. Not to please your peers, or your professors, or outside sources.
Attendance is critically important to the success of your assignments and your letter grade. You’re required to be in class at it’s start time. If work will be shown, it should be uploaded and prepped for presentation. Take pride in your work and display it properly.
Attendance Policy
You’re given one absence without repercussion. Missing a second class is an automatic C. If you miss three classes you will be withdrawn from the course, no exceptions. Tardiness will not be tolerated. Class starts promptly at 3:20.
Grading Breakdown
Grades are a combination of the quality of your work, class participation and progress. Simply showing up will not make you pass the course. You must be prepared for the days lesson, completing any homework or readings assigned and ready to discuss.
A
Your work is of exceptional quality and reflects mastery of the material covered in class. Your class participation is outstanding. Your craft is impeccable and you find ways to push design and materiality. You consistently add something new to every project or push your capabilities. Your work steadily improved throughout the semester.
B
Your work is very good and satisfies the goals of the course. You participate in class discussion. Continue to refine your craft, and find those moments to take initiative in any given project and push it beyond it’s boundaries.
C
Your work meets the standards of the course. You could speak up or engage more often during class discussion. Be willing to take more chances with craft and production. You turn in assignments and did not miss more than one class.
F
Your work did not meet the requirements for this class. You did not complete all projects or missed 3 classes. You will receive no credit.
Academic Integrity
Academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, will not be tolerated. Students found to have committed an act of academic dishonesty will fail the assignment for which an infraction is suspected and substantiated. More serious violations will be handled through the process enumerated in the SVA Handbook . Put simply, make sure your work is your own.
Students with Disabilities
SVA is committed to providing students with access to their academic programs and courses. If you are a student with a disability and require accommodations, you must register with Disability Resources by visiting sva.edu/disabilityresources and completing an online accommodation request. To be eligible for accommodations in this course, students must provide the instructor with a letter of accommodation from Disability Resources. For questions or assistance, please call Disability Resources at 212-592-2396, or visit the office: 340 East 24th Street, New York, NY 10010, or email disabilityservices@sva.edu
SVA Attendance Policy
The SVA Handbook says: The School of Visual Arts is a professional art college dedicated to teaching and learning. Attendance is required in all courses, and the individual faculty member determines the number of acceptable absences, if any.
All students are expected to participate and keep their cameras on for the duration of all synchronous class sessions. Failure to do so may result in reduction of grade, at the discretion of the faculty, unless the student has received permission in advance from the faculty member. Students should refer to the “netiquette” section in the Student Knowledge Base to familiarize themselves with best practices for online learning.
Pronouns and Chosen Names
Students may indicate their pronouns and preferred/chosen first name through MyServices; this information will then appear on class rosters (go to: https://myservices.sva.edu/Student/UserProfile and select "Edit Personal Identity").
Please let your instructor know the preferred name and pronouns by which you would like to be referred, if that information does not already appear on the roster. A student’s chosen name and pronouns should be respected at all times.
Today we will discuss the class syllabus and student expectations. Choose a small crit group and one-on-one session time. These time meetings will be cosistent for the full semester term.
→ Please fill out the class questionnaire.
→ Sign up for a Group crit block.
→ Sign up for a One-on-one time block.
Instructor
Philip DiBello
pdibello@sva.edu
Course Description
This course will provide a emphasis on developing a designers sensitivity to typography through both restrictive and open-ended assignments. Projects will be a combination of experimentation and formal exercises with a focus on typographic systems as well as the details of macro and micro typography.
Technological advancements of type will be examined through readings and historical materials. Theory, dialogue, process and personal practice will be central themes discussed to establish a students own opinions about design. Classes are a combination of critique, in-class workshops, and one-on-one meetings with occasional guest lectures and critiques.
Throughout the semester readings will be assigned along with each project. Readings will accompany your assignment.
Student Expectations
This course is constructed for a higher level junior design student. It assumes you already have knowledge of fundamental design and typographic principals. Some assignments will be open ended. You must take initiative in every project and make it your own. You’re expected to engage in critique, both by giving and receiving feedback.
Your level of effort will dictate your success in this class. You must be disciplined and self-motivated. To get good work here or anywhere you must put in the time. Coming in un-prepared is not only disrespectful to me, but is also unfair to your fellow students and yourself.
This is a space to discuss and understand graphic design. It is not about a job, or approval, or client and designer relationships. Understand you’re here for yourself. Not to please your peers, or your professors, or outside sources.
Attendance is critically important to the success of your assignments and your letter grade. You’re required to be in class at it’s start time. If work will be shown, it should be uploaded and prepped for presentation. Take pride in your work and display it properly.
Attendance Policy
You’re given one absence without repercussion. Missing a second class is an automatic C. If you miss three classes you will be withdrawn from the course, no exceptions. Tardiness will not be tolerated. Class starts promptly at 3:20.
Grading Breakdown
Grades are a combination of the quality of your work, class participation and progress. Simply showing up will not make you pass the course. You must be prepared for the days lesson, completing any homework or readings assigned and ready to discuss.
A
Your work is of exceptional quality and reflects mastery of the material covered in class. Your class participation is outstanding. Your craft is impeccable and you find ways to push design and materiality. You consistently add something new to every project or push your capabilities. Your work steadily improved throughout the semester.
B
Your work is very good and satisfies the goals of the course. You participate in class discussion. Continue to refine your craft, and find those moments to take initiative in any given project and push it beyond it’s boundaries.
C
Your work meets the standards of the course. You could speak up or engage more often during class discussion. Be willing to take more chances with craft and production. You turn in assignments and did not miss more than one class.
F
Your work did not meet the requirements for this class. You did not complete all projects or missed 3 classes. You will receive no credit.
Academic Integrity
Academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, will not be tolerated. Students found to have committed an act of academic dishonesty will fail the assignment for which an infraction is suspected and substantiated. More serious violations will be handled through the process enumerated in the SVA Handbook . Put simply, make sure your work is your own.
Students with Disabilities
SVA is committed to providing students with access to their academic programs and courses. If you are a student with a disability and require accommodations, you must register with Disability Resources by visiting sva.edu/disabilityresources and completing an online accommodation request. To be eligible for accommodations in this course, students must provide the instructor with a letter of accommodation from Disability Resources. For questions or assistance, please call Disability Resources at 212-592-2396, or visit the office: 340 East 24th Street, New York, NY 10010, or email disabilityservices@sva.edu
SVA Attendance Policy
The SVA Handbook says: The School of Visual Arts is a professional art college dedicated to teaching and learning. Attendance is required in all courses, and the individual faculty member determines the number of acceptable absences, if any.
All students are expected to participate and keep their cameras on for the duration of all synchronous class sessions. Failure to do so may result in reduction of grade, at the discretion of the faculty, unless the student has received permission in advance from the faculty member. Students should refer to the “netiquette” section in the Student Knowledge Base to familiarize themselves with best practices for online learning.
Pronouns and Chosen Names
Students may indicate their pronouns and preferred/chosen first name through MyServices; this information will then appear on class rosters (go to: https://myservices.sva.edu/Student/UserProfile and select "Edit Personal Identity").
Please let your instructor know the preferred name and pronouns by which you would like to be referred, if that information does not already appear on the roster. A student’s chosen name and pronouns should be respected at all times.
Week 2: 10/6/20—Group Crit
Assignment 1: Type Animation
Assignment 1: Type Animation
Choose a song and create a type animation for the track. Your Type Animation’s emphasis should be on typography and the lyrical content of the song.
Next week show a 8-10 page PDF presentation outlining:
1. The song you’ve chosen
2. A slide about the artist
3. Why you like this song
4. Three themes that are present
5. How you’re visualizing the three themes
6. What typeface you’re using
7. A Specimen of the typeface
—A–Z upper and lowercase and punctuation
8. Three unique features of the typeface
—Details you think make it relevant for the song
and 15-30 second video test, perferably using the chorus or refrain from the song.
The “lyric video” has humble origins as fan made ephemera. Since it’s birth it has become a pervasive form of content across social media and video sharing sites. At first many record labels fought to remove un-copyrighted material, but have since given up the battle. Record labels are now producing their own form of the “lyric video”, uploading hastly made clips of scrolling text and stock footage to gin up impressions and ad revenue around a newly released single. Either produced in a bedroom or a advertising agency, somehow the “lyric video” aesthetic has remained consistent in both fan videos and produced videos alike.
Part of the homogenization of this aesthetic is access to motion graphics applications like iMovie, After Effects, Keynote, etc. These programs create simple, smooth animation with built-in presets.
This assignment challenges you to reinvent the medium of the lyric video. Because of this, your restriction is that you can not directly use after effects or any other motion graphics programs to create the animation for your videos. They can be only used for compositing your footage. Your goal is to find creative, visually appealing ways around this restriction while also expressing the themes present within the song, and choosing an appropriate typeface to deliver the message.
Background
Read the Gradient article with Eric Timothy Carlson and Emmet Byrne discussing the design process of Bon Iver’s 2016 album “22, a million”. Pay specific attention to the section where they discuss lyric videos and the internet. The following videos pass the restrictions of this assignment.
Next week show a 8-10 page PDF presentation outlining:
1. The song you’ve chosen
2. A slide about the artist
3. Why you like this song
4. Three themes that are present
5. How you’re visualizing the three themes
6. What typeface you’re using
7. A Specimen of the typeface
—A–Z upper and lowercase and punctuation
8. Three unique features of the typeface
—Details you think make it relevant for the song
and 15-30 second video test, perferably using the chorus or refrain from the song.
The “lyric video” has humble origins as fan made ephemera. Since it’s birth it has become a pervasive form of content across social media and video sharing sites. At first many record labels fought to remove un-copyrighted material, but have since given up the battle. Record labels are now producing their own form of the “lyric video”, uploading hastly made clips of scrolling text and stock footage to gin up impressions and ad revenue around a newly released single. Either produced in a bedroom or a advertising agency, somehow the “lyric video” aesthetic has remained consistent in both fan videos and produced videos alike.
Part of the homogenization of this aesthetic is access to motion graphics applications like iMovie, After Effects, Keynote, etc. These programs create simple, smooth animation with built-in presets.
This assignment challenges you to reinvent the medium of the lyric video. Because of this, your restriction is that you can not directly use after effects or any other motion graphics programs to create the animation for your videos. They can be only used for compositing your footage. Your goal is to find creative, visually appealing ways around this restriction while also expressing the themes present within the song, and choosing an appropriate typeface to deliver the message.
Background
Read the Gradient article with Eric Timothy Carlson and Emmet Byrne discussing the design process of Bon Iver’s 2016 album “22, a million”. Pay specific attention to the section where they discuss lyric videos and the internet. The following videos pass the restrictions of this assignment.
Week 3: 10/13/20—One-on-one
Assignment 1: Type Animation
Assignment 1: Type Animation
Take todays feedback into consideration and make changes to your type choice and movement. For next week, finish half of your type animation. However long your song is, complete half the track. Join class only for your one-on-one time slot.
BACKGROUND
Saul Bass was an American graphic designer and Oscar-winning filmmaker, best known for his design of motion-picture title sequences, film posters, and corporate logos.
During his 40-year career, Bass worked for some of Hollywood’s most prominent filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese. Among his best known title sequences are the animated paper cut-out of a heroin addict’s arm for Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm, the credits racing up and down what eventually becomes a high-angle shot of a skyscraper in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, and the disjointed text that races together and apart in Psycho.
Pay close attenton to his later work, the title sequences he created for director Martin Scorsese. Theres a sensitivity to typography and subject prevelent in these sequences. His type animations are very traditional, but their movement, typographic choices, and overall tone & feeling match the films closely.
Goodfellas (1990)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Cape Fear (1991)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Casino (1995)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
BACKGROUND
Saul Bass was an American graphic designer and Oscar-winning filmmaker, best known for his design of motion-picture title sequences, film posters, and corporate logos.
During his 40-year career, Bass worked for some of Hollywood’s most prominent filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese. Among his best known title sequences are the animated paper cut-out of a heroin addict’s arm for Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm, the credits racing up and down what eventually becomes a high-angle shot of a skyscraper in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, and the disjointed text that races together and apart in Psycho.
Pay close attenton to his later work, the title sequences he created for director Martin Scorsese. Theres a sensitivity to typography and subject prevelent in these sequences. His type animations are very traditional, but their movement, typographic choices, and overall tone & feeling match the films closely.
Goodfellas (1990)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Cape Fear (1991)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Casino (1995)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Week 4: 10/20/20—Final Class Crit
Assignment 1: Type Animation
Assignment 1: Type Animation
Complete your type animation for the full duration of your song. We will meet as a full group and watch your sequences in full. Upload your final video to the class folder under week 4.
Week 5: 10/27/20—Group Crit
Assignment 2: Two Texts
Assignment 2: Two Texts
Two Editions of the Same Book
Read ‘Heaven is Real’: John Maus and the Truth of Pop. You are to make two printed editions of the essay. Interpret the text when making design decisions such as defining your grid, choosing a typeface and gathering content, images or resources. Consider your interpretation of the text when choosing size, format, printing technique, binding, etc. Edition one requires you to use as little agency as possible. Edition two requires you to use as much agency as you would like.
This Week
Define a general concept and design for both of your editions. show a 24 page PDF, 12 pages for each edition outlining:
1. An explanation of your concept
2. Three themes present in the essay / John’s music
3. How you’re visualizing these themes in this edition
4. What typeface you’re using
5. A Specimen of the typeface
—A–Z upper and lowercase and punctuation
6. Three unique features of the typeface
—Details you think make it relevant
7. Mockup of the front cover
8. Mockup of Chapter Page
9-12. Mockup of 4 text spreads
There are specific requirements for each edition. You cannot use images of John Maus or photos of him performing. At least one publication should have a title page, discography section and colophon. It should also have running headers and folios for the text section. Each book should be a minimum of 50 pages. It should be a book–ish book, not a saddle stitched pamphlet. It should have a minimum of 50 pages, not including front matter and discography. If you want to bulk up your book consider adding an interview section or supplemental material.
Our North Star is Wim Crouwel and Jan Van Toorn’s The Debate (p.19-42). These two designers faced off during a debate, specifically discussing their process and approach to graphic design. In the most reductive sense, this assignment asks you to approach one edition in Crouwel’s mindset and the other in Van Toorn’s.
If you’re struggling with the ‘agency’ component of this assignment, consider… How would Crouwel do it? How would Van Toorn do it? This whole of this experiment does not have to do with style, more so with process or approach.
Background
John Maus (born February 23, 1980) is an American avant-garde musician, and composer. A keyboard player for Panda Bear and Ariel Pink, he has released three albums of his own music to acclaim. He grew up in Minnesota. He is known for his eclectic samples when composing, “an almost absurd mix – a stand-off between taut, bass-driven post-punk, whooshing electro-pop and, thanks to the chants and bleak intoning, Medieval and Gregorian disco.”
Charles Ubaghs 2012 review for the BBC also took notice of the philosophical undertones of Maus’ works: “...behind these retro overtones is a desire to explore our modern relationships with pop, and its impact on our wider philosophical and cultural lives.” The review also remarked that on Maus’ self-referential tendencies: “Couple this with lyrics like The Fear’s surprisingly frank “What’s wrong with me, ‘cause I’ve tried everything,” and you’ve an accessibly rich portrait of Maus’ ever-questioning mind.” Likewise a 2011 BBC review noted that Maus was “ as much a professional existentialist as he is a synth-pop musician” and that “reading his interviews can make your cerebral cortex pulse with befuddlement.”
Maus' work lives in an odd cross section of nostalgia and contemporary music. Fans have made unofficial music videos, creating juxtapositions from old films and other media that fittingly work with Maus’ songs like the above example, remixing footage from the 1991 film ‘Cool As Ice’.
Wim Crouwel
is a Dutch graphic designer, type designer, and typographer. Between 1947 and 1949, he studied Fine Arts at Academie Minerva in Groningen, the Netherlands. In addition, he studied typography at what is now the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Crouwel's graphic work is especially well known for the use of grid-based layouts and typography that is rooted in the International Typographic Style.
Jan van Toorn
is a Dutch graphic designer. His designs persistently call attention to their status as visual contrivances, obliging the viewer to make an effort to process their complexities. Van Toorn wants the public to measure the motives of both the client and the designer who mediates the client’s message against their own experiences of the world. He hoped in this way to stimulate a more active and skeptical view of art, communication, media ownership and society. Projects such as Van Toorn’s posters and catalogues for the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and his long-running series of calendars for the printing firm Mart.Spruijt are powerful demonstrations of graphic design used as a means of commentary and as a tool of critique.
Read ‘Heaven is Real’: John Maus and the Truth of Pop. You are to make two printed editions of the essay. Interpret the text when making design decisions such as defining your grid, choosing a typeface and gathering content, images or resources. Consider your interpretation of the text when choosing size, format, printing technique, binding, etc. Edition one requires you to use as little agency as possible. Edition two requires you to use as much agency as you would like.
This Week
Define a general concept and design for both of your editions. show a 24 page PDF, 12 pages for each edition outlining:
1. An explanation of your concept
2. Three themes present in the essay / John’s music
3. How you’re visualizing these themes in this edition
4. What typeface you’re using
5. A Specimen of the typeface
—A–Z upper and lowercase and punctuation
6. Three unique features of the typeface
—Details you think make it relevant
7. Mockup of the front cover
8. Mockup of Chapter Page
9-12. Mockup of 4 text spreads
There are specific requirements for each edition. You cannot use images of John Maus or photos of him performing. At least one publication should have a title page, discography section and colophon. It should also have running headers and folios for the text section. Each book should be a minimum of 50 pages. It should be a book–ish book, not a saddle stitched pamphlet. It should have a minimum of 50 pages, not including front matter and discography. If you want to bulk up your book consider adding an interview section or supplemental material.
Our North Star is Wim Crouwel and Jan Van Toorn’s The Debate (p.19-42). These two designers faced off during a debate, specifically discussing their process and approach to graphic design. In the most reductive sense, this assignment asks you to approach one edition in Crouwel’s mindset and the other in Van Toorn’s.
If you’re struggling with the ‘agency’ component of this assignment, consider… How would Crouwel do it? How would Van Toorn do it? This whole of this experiment does not have to do with style, more so with process or approach.
Background
John Maus (born February 23, 1980) is an American avant-garde musician, and composer. A keyboard player for Panda Bear and Ariel Pink, he has released three albums of his own music to acclaim. He grew up in Minnesota. He is known for his eclectic samples when composing, “an almost absurd mix – a stand-off between taut, bass-driven post-punk, whooshing electro-pop and, thanks to the chants and bleak intoning, Medieval and Gregorian disco.”
Charles Ubaghs 2012 review for the BBC also took notice of the philosophical undertones of Maus’ works: “...behind these retro overtones is a desire to explore our modern relationships with pop, and its impact on our wider philosophical and cultural lives.” The review also remarked that on Maus’ self-referential tendencies: “Couple this with lyrics like The Fear’s surprisingly frank “What’s wrong with me, ‘cause I’ve tried everything,” and you’ve an accessibly rich portrait of Maus’ ever-questioning mind.” Likewise a 2011 BBC review noted that Maus was “ as much a professional existentialist as he is a synth-pop musician” and that “reading his interviews can make your cerebral cortex pulse with befuddlement.”
Maus' work lives in an odd cross section of nostalgia and contemporary music. Fans have made unofficial music videos, creating juxtapositions from old films and other media that fittingly work with Maus’ songs like the above example, remixing footage from the 1991 film ‘Cool As Ice’.
Wim Crouwel
is a Dutch graphic designer, type designer, and typographer. Between 1947 and 1949, he studied Fine Arts at Academie Minerva in Groningen, the Netherlands. In addition, he studied typography at what is now the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Crouwel's graphic work is especially well known for the use of grid-based layouts and typography that is rooted in the International Typographic Style.
Jan van Toorn
is a Dutch graphic designer. His designs persistently call attention to their status as visual contrivances, obliging the viewer to make an effort to process their complexities. Van Toorn wants the public to measure the motives of both the client and the designer who mediates the client’s message against their own experiences of the world. He hoped in this way to stimulate a more active and skeptical view of art, communication, media ownership and society. Projects such as Van Toorn’s posters and catalogues for the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and his long-running series of calendars for the printing firm Mart.Spruijt are powerful demonstrations of graphic design used as a means of commentary and as a tool of critique.
Week 6: 11/3/20—One-on-one
Assignment 2: Two Texts
Assignment 2: Two Texts
Two Editions of the Same Book
Complete both of your editions, cover to cover. We will review your designs together during your one-on-one session time. Upload your work to the Google Drive folder under week 6. Export your booka as a PDFs, make sure they are exported as spreads. Have your InDesign document open in case you have any production questions.
You need to start thinking about your book as an object. Consider binding and production techniques. Our discussion will focus soley on design details. Read Jost Hochuli’s Designing Books for reference.
Two editions
At least one edition should have a
—Title page
—Discography section
—Colophon
—Running Headers / Folio
—Size and format of your choosing
—Minimum 50 pages
Below is a checklist of items you should have fully considered for each edition. We will run through this checklist together, making sure you are thinking through these items when approaching your design decisions.
Checklist
➺ Proportions of Spread
➺ Margins & Grid
➺ Typeface Selection
➺ Text Setting
➺ Paper, Printing, Production
➺ Binding
➺ Front & Back Covers
➺ Object Quality as a Whole
Background
2×4 is a design consultancy located in New York as well as across the globe. Michael Rock is one of three founders of the studio. He is a leader in design criticism and writing. His essays and thoughts will accompany this semesters assignments. “Designer as Author” is an important wirting in the history of design. Rock considers the role of the designer thoroughout his essay. It was written in the mid 1990’s when Graphic Design was questioning what it was as a profession.
The goal of your assignment becomes simple when we break the two editions down to their essence. Consider Michael Rock’s essay “Designer as Author”. He outlines multiple variations on the design process. Your editions need to occupy two different spaces. One can be operating in the space of “designer as performer” and the other in “designer as translator”. The editions should occupy different processes and approaches.
Again, our North Star is Wim Crouwel and Jan Van Toorn’s The Debate (p.19-42). Some 20 years before Rock wrote Designer as Author, Crouwel and Van Toorn we’re discussing the designers role within the process. Crouwel plays a hybrid between “translator” and “performer”. His work is unmistakably of it’s time. It’s a realization of modernism and translation. Van Toorn has a sharp viewpoint. He makes that known through the work. Much like Maus, Van Toorn uses the project as a vehicle to express social issues. His expression of the message places his work closer to the “author” or “auteur”.
Complete both of your editions, cover to cover. We will review your designs together during your one-on-one session time. Upload your work to the Google Drive folder under week 6. Export your booka as a PDFs, make sure they are exported as spreads. Have your InDesign document open in case you have any production questions.
You need to start thinking about your book as an object. Consider binding and production techniques. Our discussion will focus soley on design details. Read Jost Hochuli’s Designing Books for reference.
Two editions
At least one edition should have a
—Title page
—Discography section
—Colophon
—Running Headers / Folio
—Size and format of your choosing
—Minimum 50 pages
Below is a checklist of items you should have fully considered for each edition. We will run through this checklist together, making sure you are thinking through these items when approaching your design decisions.
Checklist
➺ Proportions of Spread
➺ Margins & Grid
➺ Typeface Selection
➺ Text Setting
➺ Paper, Printing, Production
➺ Binding
➺ Front & Back Covers
➺ Object Quality as a Whole
Background
2×4 is a design consultancy located in New York as well as across the globe. Michael Rock is one of three founders of the studio. He is a leader in design criticism and writing. His essays and thoughts will accompany this semesters assignments. “Designer as Author” is an important wirting in the history of design. Rock considers the role of the designer thoroughout his essay. It was written in the mid 1990’s when Graphic Design was questioning what it was as a profession.
The goal of your assignment becomes simple when we break the two editions down to their essence. Consider Michael Rock’s essay “Designer as Author”. He outlines multiple variations on the design process. Your editions need to occupy two different spaces. One can be operating in the space of “designer as performer” and the other in “designer as translator”. The editions should occupy different processes and approaches.
Again, our North Star is Wim Crouwel and Jan Van Toorn’s The Debate (p.19-42). Some 20 years before Rock wrote Designer as Author, Crouwel and Van Toorn we’re discussing the designers role within the process. Crouwel plays a hybrid between “translator” and “performer”. His work is unmistakably of it’s time. It’s a realization of modernism and translation. Van Toorn has a sharp viewpoint. He makes that known through the work. Much like Maus, Van Toorn uses the project as a vehicle to express social issues. His expression of the message places his work closer to the “author” or “auteur”.
Week 7: 11/10/20—Final Class Crit
Assignment 2: Two Texts
Assignment 2: Two Texts
Complete your two texts from cover to cover. Upload your final PDFs to the class drive folder under Week 7. Create mockup renderings of your front cover, back cover, and at least 10 of your favorite spreads for each book. Also upload these to your drive folder. You need to start thinking about your book as an object. Consider binding and production techniques. Read Jost Hochuli’s Designing Books for reference.
Don’t limit yourself to free mockups found on the internet. Be creative, and if you want to finish your book with more unique features and production effects, find a way to render your vision in a realistic manner. Bonus brownie points if you actually print and bind your book. Just make sure to photograph and upload images to your drive folder. It’s in your best interest to actually create your books, please try if you have the resources available.
DELIVERABLES
For both editions, upload the following
— Renderings of front cover, back cover and spine
— Renderings of at least 10 of your favorite spreads
— Full publication exported as spreads
Don’t limit yourself to free mockups found on the internet. Be creative, and if you want to finish your book with more unique features and production effects, find a way to render your vision in a realistic manner. Bonus brownie points if you actually print and bind your book. Just make sure to photograph and upload images to your drive folder. It’s in your best interest to actually create your books, please try if you have the resources available.
DELIVERABLES
For both editions, upload the following
— Renderings of front cover, back cover and spine
— Renderings of at least 10 of your favorite spreads
— Full publication exported as spreads
Week 8: 11/17/20—Asynchronous Crit
Assignment 3: Exhibition Identity
Assignment 3: Exhibition Identity
Design a solo exhibition for an artist. You’re the designer & curator. You decide what the show is called, what pieces are in the exhibition, and what the identity and supplemental materials look like. Don’t pick an obvious artist. Don’t choose someone you already know and are fond of. Avoid clichés and known celeberity artists.
This week we’re going full asynchronous. Upload your PDF and a video of yourself walking through the following presentation in our Google Drive folder under week 8. Your presentation of the PDF is different than you just reading through your PDF. Include anticdotes and background information as you describe what you're talking about.
We will meet at 3:20pm EST to answer any questions and discuss your task for next week, but we will not hold a class, group or solo crit.
Research Presentation
Research and explore an artists work. Show your research in the form of presentation slides. Tell us about who your artist is, what you like about their work or what you find interesting about them as a person.
This is not a book report (!) This is a documentation of your experience of discovering a new artist. Design it, make it entertaining for us. It should not be dry or boring. It should be insightful and personal. If you’re having trouble analyzing the work use this as a guide. Your presentation must answer the following questions, at least one slide per question—
1. Who are they?
2. What is their background?
3. Where did they come from/what’s their story?
4. What context was the work shown originally (gallery, museum, outdoors, etc)?
5. At least 10 slides of their work
6. A deep analysis of three pieces (guide)
7. What themes are present in their work?
8. What drew you to what they’ve made?
9. How does it make you feel?
Identity Sketches
Next, begin to design your exhibition identity system. Establish 5 adjectives that characterize the meaning, tone, and primary aesthetic qualities of your artist’s work. Address some formal and conceptual routes you are considering with sketches and typeface choices. Design and deliver the following:
➺ 5 adjectives that characterize your artists work
➺ 3 potential titles for your exhibition
➺ 1 lockup/type pairing for each title
Background
It’s not required, but I highly recommend choosing an artist from the collection of Dia:Beacon.Their permanent collection of 60’s to now modern art is incredible, and there are plenty of artists you can explore for this project.
This week we’re going full asynchronous. Upload your PDF and a video of yourself walking through the following presentation in our Google Drive folder under week 8. Your presentation of the PDF is different than you just reading through your PDF. Include anticdotes and background information as you describe what you're talking about.
We will meet at 3:20pm EST to answer any questions and discuss your task for next week, but we will not hold a class, group or solo crit.
Research Presentation
Research and explore an artists work. Show your research in the form of presentation slides. Tell us about who your artist is, what you like about their work or what you find interesting about them as a person.
This is not a book report (!) This is a documentation of your experience of discovering a new artist. Design it, make it entertaining for us. It should not be dry or boring. It should be insightful and personal. If you’re having trouble analyzing the work use this as a guide. Your presentation must answer the following questions, at least one slide per question—
1. Who are they?
2. What is their background?
3. Where did they come from/what’s their story?
4. What context was the work shown originally (gallery, museum, outdoors, etc)?
5. At least 10 slides of their work
6. A deep analysis of three pieces (guide)
7. What themes are present in their work?
8. What drew you to what they’ve made?
9. How does it make you feel?
Identity Sketches
Next, begin to design your exhibition identity system. Establish 5 adjectives that characterize the meaning, tone, and primary aesthetic qualities of your artist’s work. Address some formal and conceptual routes you are considering with sketches and typeface choices. Design and deliver the following:
➺ 5 adjectives that characterize your artists work
➺ 3 potential titles for your exhibition
➺ 1 lockup/type pairing for each title
Background
It’s not required, but I highly recommend choosing an artist from the collection of Dia:Beacon.Their permanent collection of 60’s to now modern art is incredible, and there are plenty of artists you can explore for this project.
Week 9: 11/24/20—Group Crit
Assignment 3: Exhibition Identity
Assignment 3: Exhibition Identity
Start designing your exhibition identity keeping your research and analysis in mind. Take your initial wordmark sketches and build a typographic system around these decisions. Consider how your interpretation of the exhibition translates to layout and materials.
Next week design two completely different directions for your book and poster. Your directions should differ both conceptually and visually. Each direction should have a 3-5 sentence explanation of your concept and how it relates to your design, a title page including your wordmark, 3-5 spreads of your essay typeset, and 3-5 spreads of how you will treat artwork pages, and a poster sketch 24×36". Your essay and supplemental content should be informed by your research. Your artwork pages should establish a system of how you will title and caption the pieces.
Design a PDF presentation with your design work clearly displayed and explained. Upload this presentation PDF to our class Class folder under week 9. We’ve done this many times now this semester. Make your designs feel as fleshed out and realized as possible. That includes using mock-ups or other rendering strategies. This should look and feel like a professional presentation.
This assignment is about your identity system; But it’s really about typography. Your identity should support the work in question. It should not imitate it. It should not crowd it. It’s your job to find that balance, or more importantly what that balance means to you.
Deliverables
PDF presentation with two different directions including...
—3-5 sentence explanation of concept
—3-5 spreads of your essay typeset
—3-5 spreads of artwork pages
—Poster sketch 24×36"
Background
Our main reading for this assignment is James Goggin’s essay titled “The Matta Clark Complex”. James discusses book design and materiality using American artist Gordon Matta–Clarke as an example.
James Goggin is a Providence-based British and/or Australian graphic designer and teacher from London via Sydney, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Auckland, Arnhem, and Chicago. He runs a design practice named Practise, together with partner Shan James, working on books, websites, identity systems, exhibitions, typefaces, videos, textiles, posters, magazines, signs, and symbols in Europe, Asia, Australasia, and North America. James teaches at Rhode Island School of Design, writes now and then, and lectures here and there.
Next week design two completely different directions for your book and poster. Your directions should differ both conceptually and visually. Each direction should have a 3-5 sentence explanation of your concept and how it relates to your design, a title page including your wordmark, 3-5 spreads of your essay typeset, and 3-5 spreads of how you will treat artwork pages, and a poster sketch 24×36". Your essay and supplemental content should be informed by your research. Your artwork pages should establish a system of how you will title and caption the pieces.
Design a PDF presentation with your design work clearly displayed and explained. Upload this presentation PDF to our class Class folder under week 9. We’ve done this many times now this semester. Make your designs feel as fleshed out and realized as possible. That includes using mock-ups or other rendering strategies. This should look and feel like a professional presentation.
This assignment is about your identity system; But it’s really about typography. Your identity should support the work in question. It should not imitate it. It should not crowd it. It’s your job to find that balance, or more importantly what that balance means to you.
Deliverables
PDF presentation with two different directions including...
—3-5 sentence explanation of concept
—3-5 spreads of your essay typeset
—3-5 spreads of artwork pages
—Poster sketch 24×36"
Background
Our main reading for this assignment is James Goggin’s essay titled “The Matta Clark Complex”. James discusses book design and materiality using American artist Gordon Matta–Clarke as an example.
James Goggin is a Providence-based British and/or Australian graphic designer and teacher from London via Sydney, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Auckland, Arnhem, and Chicago. He runs a design practice named Practise, together with partner Shan James, working on books, websites, identity systems, exhibitions, typefaces, videos, textiles, posters, magazines, signs, and symbols in Europe, Asia, Australasia, and North America. James teaches at Rhode Island School of Design, writes now and then, and lectures here and there.
Week 10: 12/1/20—One-on-one
Assignment 3: Exhibition Identity
Assignment 3: Exhibition Identity
Continue designing your exhibition identity, keeping your research and analysis in mind. Define your concept and consider how this translates to the production of your materials. Finalize your wordmark and refine your typographic system.
Design your full publication, cover to cover. Continue working on your poster as well. Consider any additional elements you would like to produce for the show, like tickets, maps, wall graphics, etc. Find the full requirements for your assignment below. We will review your work one-on-one. Upload your work as a PDF in the class folder under Week 10.
Exhibition Identity
You are to create an identity for your exhibition. The identity should consist of a wordmark, featuring the title of the show and the artists name. Building on the wordmark, you are to develop a typographic system for the identity. What will the body text of the publication be set in? What will work for captions? Apply (photoshop) your graphics on the wall of the exhibition for context.
Exhibition Poster
You are to create a poster for your exhibition. It’s dimensions are 24×36". Imagine this poster would be wheatpasted around New York, or as an advertisement in the subway.
Exhibition Publication
You are to create a publication for your exhibition. It can be any size or material you would like, but it must be printed. It should include at least 20+ pieces of artwork. It should include a foreword about the artist, minimum 15 pages. Find an essay, interview, review of their work, a show, or some other longform piece of writing about the artist and use that for your content. This piece of writing should not be their wikipedia page, or their biography. It should be a text examining the work or artist in question. Start thinking about your book as an object. Consider binding and production techniques. Read Jost Hochuli’s Designing Books for reference.
Below is a checklist of items you should have fully considered for each edition. We will run through this checklist together, making sure you are thinking through these items when approaching your design decisions.
Checklist
➺ Proportions of Spread
➺ Margins & Grid
➺ Typeface Selection
➺ Text Setting
➺ Paper, Printing, Production
➺ Binding
➺ Front & Back Covers
➺ Object Quality as a Whole
Background
Identity design is an important component of this assignment. Developing a visual language around the artists work is the main objective. But you also have an opportunity to consider the full design of the exhibition. You job doesnt need to stop at typography. Take a look at the work of Fraser Muggeridge studio or Wkshps. Consider the design as a whole. If you have any other ideas that can push your project further, explore!
Design your full publication, cover to cover. Continue working on your poster as well. Consider any additional elements you would like to produce for the show, like tickets, maps, wall graphics, etc. Find the full requirements for your assignment below. We will review your work one-on-one. Upload your work as a PDF in the class folder under Week 10.
Exhibition Identity
You are to create an identity for your exhibition. The identity should consist of a wordmark, featuring the title of the show and the artists name. Building on the wordmark, you are to develop a typographic system for the identity. What will the body text of the publication be set in? What will work for captions? Apply (photoshop) your graphics on the wall of the exhibition for context.
Exhibition Poster
You are to create a poster for your exhibition. It’s dimensions are 24×36". Imagine this poster would be wheatpasted around New York, or as an advertisement in the subway.
Exhibition Publication
You are to create a publication for your exhibition. It can be any size or material you would like, but it must be printed. It should include at least 20+ pieces of artwork. It should include a foreword about the artist, minimum 15 pages. Find an essay, interview, review of their work, a show, or some other longform piece of writing about the artist and use that for your content. This piece of writing should not be their wikipedia page, or their biography. It should be a text examining the work or artist in question. Start thinking about your book as an object. Consider binding and production techniques. Read Jost Hochuli’s Designing Books for reference.
Below is a checklist of items you should have fully considered for each edition. We will run through this checklist together, making sure you are thinking through these items when approaching your design decisions.
Checklist
➺ Proportions of Spread
➺ Margins & Grid
➺ Typeface Selection
➺ Text Setting
➺ Paper, Printing, Production
➺ Binding
➺ Front & Back Covers
➺ Object Quality as a Whole
Background
Identity design is an important component of this assignment. Developing a visual language around the artists work is the main objective. But you also have an opportunity to consider the full design of the exhibition. You job doesnt need to stop at typography. Take a look at the work of Fraser Muggeridge studio or Wkshps. Consider the design as a whole. If you have any other ideas that can push your project further, explore!
Week 11: 12/8/20—Final Class Crit
Assignment 4: Exhibition Identity
Assignment 4: Exhibition Identity
Finish designing your exhibition identity, and preapre a presentation with mock-ups for your book, title wall, poster and any supplemental material you may like to design or add outside of the project requirements (for example: videos, tickets, pamphlets, etc).
Requirements
1. Research Presentation
The presentation you created Week 8
2. Exhibition Identity
—Graphics applied to title wall
3. Exhibition Publication
—Foreword required, minumum 15 pages
—Feature 20+ pieces of artists artwork
4. Exhibition Poster
—24×36"
Must include:
—Title of show
—Dates show is running
—Location
—Museum/gallery logo
Exhibition Identity & Title Wall
You are to create an identity for your exhibition. The identity should consist of a wordmark, featuring the title of the show and the artists name. Building on the wordmark, you are to develop a typographic system for the identity. What will the body text of the publication be set in? What will work for captions? Apply (photoshop) your graphics on the wall of the exhibition for context.
Exhibition Publication
You are to create a publication for your exhibition. It can be any size or material you would like, but it must be printed. It should include at least 20+ pieces of artwork. It should include a foreword about the artist, minimum 15 pages. Find an essay, interview, review of their work, a show, or some other longform piece of writing about the artist and use that for your content. This piece of writing should not be their wikipedia page, or their biography. It should be a text examining the work or artist in question.
Exhibition Poster
You are to create a poster for your exhibition. It’s dimensions are 24×36". Imagine this poster would be wheatpasted around New York, or as an advertisement in the subway.
Requirements
1. Research Presentation
The presentation you created Week 8
2. Exhibition Identity
—Graphics applied to title wall
3. Exhibition Publication
—Foreword required, minumum 15 pages
—Feature 20+ pieces of artists artwork
4. Exhibition Poster
—24×36"
Must include:
—Title of show
—Dates show is running
—Location
—Museum/gallery logo
Exhibition Identity & Title Wall
You are to create an identity for your exhibition. The identity should consist of a wordmark, featuring the title of the show and the artists name. Building on the wordmark, you are to develop a typographic system for the identity. What will the body text of the publication be set in? What will work for captions? Apply (photoshop) your graphics on the wall of the exhibition for context.
Exhibition Publication
You are to create a publication for your exhibition. It can be any size or material you would like, but it must be printed. It should include at least 20+ pieces of artwork. It should include a foreword about the artist, minimum 15 pages. Find an essay, interview, review of their work, a show, or some other longform piece of writing about the artist and use that for your content. This piece of writing should not be their wikipedia page, or their biography. It should be a text examining the work or artist in question.
Exhibition Poster
You are to create a poster for your exhibition. It’s dimensions are 24×36". Imagine this poster would be wheatpasted around New York, or as an advertisement in the subway.
❋ Week 12: 12/15/20—Final Class Crit
Assignment 5: Poster Project
Assignment 5: Poster Project
You’re tasked to make 10 posters and upload them to this Figma doc before class. These posters are strictly type only. No images, no typography-as-image. The goal of the assignment is to find appropriate typefaces for the following sentences or phrases. Focus on your typeface choice, scale, letter-spacing, capitalization, line-height, general orientation, functionality/legibility and composition. You’re expected to explain your decisions in class when presenting your work.
This is less about stylization or creating a witty concept, and more about the typeface you decide to use. Consider it’s personality, history, and context before deciding if it’s the right fit for the phrase.
What’s to be found on the poster is the phrase verbatim. Also required on each poster is a small line of text in the bottom left corner in 12 point Helvetica which reads the name of the typeface you’ve chosen. Portrait orientation only, 11×17in.
Phrases
1. It is what it is
2. Greetings from Palm Beach, Florida
3. Please pick up after your pet
4. I love you but enough is enough
5. No Parking
6. The best way to scare a Tory is to read and get rich
7. One step ahead
8. Everything merges with the night
9. Propose honesty as a solution
10. I’m missing something
Type Resources
✳ Classics
—ITC
—Monotype
—Font Shop
—Linotype
—URW++
✳ Foundries & Independent Type Designers
—Commercial Type
—Klim Type Foundry (Kris Sowersby)
—Grilli Type
—Swiss Typefaces
—Colophon Foundry
—Optimo
—Lineto
—Our Type
—Tobias Frere-Jones
—Hoefler & Co.
—Production Type
—Letters From Sweden
—Playtype
—Bold Monday
—A2 Type
—Open Foundry (decent, free fonts)
✳ Newer Foundries & Contemporaries
—Dinamo
—Radim Pesko
—Milieu Grotesque
—Schick Toikka
—Camelot Typefaces
—Medium Extra Bold
—Or Type
—Oh No Type Co.
—Future Fonts
—A is for
This is less about stylization or creating a witty concept, and more about the typeface you decide to use. Consider it’s personality, history, and context before deciding if it’s the right fit for the phrase.
What’s to be found on the poster is the phrase verbatim. Also required on each poster is a small line of text in the bottom left corner in 12 point Helvetica which reads the name of the typeface you’ve chosen. Portrait orientation only, 11×17in.
Phrases
1. It is what it is
2. Greetings from Palm Beach, Florida
3. Please pick up after your pet
4. I love you but enough is enough
5. No Parking
6. The best way to scare a Tory is to read and get rich
7. One step ahead
8. Everything merges with the night
9. Propose honesty as a solution
10. I’m missing something
Type Resources
✳ Classics
—ITC
—Monotype
—Font Shop
—Linotype
—URW++
✳ Foundries & Independent Type Designers
—Commercial Type
—Klim Type Foundry (Kris Sowersby)
—Grilli Type
—Swiss Typefaces
—Colophon Foundry
—Optimo
—Lineto
—Our Type
—Tobias Frere-Jones
—Hoefler & Co.
—Production Type
—Letters From Sweden
—Playtype
—Bold Monday
—A2 Type
—Open Foundry (decent, free fonts)
✳ Newer Foundries & Contemporaries
—Dinamo
—Radim Pesko
—Milieu Grotesque
—Schick Toikka
—Camelot Typefaces
—Medium Extra Bold
—Or Type
—Oh No Type Co.
—Future Fonts
—A is for