Weekly Schedule
| Wk # | Date | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9/5 | Intro, Overview, Gestalt |
| 2 | 9/12 | Color Theory & Relativity, Vector, Raster, AI & PS |
| 3 | 9/19 | Typography, Signs, Symbols and Composition |
| 4 | 9/26 | Logos & Brands |
| 5 | 10/3 | Logo Project Draft 1: Group Crit |
| 6 | 10/10 | No Class (Legislative Day) |
| 7 | 10/17 | Logo Project Draft 2: 1-on-1 crits |
| 8 | 10/24 | Midterm: Logo Project Final Review |
| 9 | 10/31 | Grids, Hierarchy, InDesign & Figma |
| 10 | 11/7 | Project 2 Proposals |
| 11 | 11/14 | Form & Content, Wireframing & Prototyping |
| 12 | 11/21 | Project 2 Draft 1 |
| 13 | 11/28 | Compositional Techniques, Graphic Treatments / Visual Style Guides |
| 14 | 12/5 | Project 2 Draft 2 |
| 15 | 12/12 | Final: Project 2 Final Review |
Wk 1 ︎
Tuesday, Sept 5, 2023 —
Intros, Overview, Gestalt
Activities
- Introductions in Figma
- Visual Lecture: Course Overview
- Review Syllabus
BREAK
- Visual Lecture: Gestalt
- Software Demo Intro: Figma
- First Day of Class Exercise
- Ticket to Leave
Homework:
- Discord: Join the class Discord, add your real full name, and familiarize yourself with the channels by next class
- Create an ︎Are.na account, join our Are.na group with this invite link and browse the Visual Design Studio Resources
- Complete the first day of class exercise that we started in class. Submit to the #first-day-exercise Discord channel, and comment or respond to someone else’s submission.
- Verify your Figma Student account and join our Figma group with the link in the upper left corner of the course site home page
- Download and install Adobe Creative Cloud (specifically Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, and Acrobat). Open each program and make sure it is installed correctly, since we'll be diving in and introducing Illustrator and Photoshop next class.
- Let me know if there are any other questions or scheduling/adding/dropping issues, otherwise I will see you at our next class on Tuesday!
Readings:
- Chapter 1 from A Primer of Visual Literacy by Donis A. Dondis By next class, choose 2-3 passages and annotate in Figmawith a sentence or two about why you chose that passage. Some prompts:
- I found this interesting/surprising because...
- I disagree with this because...
- This made me think of something else [from another class, context]
- respond to another students' comments
- highlight a passage
- The Triangle, Bruno Munari
- Laws of Organization in Perceptual Forms, Max Wertheimer
- Color chapter, Graphic Design: The New Basics by Ellen Lupton
- worldswritingsystems.org
Wk 2 ︎
Tuesday, Sept. 12 —
| Color Theory & Relativity, Vector, Raster, AI & PS |
Activities:
- Introductions part 2 in Discord (especially for asynchronous & new students)
- Review First Day exercise questions in Discord
- Discussion of readings assigned for this week
- Collectively annotated in Figma
- Visual Lecture: Color Theory and Relativity
- Color Method game
- Color Resources on Are.na
- Adobe Color Tool Demo
BREAK
- Visual Lecture: Vector vs. Raster
- Software demo Intro: Adobe Illustrator vs. Adobe Photoshop
- Bezier Method game
- Ticket to Leave
Homework:
- Color Exercise
- Flag Exercise
- Listen to this Radiolab podcast on the History and Perception of colors:
- Illustrator Tutorials as needed, see ︎are.na resources and LinkedIn Learning Tutorial Illustrator Essentials to get familiar with the core functions of Illustrator.
*Use your @nyu.edu email to login to LinkedIn Learning here
Readings
- Structure and Movement, Karl Gerstner
- Skim the Munsell Color book.
- Rhythm and Balance chapters, Graphic Design: The New Basics by Ellen Lupton
- Read Picture This, by Molly Bang, add one annotation in Figma
- The Crystal Goblet, Beatrice Warde, add one annotation in Figma
NOTE: Sept 12, 2023: 100% Refund Deadline and Add/Drop deadline
Tuition and fees for individual classes dropped on or before this date will be refunded 100% for students who remain enrolled in at least one class. For term and/or total withdrawal refund information, refer to the Refund Schedule for Complete Withdrawal on the Bursar’s website.
Wk 3 ︎
Tuesday, Sept. 19 —
Typography, Signs, Symbols & Composition
Activities:
- Review Color and Flag exercises in Discord
- Discussion of Readings: Structure and Movement Picture This
- Visual Lecture: Typography
- I Shot the Serif exercise
BREAK
- Typography Resources
- Discussion of reading, collectively annotated in Figma: Crystal Goblet
- Image Trace, reinforcing raster and vector knowledge, introducing principles of composition
- Logo Project Introduction
- Ticket to Leave
Homework:
- Read
NY Times 2-part piece Hear, All ye People, Hearken O’ Earth Part 1 & 2 by
Errol Morris,
New York Times, August 8, 2012.
- Read and highlight 2 passages, upload to #reading_hear-all-ye Discord Channel (maybe discuss in Discord audio Channel?) - Typeface Exercise, upload to #typeface-exercise
- Expressive Type Exercise, upload PNGs to #expressive-type
- Image Trace Exercise, upload PNGs and PDF to #image-trace
- Logo Project part 1 only: define name and describe. Decide on your 3-6 letter/number/symbol for logo project and write 2-5 sentences about what it is, get specific, talk about style, influence, ambitions, or similar entities. Post it to the chat in the #project-logo channel.
- Kerning Method game, post screenshot of high score to #kerning-exercise
- Shape Type Method game, post screenshot of high score to #shape-type-exercise
- Continue with LinkedIn Learning Tutorial Essentials to get familiar with the core functions of Illustrator and Photoshop.
Readings
- A Language of Signs and Symbols, Bruno Munari
- Thinkingwithtype.com
- Figure-Ground & Framing chapter, Graphic Design: The New Basics by Ellen Lupton
Wk 4 ︎
Tuesday, Sept. 26 —
Logo, Identity, Brand
Activities:
- Review & Discussion of Homeworks: Expressive Type, Typeface, Image Trace
- Reading Discussion: Hear, All ye People, Hearken O’ Earth Part 1 & 2
- Designing in Figma:
- Elements of Composition: Point, Line, Plane
- Principles of Composition: Rhythm, Balance, Symmetry, Scale, Framing, Layers, Patterns
BREAK
- Boolean Method exercise
- Visual Lecture: Logos
- View and Analyze Example Logos: Logo Resources
- Re-introduce Logo project, assign Draft 1
- Critique: howtocrit.com discussion
- Ticket to Leave
Homework:
- Logo Project Draft 1
- Finish Point, Line, Plane Exercise started in Class
Readings
Watch
Helvetica (2007), directed by Gary Hustwit on Kanopy (log in access via your NYU account)
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