Selected by the faculty as Art Director, and was awarded a scholarship for the course. Projects included direct mail design and an in-depth information design project for the Georgia Environmental Organization on watershed preservation.
The course covered Art Direction from two angles: the mechanics of project management and practical exercises in the subject. The instructor, an experienced art director, gave each student logos cut from magazines, each representing a small, medium, or large company. The student then planned a series of campaigns. The first was for three 8.5 x 5 inch advertisements in two colors for the small company. The second campaign was for three 8.5 x 11 full-color advertisements for the medium company. The final campaign was for three 11 x 17 inch full spreads for the large company. For each campaign, we presented company analyses, then concept sketches, then marker comps, and then produced the final advertisements. Software used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, QuarkXpress.
Translation of line, shape, texture, value, and color into concept projects. Exercises centered on abstract depictions of word oxymorons (such as "abundant poverty"). After a series of brainstorming exercises, we progressed to working with the words themselves and their letterforms, and scanning stock photography to illustrate the concepts. The results were formally critiqued at three points: concept, draft, and final. Software used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, QuarkXpress.
Continuation of concepts from VIS 121. Projects included research and design of a personal logo based on historical precedence. Second project series was design of a logo for a Yale University exhibit, and a supporting series of collateral materials. I produced a 6-panel brochure with typefaces keyed to time periods of advances in transportation. Software used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, QuarkXpress.
Advanced theory and concepts of modern design. The first project was to design T-shirts for the Peachtree Road Race, based on client criteria published in the Atlanta Journal. The second project was a collateral poster advertising the event, but designed in conformity with the original T-shirt. The third project was a restaurant package composed of a mark, a giveaway item, a napkin, a menu cover, and a four-page menu. The fourth project was an entry in Print Magazine's international student contest to design a cover for a forthcoming issue. Software used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, QuarkXpress.
Exercises centered on the rework of "Wired" magazine. We were to examine the current design and reformulate design criteria based on the readership of the year 2001. Using provided editorial text and illustrations, each of us designed a color scheme, article layouts with decks, body, headlines, and biographies, and produced (1) a cover (2) a feature article (3) a secondary article and (4) a column. In the second half of the quarter, we worked on design for the World Wide Web. Software used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe PageMill, various shareware image preparation utilities, QuarkXpress.
The course was taught on two levels. First, the concepts involving marks, compatible typography, and media. The second level is practical. Exercises included doing a thorough demographic analysis of a company's market to understand design dynamics. We designed a mark and applied it to a letterhead, business card, and mailing envelope. After that, we designed collateral uses. My company was a network services business, so I designed a site for the World Wide Web. Software used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe PageMill, QuarkXpress.
Basics of print production. Types of printing and their characteristics: highlight and shadow percents and effects, line screens, implications for halftone reproduction. Additive and subtractive color theory. Projects included preparing continuous tone images for printing, making packaging, and imposition. Software used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, QuarkXpress.
Intermediate print production. Establishing the tonal range for continuous tone images, then working with dot shapes and angles, gray component replacement, and all steps necessary for 4-color printing. Trapping exercises included analyzing a five-color piece for trapping based on overprint, lap registration, and coping with (and calculating banding for) gradients. More information on paper and ink relationships. More information on imposition. Software used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, QuarkXpress.
Making your own preflight checklist, and using it for production planning for a self-promotion calendar; the calendar used two colors plus black, and a die-cut separation. Second project was a cover and internal booklet in spreads for a compact disk. Strong emphasis on proper prior planning. Practical exercises in paper and ink selection, and binding and finishing. Tours of printing facilities in the Atlanta area. Software used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, QuarkXpress.
Use of gridded and freeform layouts. We produced one, two, three, and four column advertisements in different sizes and a six-panel brochure. Software: Adobe Photoshop and QuarkXpress.
Study of the development and use of letterforms and typefaces. Examination of stroke characteristics, counterspace implications, x-height characteristics, graphic implications of ascenders and descenders. Exercises included hand-rendering of a family of type and classifying it, then scanning and converting it to outline form to use in digital typesetting. Collateral exercises in typesetting emphasized different imperatives for advertising, editorial pieces, and books. Software used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop.
Worked in collage, video production, 3-dimensional display, and photograms using classic works of art. My work was Monet's "Winter Grainstacks," and I experimented with the artist's use of light and color throughout the quarter. Students compared work through formal critiques.
Pencil and charcoal renderings emphasizing negative space, one-and two-point perspective, and use of value. Subjects included landscapes, still lifes, geometric shapes, fabric, paper, and small objects.
Drawing the human form using pencil and charcoal. Exercises started with a skeleton, which then was properly labeled using a tissue overlay. The next exercise was a gridded reproduction of a Renaissance figure drawing. For the rest of the quarter, we drew live models to learn gesture, portraits, value, and the use of tone-ground methods to depict the human form. A superior class in the use of value on irregular surfaces.
Stressed use of line, shape, texture, value, and color in 10 projects.
The mechanics of working in the art field. The class was a series of role-playing exercises involving a notional design firm and a client. Each exercise developed the process of project work from cold-calling through price negotiation to follow-up and contract adjustment. The course introduced many administrative forms and procedures involved in printing, model fees, and other processing overhead.
Professional ethics and responsibilities, taught through assignments and classroom exercises. Texts included Stephen R. Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Successful People." A good addition to my own years of experience working in groups.
HA 111-Art History I.
A superb study of art from 35,000 B.C. until the Renaissance. The class examined how the human mind makes and understands art. The course required much reading and critical papers. The concepts were key to understanding the bases of graphic design.
HA 112-Art History II.
Every bit as useful at Art History I, this class covered the Neoclassical period until the present day. Discussions centered on both the theory behind art and its social and psychological impact. The course was immensely valuable in grasping how art can be applied for commercial purposes.