You are reading this because you have developed a strong interest in graphic design and are keen to push your abilities further. This course assumes you have already baseline knowledge in the primary tools of computer-based graphic design: InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop, and hopefuly some exposure at least to digital design (i.e. design for screens). It further assumes that you arrive having experience in fundamental graphic design as it pertains to layout and basic illustration. Most of you will have completed Graphic Design 1 (J365) in the Media School, which will have provided you with basic layout skills as well as an opportunity to build skills in more creative directions, including illustration and some degree of digital design.
Over the next 15 weeks, we will push deeper into both the practical and creative aspects of graphic design, building on the skills you already possess, and giving you opportunities to explore the many ways in which graphic design affects the present and future of visual communication.
I have four goals for the students who complete J465. Consider these the learning outcomes of this course. They are, in order:
To further your understanding of the principles of good design and give you opportunities to creatively put them into practice, working alone and working in teams, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the creative process and how to take your ideas and visions through that process.
To add to your creative abilities and add to your design knowledge to allow you to better identify, establish and develop your personal design style, and apply it to your creative endeavors.
To continue to teach you high-level skills and techniques you need to take full advantage of the previous two goals.
And finally, to provide you with creative opportunities in a wide variety of formats and media. This will give you a better sense of how you might want to focus your graphic design endeavors in the future, as well as building your portfolio substantially over the Spring 2024 semester.
A deeper dive
The overarching goal of this class is for you to take the next step, or the next several, toward a career that will involve some level of graphic design. Whereas J365, as an introductory course, was necessarily heavy on bringing you up to speed in a variety of computer programs, this class will focus more on opening up your creativity and allowing you to focus more on developing and refining your unique style as a designer.
This is not to say that you will not learn new, marketable skills in this class. We will raise your level of expertise in each of the programs you used in Design 1, as well as add instruction in After Effects. There will be fewer step-by-step tutorials, but short “tip” sessions every week that are intended to add to your skillset. But skills alone are not the end goal for a class like this. Hardware, software, formats — all will continue to change and evolve throughout your career as a designer. But core design ability transcends these technologies. To this end, this class will go deeper into developing your artistic sensibilities, with greater emphasis on mastering design principles, exploration of design thinking, with enhanced focus on composition, color and typographic theory.
Each week this semester will be themed, and each will conclude with a deadline. We will undertake a series of exercises designed to fire your creativity, improve your ability to think visually and arrive at compelling “visual solutions” to complex design challenges. Some of these exercises will be done in teams of two or three, and on others you will work alone.
Project work will be ongoing, in parallel with our in-class activities. For these projects, the process of creativity will be stressed as much as the quality of your finished product. For each project submission, you must include a series of sketches, alternative options and evidence of visual brainstorming that shows how your ideas developed over time. Learning how to work through a number of ideas, even in rough outline form, will vastly improve your ability to design high-quality work. And — just as you did in C226/C250 and J365 — you must conclude each graded project with a written reflection, to be published on our class website. Think of this not as an opportunity to list your trials and tribulations, but as an opportunity to explain your design and design decisions.