Graphic Design 2 | Spring 2022

Graphic Design 2—Syllabus

Course Description

This course provides extended study of graphic design principles and their application to more complex and comprehensive solutions. Experimentation, research, conceptual thinking, and process are emphasized in design for the screen. Students learn essential design tools and techniques for the development of interactive media. Students work with html and css to understand code as a fundamental building block for their design compositions. Prerequisite: GD 200 (Graphic Design 1) or GD graduate standing.

Learning Outcomes

  • Articulate design fundamentals and apply them to digital media.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of hierarchy as it applies to interactive media.
  • Employ concepts, processes, and production tools for interaction design.
  • Develop a process that adapts to new tools, best practices and mediums.
  • Develop an understanding of interaction as an essential component of communication.

Projects

We will be completing 3 projects this semester exploring the formal structure of online message-making, systems of design, linear and non-linear sequences, design for multiple devices / mediums, and design of interactions. The final design solutions will vary in medium and scope. These projects are designed to further your understanding and experience of design fundamentals and practice, while focusing on the rapid evolution of technology that continues to change how we communicate visually.

I will post project briefs to our class website as the semester progresses clarifying the project goals, deliverables and constraints. Unless noted otherwise in the project brief, all process sketching must be completed offline before commencing coding.

Plan for 25-50 color / b&w letter-sized printouts for presentations throughout the semester. A sketchbook is also required.

Course Structure

Each class will be a combination of in-class making, discussion, and critique. We will meet as a class, in small groups, and individually every week. We will meet the entire time the class is scheduled with a 1-hour lunch break.

Health and Safety

Masking

Wearing a mask that snuggly fits over your mouth and nose is required for all indoor spaces. You may only lower you mask briefly for drinking.

Eating and Drinking

Eating and drinking is allowed only in designated areas. Breaks for safely unmasking, and eating / drinking will be provided in all classes of extended length.

Illness

If you are feeling ill, do not attend class. Please contact me as soon as possible after the class you miss for assignments, resources, and feedback on work.

Contact & Office Hours

You are encouraged to seek feedback in person during my office hours. Students must schedule an appointment for office hours. Appointments are 15 minutes.

Questions are also encouraged. You may do so via email, but note a response may take up to 24 hours. Email received over the weekend will receive a response on Monday.

Requirements of Class

WORK & CRITIQUE
  • If you are having difficulty understanding an assignment or completing your work, it is your responsibility to talk to me right away.
  • Be prepared for class every day that we meet. Please bring the necessary tools that will allow you to work in class, all sketches / layouts / studies / files that pertain to the development of your projects, any inspiration the class might benefit from seeing, and copies of any assigned reading for discussion.
  • You must meet all project deadlines. Late work will automatically lower your grade.
  • You are only to work on class projects during class sessions; NO PERSONAL EMAIL, SOCIAL NETWORKING, PHONE CALLS, TEXTING OR CHAT DURING CRITIQUES, DEMOS OR LECTURES. While I may not mention each time I observe you violating this policy, it will affect your final grade.
  • You will be given at least one break per hour. With that, please do not leave the classroom while the class is meeting without permission.
ATTENDANCE & TARDINESS
  • Attendance and participation is mandatory. Arrive on time at the start of each class and after each break. Failure to return from break will be considered an absence. STUDENTS WHO HAVE THE EQUIVALENT OF MORE THAN 3 ABSENCES ARE NO LONGER ELIGIBLE TO EARN CREDIT FOR THE COURSE. If you are absent, it is your responsibility for gathering any material and completing any in-class assignments missed.
  • Tardiness also will not be tolerated. If you arrive 10 minutes past the scheduled class start time, this is considered tardy. 3 TARDIES WILL BE COUNTED AS AN ABSENCE. ARRIVING MORE THAN 30 MINUTES LATE WILL MARKED AS AN ABSENCE.
DOCUMENTATION
  • Make it a habit to back up your work frequently. Organize and save all presentations, sketches, alternate solutions and research for all work completed.
  • You must provide a full archive of all print-ready digital files, digital archives and/or screen grabs completed during the semester to me by the last day of classes for the semester. Failure to submit final files will result in a reduction of 50% credit for the course.

Assessment

Your work in this class with be assessed based on the following criteria: PRODUCT, PROCESS and PROFESSIONALISM. I will provide you with an assessment of your work for each project and a final grade which takes into account all the projects of the semester.

Following is a break down of grading criteria and their overall proportion that determines your semester grade for this class:

PRODUCT (1/3)
  • Meeting project constraints
  • Inventiveness of the solution
  • Proficiency of graphic design concepts
  • Craft / presentation
  • Communication to intended audience

 

PROCESS (1/3)
  • Quality and quantity of research
  • Conversion of research into ideas
  • Development of ideas (project & semester)
  • Translation of problem into a personal response
  • Improvement of work

 

PROFESSIONALISM (1/3)
  • Attendance
  • Meeting deadlines
  • Being prepared and productive during class
  • Verbal and written presentations
  • Participation in class critiques

 

A

SUPERIOR: exceeds requirements of course with highest level of conceptual and technical skill

B

VERY GOOD: meets requirements of the course with above average conceptual and technical skill

C

AVERAGE: conceptual, technical or conduct flaws, but meets requirement of course

D

POOR: barely meeting course requirements

F

FAILING: did not meet course requirements

Schedule

20 Jan.

Project 1 Assigned

27 Jan.

3 Feb.

10 Feb.

17 Feb.

Project 1 Due
Assign Project 

24 Feb.

Project 1 Files Due

3 Mar.

10 Mar.

17 Mar.

NO CLASS—Spring Break

24 Mar.

31 Mar.

Project 2 Due
Assign Project 

7 Apr.

Project 2 Files Due

14 Apr.

21 Apr.

28 Apr.

5 May

Project 3 Due

Academic Policy Statements

Academic Disability Accommodations

MICA makes reasonable academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. All academic accommodations must be approved through the Learning Resource Center (LRC). Students requesting accommodation should schedule an appointment at the LRC (410-225-2416 or e-mail LRC@mica.edu), located in Bunting 110. It is the student’s responsibility to make an accommodation request in a timely manner. Academic accommodations are not retroactive.

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS)

Students are responsible to follow health and safety guidelines relevant to their individual activities, processes, and to review MICA's Emergency Operations Plan and attend EHS training. Students are required to purchase personal protection equipment appropriate for their major or class. Those students who do not have the proper personal protection equipment will not be permitted to attend class until safe measures and personal protection are in place.

Plagiarism

Each discipline within the arts has specific and appropriate means for students to cite or acknowledge sources and the ideas and material of others used in their own work. Students have the responsibility to become familiar with such processes and to carefully follow their use in developing original work.

POLICY

MICA will not tolerate plagiarism, which is defined as claiming authorship of, or using someone else's ideas or work without proper acknowledgement. Without proper attribution, a student may NOT replicate another's work, paraphrase another's ideas, or appropriate images in a manner that violates the specific rules against plagiarism in the student's department. In addition, students may not submit the same work for credit in more than one course without the explicit approval of all of the instructors of the courses involved.

CONSEQUENCES

When an instructor has evidence that a student has plagiarized work submitted for course credit, the instructor will confront the student and impose penalties that may include failing the course. In the case of a serious violation or repeated infractions from the same student, the instructor will report the infractions to the department chair or program director. Depending on the circumstances of the case, the department chair or program director may then report the student to the appropriate dean or provost, who may choose to impose further penalties, including expulsion.

APPEAL PROCESS

Students who are penalized by an instructor or department for committing plagiarism have the right to appeal the charge and penalties that ensue. Within three weeks of institutional action, the student must submit a letter of appeal to the department chairperson or program director, or relevant dean or provost related to the course for which actions were taken. The academic officer will assign three members of the relevant department/division to serve on a review panel. The panel will meet with the student and the instructor of record and will review all relevant and available materials. The panel will determine whether or not to confirm the charge and penalties. The findings of the panel are final. The panel will notify the instructor, the chairperson, division, the student, and the Office of Academic Affairs of their findings and any recommendations for change in penalties.

Title IX Notification

Maryland Institute College of Art seeks to provide an educational environment based on mutual respect that is free from discrimination and harassment. If you have encountered sexual harassment/misconduct/assault, please know that there are multiple ways to report it and you are encouraged to do so (www.mica.edu/equal_opportunity). If you require academic adjustments due to an incident involving sexual harassment or discrimination, please contact Student Affairs at 410.225.2422 or Human Resources at 410.225.2363. Please be aware that in order to meet our commitments to equity and to comply with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and guidance from the Office for Civil Rights, faculty and staff members are required to report disclosures of gender based discrimination made to them by students. However, nothing in this policy shall abridge academic freedom or MICA’s educational mission. Prohibitions against discrimination and discriminatory harassment do not extend to actions, statements or written materials that are relevant and appropriately related to course subject matter or academic discussion.

Students with Extended Illness or Cause for Legitimate Absence

In the case of extended illness or other absences that may keep the student from attending a class for more than three meetings, undergraduate students must contact the Student Development Specialist in the Division of Student Affairs or have an official disability accommodation letter issued by the Learning Resource Center that specifically addresses class absences. For students who have not been approved for academic disability accommodations, the Student Development Specialist will work with the student to determine the cause and appropriateness of the absences and subsequently notify instructors as necessary. Graduate students must contact the instructor, program director, and the Office of Graduate Studies. Students in professional studies programs must contact the Associate Dean for Open Studies. The appropriate administrator will facilitate a conversation with relevant faculty to determine whether the student can achieve satisfactory academic progress, which is ultimately at the sole discretion of the faculty member.

Technical References