Design and Visual Language
© Elizabeth Kilroy and Hana Iverson for the New Media Interdisciplinary Concentration, Temple University
Objectives
- To progress in the visual process of "seeing" rather than merely "looking" at objects for the purpose of perceiving design possibilities.
- To think visually while investigating and using basic concepts of compositional design.
- To explore beyond the first idea
- To develop concepts from initial ideas through the process of rough sketches and working comps to completed design works.
“Everything has been thought of before. The problem is to think of it again.” – Goethe
Outline
Week One: What is graphic design?
Design has purpose, is informational, uses a visual language and is a process.
Thinking, looking and getting started.
How pictures work.
Making choices. What is composition?
In-class discussion and exercises
Assignment: Photo exercise - Urban Poem/Invisible City
Week One: Urban Poem/ Invisible City
Produce a short verbal description and a photo depiction of Philadelphia.
- You may use a digital camera or a disposable camera if you do not own one.
- Shoot 14 to 20 pictures and we will edit in class
- Print them out (no online presentations allowed)
- Shoot in daylight or natural light
Make sure to consider:
- What are the most important elements of the city/ neighborhood/ block?
- What mood or atmosphere are you trying to portray?
- What visual or rhetorical techniques can you use to portray your perception of the city?
Spend 2 to 4 hours on this assignment. You should be prepared to present your writing or images to the class in a 5-minute presentation (500 words or less).
Wallflowers Lyrics for Invisible Lyrics
Week Two: Space
What is space?
In-class discussion. Review and critique of assignment
Assignment: Urban Poem / Invisible City Continued: Editing our work.
Photocopy and collage: Collages, refinements, diptychs, triptychs etc
Week Three: Space Continued
Illusion of space
In-class discussion. Review and critique of assignment
Assignment: Composing a poster using digital media
Week Four: Form/Subject Matter
Sculpture, space and site specific
Form made tangible. Introduction to line, shape, volume and texture.
- Religious, mythical and historical references
- Image Making
- Clarity and ambiguity
- Abstraction
In-class discussion. Review and critique of assignment
Assignment: Collaborative field exercise. Groups will create temporary urban
sculptures. Some groups will create miniature and some larger than life. Each project must be photographed and documented. The project introduces collaborative skills
Week Five: Introduction to Typography
Introduction to the alphabet: letterforms, symbols, the terminology of typography. Type history: classifications, families, and measurements. Developing an understanding of letter proportion and spacing.
In-class discussion. Review and critique of assignment
Assignment: Type assignment
Week Six: Thinking with type
Word as image. Considering type as a design element. Looking at the impact of digital technology.
Review and critique of assignment
Assignment: Typographic composition plus discussion of mid term project.
Posters
Week Seven and Eight : Introduction to Color
Qualities of color, additive and subtractive color models, color harmonies, color contrasts
In-class discussion. Review and critique of assignment
In class color exercises.
Assignment: see below
Color Study
Week Eight and Nine: Color continued
Color Uses - cultural, social, philosophical visual explorations. Shaping interpretation and generating emotional response. Color for screen design.
Review and critique of assignment
Assignment: Color compositions Design anything you want using one of the following color schemes.
Week Ten: Introduction to Book Design
Assignment: Make paper versions of the following books -- simple or no content required. We will start in class.
·Who Am I? Book
·Hot Dog Booklet
·Accordion Book
·Index Card Book
How to make a simple hardcover book
Week Eleven: Design for the Screen
Design guidelines, convention usage, screen real estate, navigation, and content presentation. Graphics and animation. Creating sensory perception in screen based media.
Review and critique of assignment.
Assignment: Refining Concepts. Choosing one final direction.
Information design, the “how” of things. Organizing information, hierarchies, usability, use case scenarios, motion graphics, and space.
Applying a critical sensibility. Generating ideas. Defining deliverables. Taking a project to an innovative solution. Successful solutions are a result of a through investigation.
Assignment: Preliminary preparation for final project. Looking at American vernacular using the city as fodder. Revisiting some of the rhetorical ideas from week one.
Week Twelve: Visual Stories and narrative (this will be our final project)
Week Thirteen: Presentation of final project
Week Fourteen: Presentation of final project
Bibliography
Typography:
Stop Stealing Sheep and Find Out How Type Works, by Erik Spiekermann
Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students Princeton Architectural Press (Design Briefs) by Ellen Lupton
The Non-Designer’s Type Book: Insights and Techniques for Creating Professional-Level Type, by Robin Williams
Typography Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Using Type in Graphic Design by Timothy Samara
History:
Graphic Design: A Concise History (World of Art), by Richard Hollis
Graphic Design Time Line: A Century of Design Milestones, by Steven Heller, Elinor Pettit
Josef Muller-Brockmann: Pioneer of Swiss Graphic Design, by Lars Muller (Editor)
Paul Rand: A Designer’s Art, by Paul Rand
Paul Rand, by Steven Heller, Jessica Helfand
Swiss Graphic Design, by Robert Klanten (Editor)
Identity:
Letterhead and Logo Design 9 (Letterhead and Logo Design) by MINE
Designing Identity, by Marc English
Design It Yourself Logos, Letterheads, & Business Cards, by Chuck Green
Los Logos by Mika Mischler
Dos Logos by Roland Muller
How to Design Logos & Trademarks, by John Murphy & Michael Rowe
What Logos Do and How They Do It, by Anistasia R. Miller & Jared M. Brown
General:
Area (Paperback)
by Editors of Phaidon Press
Interaction of Color: Revised Edition by Josef Albers
Visual Language (Design Fundamentals Series) (Paperback)
by Peter Bonnici
Designing With Photographs (Design Fundamentals) (Paperback)
by Linda Proud, Peter Bonnici
Design Writing Research (Paperback)
by Ellen Lupton and Abbott Miller
Explore: Citations
Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design, by Steven Heller
The Design of Everyday Things, Donald Norman
The Nature of Design, by Peg Faimon & John Weigand
The Non-Designer’s Design Book, by Robin Williams
Visual Literacy: A Conceptual Approach to Graphic Problem Solving, by Judith Wilde & Richard Wilde
Encouraging Creativity:
A Whack on the Side of the Head!: How you can be more creative - Roger von Oech