Reminder: Process Files Due

Deadline: By the end of the day on Monday, Dec. 9th.

Just a reminder that I need process PDFs for both your poster and your book. Please get these to me by the end of day on Monday, Dec. 9th. If I do not have them by then, they will not be considered in my grading.

PDF File Prep Conventions:

1. Please save all of your process in one combined multi-page PDF. You can do this in Adobe Acrobat Pro by going to File > Create > PDF > Combine Files Into a Single PDF. All pieces that you are importing into this combined file will either need to be PDFs or JPGs.

2. Please be sure your file is not huge. Let’s shoot for less than 10mb per PDF. You can reduce the file size in Adobe Acrobat via two way. Either by going to File > Save As > Reduced Size PDF (eliminates extra digital info in your file) or File > Save As > Optimized PDF (allows you to reduce the resolution of images embedded in the file).

3. Please make sure your name is in the file name. Recommended file naming structure (replace my name with yours, of course):
RJones_poster_process.pdf
RJones_book_process.pdf

What goes in the Process PDFs:

Poster PDF:
– Inspiration Board (single collaged page of design that inspired your concepts)
– Thumbnail Sketches (minimum of 30 were required)
– Rough Concepts (minimum of 3 different concepts were required)
– Final Poster Design

Book PDF:
– Grid Sketches (3 grid concepts for 3 different spread templates)
– Roughs of Book Cover
– Final PDF of Book Cover
– (I should already have the PDF of your book insides from presentation)

How to get them to me:

Any of these ways will suffice:

– Dropbox: I will be sending out an invite from my dropbox folder shortly. To upload into this box, you will need to set up a free dropbox account. Alternatively, if you have issues with allowed file space, you can set up your own folder in your free dropbox space, then click on the “shared link” icon and put in my email address.

– We Transfer: will send me a link to download your files.

– Email me at rjones84@jccc.edu, if you file is smaller than 5 mb.

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Blurb Discount Codes

These discounts expire on Thursday, Nov 21.

*Offer valid until November 21, 2013 (11:59 p.m. California time).

CODE: SOLUTION20
Whether you’re giving one book this holiday season or several, spend as little as $40 with us and take 20% off through November 21, 2013.

CODE: ANYWAY100
Just spend $100 or more on any book order and we’ll give you $25 off through November 21, 2013. Small softcover, large hardcover, multiple copies—it’s up to you.

CODE: DOUBLEPLAY
Proline premium papers, colored end sheets, ImageWrap hardcovers—just add any two to your book order of $60 or more and take 25% off through November 21, 2013.

CODE: SQUARECOMBO
One beautiful book, two beautiful sizes. You’ll get two sizes—7×7 and 12×12—and get 25% off the combo through November 21, 2013.

Revised Schedule and Deadlines

Below is the revised schedule of deadlines for coming weeks for the design history research project, both poster and book.

Thursday Class

OCT 31
Crit: Revised Posters and Book Cover Roughs: posters printed on 11×17 in full color
Individual Meetings: Grid Sketches for Book Layouts
In-Class: work on wire-framing spread templates in InDesign

NOV 7
Status Check: Rough History Book: content applied to spread templates
Due: Library of all images used in the book.

NOV 14
Crit: Near-final History Book: printed actual size in B&W

NOV 21
Publishing deadline to get book back in time with standard shipping
Crit: Large History Poster: revised designs printed actual size, tiled up B&W prints

 

Monday Class

NOV 4
Crit: Revised Posters and Book Cover Roughs: printed actual size in color
Individual Meetings: Grid Sketches for Book Layouts
In-Class: work on wire-framing spread templates in InDesign

NOV 11
Status Check: Rough History Book: content applied to spread templates
Due: Library of all images used in the book.

NOV 18
Crit: Near-final History Book: printed actual size in B&W
Publishing deadline to get book back in time with standard shipping

NOV 25
Crit: Large History Poster: revised designs printed actual size, tiled up B&W prints

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Deadline Reminders

Section 001: Monday, October 14th
Section 003: Thursday, October 17th

Midterm Quiz
Due: Final Great Quotes: printed in one piece on large format and mounted according to specifications.
Due: Poster Thumbnails: at least 30 rough ideas in pencil or pen.
Thursday Class: you have a mandatory email deadline for these thumbnails on Thursday, Oct 10th by end of day.
Due: Second writing center check, history report.

Type Midterm

Just a reminder that you have resources available to you to study for the midterm. In addition to reviewing content from the readings I had assigned to you during the first half of the semester, I have posted handouts and exercises on the “resources” page of this blog. These lectures will be handy:

A Type Primer / Kane

Lecture Slides: Type Classifications

Lecture Slides: Type Families & Punctuation

Lecture Slides: Readability, Legibility and Spacing

As well as these supplemental web article readings:

A Good Overview of Type Classifications
History of typography: Humanist
History of typography: Old Style
History of typography: Transitional
History of typography: Modern
History of typography: Slab-Serif

Thinking with Type: Punctuation
Smashing Magazine: Mind Your En And Em Dashes: Typographic Etiquette

Font Readability and Legibility
Reviving Caslon: Readability, Affability, Authority

Great Quote Mounting Clarification

Final Mounted Due Dates:
Monday Class: October 14
Thursday Class: October 17

If you are doing vertical 7 x 21, then the board should be 13w x 27.5t, leaving 3 inches margin on top, left and right and 3. 5 on the bottom.

If you are doing horizontal 21 x 7, then the board should be 27w x 13.5t.

If you are doing three 7 inch squares, add length to the board to compensate for the margin between the squares. I recommend leaving an inch between. Therefore, if you do a horizontal three square format, your board will be 29w by 13.5t.

Deadline Reminder

Section 003: Thursday, September 19th:
Section 001: Monday, September 23rd:

Reading Assignment 4: Readability, Legibility, and Spacing
Thinking with Type / Lupton / pgs 87-111
Font Readability and Legibility
Reviving Caslon: Readability, Affability, Authority

Great Quote:
Due: 11×17 Digital Inspiration Boards
Due: At least 30 thumbnail sketches. 15 from your in-class exercise, 15 full quote compositions.

Project: Great Quotes

Design, develop and produce an expressive typographic layout.

This assignment has been developed to reinforce some very basic typographic concepts learned in the first typographic project, and to further explore the subtleties of letter, word and line placement.

Expressively and typographically design one of the approved quotes on the list. There are no restrictions in layout or typeface selection. The only restrictions are that it must be in black & white, and it must be created only using type!

TYPOGRAPHIC METAPHOR.
Select a quote from the list. Consider the central ideas behind the quote and/or what the quote is trying to convey to its audience. Write down these three central ideas.  These ideas could be a broader idea not literally worded in the quote. For example, “form over function” is a key idea behind the Steve Jobs quote.

In class, rapidly thumbnail ideas for how you could communicate these ideas only through manipulations of type. You will sketch at least 5 thumbnails for each idea. Then, typeset each of the three ideas in a typeface from one of the primary classifications of type that we discussed in the previous class. Print these out B&W on individual pieces of paper and use hand-generated methods to manipulate the typeface in a way that visually represents the idea behind the word.

GET INSPIRED AND PROCESS.

Due the next class. Spend time finding design examples to get inspired! First create a collaged  mood/inspiration board of inspired research. This will be presented as a 11×17 landscape digital PDF. Next, you will produce thumbnails sketches (30 total, some can be from adopted from your thumbnailing in class).

Due in two weeks. You will then generate rough comps (at least three directions).

WHO’S YOUR AUDIENCE? 

The main point of consideration for this project: Who is your audience? What message from the quote do you want to communicate to that audience? Decide what audience you wish to communicate to, then make type and layout choice based on the visual language that would “speak to that audience”.

DESIGN FORMAT:  

Three 7” X 7” squares, or one 21” by 7” rectangle.

PRESENTATION:

Mount the final exercise on Letramax Super Black mount board. Cut the board to 29” x 13-1/2” in size. Your pieces should then be mounted to the surface of this board with top and side margins equal. This means the top and side margins will be 3” and the bottom margin will be 3-1/2“.

QUOTE OPTIONS:

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.”

Mary Lou

“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”

Scott Adams

“Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.”

Steve Jobs

“A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better
than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.”

Mahatma Gandhi

“That is beautiful which is produced by the inner need, which springs from the soul.”

Wassily Kandinsky

“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”

Coach John Wooden

“Eventually everything connects—people, ideas, objects…the quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.”

Charles Eames

“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.”

Albert Einstein

Report Outline Deadline

Section 003: Thursday, September 12th:
Section 001: Monday, September 16th:

Due: Outline of Design History Report.

Please have this typed and ready to review in an individual meeting with me. You don’t have to have anything written yet, but the report outline should reflect all the topics you will write about based on your research. Utilize this outline to decide on the approach to your writing. For example, a report about a designer could be organized chronologically, by category of work, by influential projects, etc. A design movement could be divided among the major designers in the movement or contrasting the various disciplines within (ie., architecture, advertising, textiles, furniture design, & product design).

Deadline Reminders

Section 003: Thursday, September 5th:
Section 001: Monday, September 9th:

Final Crit: Letterform Exploration: Part Three:
Refine one of your rough compositions drawn during class into a final composition. You can crop, scale, repeat, layer the letterform, etc to achieve a new composition. Medium is up to you. Pencil, pen, charcoal, marker or paint (or any mark making tool you’d like to explore) are all allowed (no color!). To add a new informational layer to this phase of the project, incorporate labels to indicate the parts (anatomy) of your letterforms. Labels can be drawn directly on your paper, be applied to a separate material and stuck on to your composition, be tied, stapled or taped to your composition. Do whatever you want! We will post these on the wall of the critique room at the beginning of class to discuss.

Examples :

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due: Reading Assignment 3:
Thinking with Type / Lupton / pgs 46–83
Web articles listed below:

A Good Overview of Type Classifications
History of typography: Humanist
History of typography: Old Style
History of typography: Transitional
History of typography: Modern
History of typography: Slab-Serif

Thinking with Type: Punctuation
Smashing Magazine: Mind Your En And Em Dashes: Typographic Etiquette

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