This studio course will introduce students to the essential aspects and skills of graphic design, and will analyze and discuss the increasingly vital role that non-verbal, graphic information plays in all areas of professional life, from fine art and book design to social networking and the Internet. Students in the course will explore visual organization through a series of focused, interrelated assignments dealing with composition, page layout, type design, and image. Hands on production will include an array of do-it-yourself printing and distribution technologies, from letterpress and mimeograph to photocopying and websites.
Sample reading list:
Institute for the Future of the Book, http://www.futureofthebook.org
Dexter Sinister, Just-In-Workshop & Occasional Bookstore
Clip, Stamp, Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little M, http://storefrontnews.org/exhibitions/upcoming.html
Ubu Web, http://www.ubu.com
The Complete New Yorker, http://www.thenewyorkerstore.com/books_completenewyorker.mid
Reading/Writing assignments:
Six studio assignments (one every other week); two published pamphlets or books (one at midterm, one at the end of term); four publicity campaigns (post card, leaflet, poster, email blast or performance).
