GD 100 Introduction to Graphic Design Assignment Guide
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The following table spells out the six criteria by which your course notebook and work will be judged. 1 point
2 points
3 points
4 points
2 items missing
1 item missing
all items presented
additional items included, i.e. materials from relevant websites, copies of course resource materials, class notes.
development not submitted of material
No items are developed with additional writing, sketches, diagrams, samples.
At least one item is developed with additional writing, sketches, diagrams, samples.
2 items are developed with additional writing, sketches, diagrams, samples.
3 items are developed with additional writing, sketches, diagrams, samples.,
relationship of not submitted assignments to course content
no relationship to course content
course content reflected in at least three completed assignments
course content reflected in at least four completed assignments
course content reflected in at least five completed assignments
ordering of not submitted material
Materials present are not in order.
Materials sorted but lack clear divisions.
Materials presented in a way that lets the reader clearly distinguish the different items.
Materials presented in a way that lets the reader see relationships between the different items.
creativity of not submitted development
No creativity shown in development of items.
Creativity shown in development of 2 items.
Creativity shown in development of 3 items.
Creativity shown in development of more than 3 items.
creativity in presentation
No creativity exhibited in presentation.
Creativity exhibited in either organization of presentation or form of presentation
Creativity exhibited in both organization of presentation and form of presentation
Organization and form of presentation strikingly creative in over 1/2 of the items,
criterion
0 points
completeness not submitted of material
not submitted
A = 24 A- = 23
B+ = 22 B = 21 B- = 20
C+ = 19 C = 18 D- = 17
D+ = 16 D = 15 F < 15
GD 100 Introduction to Graphic Design Assignment Guide
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The following descriptions are provided to help you get a better grasp of your weekly assignments. Assignment 1 Write a description of your ideal design job. Be as visionary as you want. You might write it in the style of: • a letter to a friend • a journal or diary entry • a news item • a short chapter of a mystery novel You can enhance the assignment with: • a map of where you would live & work • an image representing your ideal office/work space • samples of the work you would do • a graph of your salary over time • an image of your first paycheck Assignment 2 Draw a time line illustrating your own “history” with graphic design. Include such things as: • when did you first read • when did you first figure out a symbol like a directional arrow • when did you learn to write capital letters • when did you learn to write small (lowercase) letters • when did you learn to write script • when did you first notice a commercial symbol like a brand mark or logotype • when did you first notice graphics in electronic media • when did you first use a computer (or typewriter) for writing • when did you first use a computer for image making • when did you take your first photograph • when did you start drawing • when did you take your first art or design course Enhancements could include: • pictures • samples of your writing then and now • images of the graphic events in your history
GD 100 Introduction to Graphic Design Assignment Guide
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Assignment 3 Write five design game “chance” cards. You do not have to make the cards, but remember to make each circumstance relevant to the course content. For example: Crash your computer and lose your work. Pull an all nighter. Enhance the assignment by making your own illustrations, or by selecting images that illustrate the “card”. For those who have not played Monopoly in a long time:
Assignment 4 Devise five levels of a computer action game for graphic designers. Define how a designer advances between each level—1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, and 4 to 5. You might adapt a current game like Borderlands to something like Marginlands where instead of being assaulted by robots you take on computer applications that are taking over the jobs of designers, where you defeat the applications by achieving nuanced and aesthetically pleasing design beyond the defaults of the software. Enhance the assignment with a flow diagram explaining the relationships among the levels, or perhaps a cover for the game or a web banner promoting it. Assignment 5 Write 10 design related questions that could be asked on “So you want to be a Graphic Designer.” (i.e. “so You Want to be a Millionaire). Choose a famous designer to ask as host and explain why. Make the questions relevant to the course material. Remember these are fact-based questions such as: Who designed most of the album covers for blue note records in the 1950’s and 1960’s (Reid Miles). Enhance the assignment by providing correct and incorrect multiple-choice answers. Be creative by writing 10 questions about one designer, or graphic arts technology. Substantiate your answers by looking them up on the Internet.
GD 100 Introduction to Graphic Design Assignment Guide
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Assignment 6 Write profiles of 5 contestants for “The Wrist” a professional survivor show in which the winner gets a job as junior designer for Carin Goldberg. Wrist is a design slang term for a design assistant/apprentice. Find out why people would enter a contest to work with Ms. Goldberg. Enhance the assignment by providing images of the contestants. You might: • draw caricatures of the contestants • find photos or illustrations representing the contestants • take pictures of yourself in 5 different outfits/facial expressions Assignment 7 Produce a sketch of the design of a game board for graphic designers, and write 10 different names for your graphic design game. The sketch could be a pastiche or parody of a well known board game like “Monopoly”, “Clue”, or “Chutes and Ladders”. Remember that the game board should graphically represent ideas/concepts presented in class like the design process or the semiotics of graphic design. This is a sketch so creativity is more important than execution. Assignment 8 Using the persona of a graphic designer you have read about, write a blurb selling your game to graphic designers. Read about someone like Tobias Frere-Jones or Paula Scher, find a quote by them and craft it into a promotional phrase/sentence for your game. Clever use of language for the crisp conveyance of an idea from the course is what matters here. Assignment 9 Use collage to develop an electronic media design hero and an electronic media design villain. You might: • cut and paste images from magazines, posters, post cards, etc. (see Romare Bearden) • create the collage characters from cut and torn paper and everyday office items (see Ivan Chermayeff) • abstract forms (see the work of Paul Rand) • use a program like Photoshop to electronically assemble images, which you find, draw or photograph. Relevance and wit count most here.