ADPR 196 | Communication Design & Technology Tuesday & Thursday | 9:35 - 10:50 a.m. | JH 300 Instructor | Linda E. Menck Johnston Hall 311 414.288.3649 linda.menck@mu.edu Spring 2009 Office Hours Tuesday and Thursday | 1 - 3:30 p.m. or by appointment Textbooks & Materials There are no required textbooks for this class. Course materials will be distributed in class, posted on the course D2L site, or accessed online in e-book format. Required materials include: • USB flash drive for the back up of your work • 3 ring binder • Sketch book • Crayons or colored pencils
> COURSE OVERVIEW Communication Design & Technology is a project-based course that develops career and communication skills in print production, graphic design, and digital communication in the context of the professional web design and development process. Key skill areas developed include: • Project management and collaboration • Design • Research and communication • Professional print production using graphic design tools • Professional web communication design using web-authoring tools Students develop these key skills in a spiral—each project adds more challenging skills to foundation proficiencies. Students experience subject areas and skills across careers in graphic design, photography, print and layout design, digital design, and production. [Adobe collaborated with a community of educators across the US and UK to develop the appropriate depth and breadth of each project. Additionally, Adobe collaborated and co-developed this content with the International Society of Technology Education (ISTE) to create standards-aligned, career-track, course materials that focus on print production and graphic design, digital media and web development.] In this course we will address each of these areas, using a project-based approach. Each project has phases that follow a design and development process, from project planning and analysis to evaluation and distribution. Students gain experience through real-world projects that help them better understand the roles and processes across a broad range of careers involving visual and digital design. To simulate a professional work environment, students gradually migrate their design work from an individual process to a group process, focused on personal and client work. Design work by its very nature is iterative, so the projects contain activities that require students to evaluate and then redesign and rework their communications. Specific attention has been paid to developing concepts and principles for thorough, effective design. > COURSE STRUCTURE This course has been divided into four quads. Each quad takes approximately a quarter of the semester to complete. This means that this course will be quite intense. Descriptions of the four quads follow: QUAD 1 | The first quad of the course has been designed to develop skills that lay the foundation for photography and producing print-ready communications: graphic design principles, visual comps, print production development, shared project management skills such as interviewing and project scheduling, peer review, and redesign. Project activities focus on developing effective communications that can be deployed in print, on the web, or in video. The key skills emphasized in first quad are: • Soft skills such as interviewing and responding to feedback • Designing for a variety of audiences and needs • Problem solving that helps support multiple perspectives • The design process and effective communication • Peer teaching and evaluation in a collaborative environment • Technical image manipulation and print publishing skills
QUAD 2 | The second quad of the course builds on student design and development skills by focusing on longer print production projects as well as more in-depth content and advanced techniques for graphics and layout development. Students continue work to produce rich print communications. They focus on effective graphic design, project management, design specifications, and iterative development. They develop graphic design and print production skills that solve specific communication challenges to meet client and audience needs. They build technical skills to address project needs and learn to track complex projects. The key skills emphasized in the second quad are: • Project management skills such as task management, client management, milestone tracking, and contingency planning • Illustration and drawing • Communication with peers and team members, using project plans or specifications • Design and redesign • Technical graphic and print production skills such as creating vector-based graphics and filters • Design solutions, including multi-page and double-page layouts QUAD 3 | The third quad of the course develops skills that lay the foundation for producing web-ready communications: graphic design principles, storyboards, web development, shared project management skills such as interviewing and project scheduling, peer review, and redesign. Project activities focus on developing effective communications that can be deployed on the web. The key skills emphasized in this quad are: • “Soft” skills such as interviewing and responding to feedback • Designing a website for clients • Problem solving that helps support multiple perspectives • Reflection about the design process and effective communication • Peer teaching and evaluation in a collaborative environment • Technical web publishing QUAD 4 | The fourth course quad builds on student design and development skills by focusing on rich media development as well as website design and development. Students continue to work on producing rich media communications. The key skills emphasized in this quad are: • “Soft” skills such as interviewing and responding to feedback • Communication with clients, using design documents or specifications • Design and redesign according to client specifications • Technical multimedia skills such as film effects and transitions • Design solutions, including effective navigation systems and digital narratives
> SOFTWARE USAGE First and Second Quads: Adobe Photoshop CS3 to develop images Adobe InDesign CS3 to design and build layouts and print materials Adobe Illustrator CS3 to create vector-based graphics and illustrations Third and Fourth Quads: Adobe Fireworks CS3 to develop static and interactive graphics Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 to design and build websites Adobe Flash CS3 to apply design solutions requiring rich media and interactivity. > E-PORTFOLIO DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT The culmination of work from the four quads is an electronic portfolio including all course projects. Students will utilize Adobe Acrobat CS3 to design and develop the eportfolio throughout the individual quads. > COURSE REQUIREMENTS Attendance & Participation Your presence and active participation are important for your success in this class. This is an intense, fast-paced, hands-on course. If you miss class because of illness or an unexpected emergency, you must contact instructor within 24 hours of your absence either by e-mail or phone and provide written documentation of your excuse (e.g., doctor’s note) within one week of your absence in order for the absence to be considered excused. If you know in advance that you must miss class for a university related activity (e.g. athletic event, academic competition) or religious observance, you must notify instructor in writing at least one class session before you will miss class in order for it to be considered excused. Back Up Your Work It is a prudent idea to frequently back up your course work. Data loss of any type is not an excuse for missed deadlines. It is each individual student’s responsibility to ensure that they have current copies of their digital data. Flash drives or recordable CDs are relatively inexpensive and easily obtainable: there is no excuse for missing deadlines! That said: if you need assistance in backing up your data, please ask. > TECHNOLOGY Desire2Learn - D2L This course will utilize the Desire2Learn program. On this course site, you will find course information, any course announcements, discussion activities, and supplemental information. You are responsible for checking this website on a regular basis and will be held accountable for all information on this web page. You can access D2L at: http://d2l.mu.edu – your username and password will be the same as your checkmarq username and password. E-mail You should note Marquette University’s policy on e-mail: “Email is an appropriate and preferred method for official communication by Marquette with students unless otherwise prohibited by law. The university has the right to send official communication to students by email with the assumption that students will receive, read and, if necessary, act in a timely manner based upon these emails.” If I need to contact you outside of class, I will use your Marquette University e-mail address. I will expect that you will read and respond to this communication.
> ADDITIONAL COURSE POLICIES Special Needs Please inform me during the first week of class if you have any conditions that may limit or affect your ability to participate in this course so that we can make necessary arrangements. You may also contact the Office of Student Educational Services for additional information. > PROJECTS | STRUCTURE & ASSESSMENT For each class project the instructor will provide students with the following: • Student project quide • Project overview and objectives • Outline of skills they will have developed upon completion of the project • Project steps and resources • Project assessment rubric > SPRING 2009 COURSE SCHEDULE [QUAD 1] WK 1 1| 13-15
Course Introduction | Introduction to Project 1: Collaging & Photogaphy READING: Project 1 Student Guide
WK 2 & 3 1| 20-22-27-29
Digital Photography Guest Speaker | Dan Johnson, MU Head Photographer Work on Project 1: Collaging & Photography
WK 4 2| 3-5
Introduction to and work on Project 2: Logos READING: Project 2 Student Guide
[QUAD 2] WK 5 2| 10-12
Introduction to and work on Project 3: Business Cards READING: Project 3 Student Guide
WK 6 2| 17-19
Introduction to and work on Project 4: Advertisements READING: Project 4 Student Guide
WK 7 2| 24-26
Introduction to and work on Project 5: Brochures READING: Project 5 Student Guide
WK 8 3| 3-5
Introduction to and work on Project 6: Newsletters READING: Project 6 Student Guide
3| 9 - 13
SPRING BREAK - NO CLASSES
[QUAD 3] WK 9 3| 17-19
Introduction to and work on Unit 1: Fireworks READING: Unit 1 Student Guide
WK 10 3| 24-26
Introduction to and work on Unit 2: Building a Website READING: Unit 2 Student Guide
WK 11 3|30 - 4|2
Introduction to and work on Unit 3: Flash READING: Unit 3 Student Guide
WK 12 4|7 4|9
Introduction to and work on Unit 4: Digital Narrative READING: Unit 4 Student Guide EASTER HOLIDAY - NO CLASS
[QUAD 4] WK 13 4| 14-16
Introduction to and work on Unit 5: Designing a Website READING: Unit 5 Student Guide
WK 14 & 15 4| 21-23-28-30
Introduction to and work on Unit 6: E-Portfolio READING: Unit Student Guides
5|8 FINAL PROJECTS DUE 8:00 - 10:00 a.m.