Course Syllabus
Course Policies
Outcomes
By the end of the semester, you should be able to do the following:
- Demonstrate how to apply the principles of creative thinking by creating images that a target audience can understand.
- Use the principles of design to make strong visual images.
- Demonstrate how craftsmanship strengthens visual images.
- Demonstrate how to make images production-ready.
- Use the design process to meet a client's needs.
- Critique peer design work by articulating weaknesses and potential solutions.
Time Commitment
You should expect to commit 3–4 hours per credit to a BYUI online course. This class requires 9–12 hours per week. Please track your time. This course includes required synchronous meetings.
Supply List
- Text | How to Get Ideas by Jack Foster, Larry Corby (Illustrations)
- The course materials are available in the Course Materials List.
- Text | Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon
- The course materials are available in the Course Materials List.
- Computer access
- Microphone
- Usually, a computer or pair of headphones have one, but if they don't, you can get one for around $10.00 (US currency).
- Adobe CC (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator)
- The subscription is free for students enrolled in this class. Read How to access Adobe CC as an online student to learn more.
- Black marker (fine and thin-tipped)
- Pencil
- Ream of 8.5 × 11-inch paper
- Ruler (18 or 24-inch metal cork backed)
- X-Acto knife (with additional blades)
- Access to 11 inch × 17 inch-color printing
Course Organization
The course is divided into 14 weeks. There are three projects you will complete over the semester. Each week has steps to complete in a process book, which needs to be submitted with your projects as a PDF. The process book for the final project will be self-directed.
Prerequisites
Take the following:
- ART 130—Introduction to Graphic Design
Projects
You will complete three projects over the semester.
- Project 01: Creative Strategies
- Project 02: Classic Book Cover Series
- Project 03: PSA Poster Campaign
Each project will include three deliverables.
- Process Book submission (due in the final week of the project)
- Behance Post submission (due in the final week of the project)
- Questions and Feedback discussion participation (due every week)
Process Books
Complete the process books using Adobe InDesign. You must activate the Proxima Nova font family in Adobe Cloud fonts. The process book is submitted at the end of each project. At the end of the semester, all files will be compiled into a completed PDF book.
Some recommendations and suggestions include the following:
- Maintain and use a file structure.
- Keep a backup of your files.
- Add pages beyond the required minimum if necessary.
- Document your process thoroughly.
- Craft and edit your work with care and capability before submitting it.
Project Submissions
Weeks 03, 08, and 13 require a Behance Post link submission of your projects.
Questions and Feedback Discussions
There will be a specific Questions and Feedback discussion board each week for the project we're currently working on. The primary purpose of this board is for you to submit samples of your work (and perhaps process or process book) and receive feedback from your instructors and classmates. You are required to post on this board weekly to receive full credit. The minimum weekly requirement is one post of your work in progress and three specific and useful critiques of your classmates' work. That means if the length of the project is five weeks, you will need to post five samples of your work and give 15 critiques of your classmates' work to receive full credit.
Weekly Schedule
The weekly schedule will be the same throughout the course. There are two weekly due dates used in this course:
- Day 04 (Thursday, mountain time) of the week is when you submit your sample work submissions in the weekly Questions and Feedback discussion boards.
- Day 06 (Saturday, mountain time) of the week is when all assignment submissions and discussion board responses are due.
Reading Assignment
Read your assigned chapters early in the week. You must account for each reading assignment in a weekly quiz to receive full credit.
Discussion Posts
Questions and Feedback discussions are used to share samples of your work with your classmates. Submit your work in progress to these discussion boards early in the week. Post specific questions about your work to your peers so you can challenge one another and improve your projects together. You must offer critiques to at least three classmates each week to receive full credit in these discussions.
Instructor Consults
Each student must schedule and participate in two one-on-one consultations with the instructor. These should last about 30 minutes. The first must occur before the end of Week 07, and the second must occur before the end of Week 12. Be prepared to discuss your progress on the current project and your general experience in the course.
Other Office Hours
There are no regularly scheduled office hours for this course. If you want to schedule one-on-one time with your instructor, you may do so by appointment. Check your instructor's information page for available times and contact information. Extra credit is awarded for participation in office hours.
Process Book Submissions
You must submit your process book in the final week of each project. Once all pages are complete in the process book, export a PDF and submit it as a single file in the appropriate assignment. This assignment for a grade should be refined and polished commensurate with a college-level course.
Project Submissions
You will only need to submit your project in the final week of each project. Weeks 03, 08, and 13 require a Behance Post link submission of your projects.
Self-Assessment Surveys
This course includes an auto-graded self-assessment survey each week for you to honestly report your level of engagement in the course. These self-assessments are included in your extra-credit grade; your instructor will check your responses against the quality of your work periodically to ensure you are being honest.
Late Policy
Points are awarded for completing work on time. Late work will receive a deduction and must be completed within one week of the original deadline. Please get in touch with your instructor as soon as possible if there are extenuating circumstances.
AI Policy for Creative Projects
Incorporating AI into your design process is allowed, recognizing its growing significance in the industry. However, it's important to understand the boundaries set to ensure meaningful creative development.
What You Can Do with AI:
- Generative Fill: Utilize AI to enhance images by adding elements within them.
- Backgrounds: Use AI to expand or refine backgrounds to better fit the composition.
- Brainstorming: Employ AI to explore potential ideas or layout options. Remember, the core concept and direction should originate from your creativity.
What You Can’t Do with AI:
- Full Designs: Avoid using AI to create entire pieces, such as posters, book covers, or logos. This stage of your education is about cultivating your unique creative voice and skills.
- Writing Assignments: Do not use AI tools like ChatGPT to generate text for process books or reflective assignments. We seek your insights and reflections, which are critical to your learning experience.
Importance of This Policy:
We aim to foster your ability to create and narrate visual stories independently. Over-reliance on AI can hinder the development of your original ideas and personal style, which are essential to your artistic identity.
Future Updates:
We are currently developing a comprehensive AI policy for the Art Department. Once finalized, it will be shared to provide clearer guidelines. Until then, please adhere to these preliminary guidelines and ensure your sketches and initial concepts are well-documented before integrating AI into your projects.
Faculty Feedback
The instructor will review your submissions, primarily in the Questions and Feedback discussion boards, and give you feedback on each assignment.
Behance Post
Behance is an online social portfolio for the visual arts. It will be used for project grading.
You will need to set up an account to post content. Follow this link to sign up for a Behance account.
Grading
11% | Four Completed Process Books |
---|---|
60% | Three Projects (Behance posts) |
10% | Community Participation (commenting and peer review) |
10% | Reading Assignments |
9% | Instructor Consults |
+3% Extra Credit | Office Hour Attendance and Self-Assessment Surveys |
Graphic Design Program Outcomes
This course contains supplemental material for you to consider while pursuing a degree in graphic design.
A graduate should demonstrate competency in the following areas:
Quality of Design
The student will demonstrate through application and presentation a solid understanding of the elements and principles of design. They should be able to identify how their visual choices are effective and appropriate.
Quality of Communication and Substance
The student will bring meaning to the content. Their work should go beyond decoration and adornment. Using their skills as designers, they should be able to connect the content and the visual form. Students demonstrate their understanding of this idea through smart visuals, presentations, discussions, and writing.
- The student can create meaningful artifacts.
- The student can document their process.
Quality of Craftsmanship
The student will craft all visual presentation elements, focusing on making a beautiful, well-produced, and detail-oriented product. Their craftsmanship is exemplified in digital and physical form. Attention to small details must become second nature.
- The student can craft well-structured digital documents.
Quality of Typography
The students will be able to demonstrate typographic hierarchy. The hierarchy should create interest and give a reader clues to the order of importance. The hierarchy should be attached to the meaning of the content.
- The student can recognize and create a typographic hierarchy.
- The student can classify fonts.
Quality of Technical Skills
The student will demonstrate proficient use of hardware and software tools.
Quality of Conceptual Sketching
The student will use sketching to provide a visual for their ideas. The sketching process is intended to be a quick way to explore many possibilities. The students' short-hand drawings are not meant to be works of art; the focus should be on clear communicative marks and a wide range of solutions.
Quality of Research
The student will use different research techniques to increase their understanding of the challenge at hand. Research should broaden and inform the design process. If work created after the research is the same as it would have been before the research, then the exploration was not deep enough. Quality research helps the project have more clarity and meaning.
- The student can create and use a mind map.
- The student can conduct a useful visual survey.
- The student can identify effective examples of graphic design.
- The student can conduct and respond to user testing.
Quality of Professional Skills
The student can follow instructions.
- The student can complete work on time.
Quality of Writing
The student can write about their visual work.
- The student can express thoughts in a clear and organized manner.
- The student can use correct grammar and spelling.
University Policies
Students with Disabilities
Brigham Young University-Idaho is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere accommodating qualified persons with disabilities. If you have a disability and require accommodations, don't hesitate to contact the Accessibility Services Office at 1-208-496-9210 or visit their website and follow the Steps for Receiving Accommodations. Reasonable academic accommodations are reviewed for all students who have qualified documented disabilities. Services are coordinated with students and instructors by the Accessibility Services Office.
This course requires students to use Adobe Creative Suite. If you have a disability preventing you from accessing this software, please contact Accessibility Services.
This course includes required synchronous meetings. If you are currently registered with the Accessibility Services Office and need an interpreter or transcriber for these meetings, please get in touch with the deaf and hard of hearing coordinator at 1-208-496-9219.
Student Honor and Other Policies
The materials in this course are intellectual property; taking any materials from the course and posting them outside of the course in any manner, such as posting on Course Hero, will be construed as theft. If you post course materials without authorization, the instructor has the right to impose an appropriate academic sanction (give you a failing grade and/or fail you from the course).
Please read through the document called University Policies. It gives important information about the following topics:
- Student Honor
- Academic Honesty
- Student Conduct
- Sexual Harassment
- Student with Disabilities
- Complaints and Grievances
- Copyright Notice
Go to the Student Resources module to review further resources and information.
Course Summary:
Date | Details | Due |
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