Academic Catalog

GID 35: GRAPHIC DESIGN STUDIO III

Foothill College Course Outline of Record

Foothill College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Units: 4
Hours: 3 lecture, 3 laboratory per week (72 total per quarter)
Advisory: Not open to students with credit in GID 52.
Degree & Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Non-GE
Transferable: CSU/UC
Grade Type: Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass)
Repeatability: Not Repeatable

Student Learning Outcomes

  • A successful student will define unique visual communication projects
  • A successful student will be able to design complex pieces on a professional level.
  • A successful student will evaluate the quality of work in terms of the communication objective and the design solution.
  • A successful student will manage time and resources of projects from conception to completion.
  • A successful student will demonstrate an understanding of the pre-press production process
  • A successful student will demonstrate an understanding of the web production process.
  • A successful student will communicate information in visual form to a culturally-diverse public.

Description

Continuation of GID 34. Students design and produce a real-world graphic design campaign. Focus on creative solutions that effectively use type, image, and layout. Projects include branding, identity, newsletter, website, and package design. Creative ideas are explored in sketches, rough layouts, comps, and final presentations. Students learn Adobe CC software and industry standard software to complete the graphic design activities in this course.

Course Objectives

The student will be able to:
A. apply the design process from conception to completion.
B. define unique visual communication projects.
C. construct complex design pieces on a professional level.
D. evaluate the quality of work in terms of the communication objective and the design solution.
E. manage time and resources of projects from conception to completion.
F. demonstrate an understanding of the pre-press production process.
G. demonstrate an understanding of the web production process.
H. communicate information in visual form to a culturally-diverse public.

Course Content

A. Design process
1. Information gathering and research
2. Design and audience
a. Client
b. Consumer public
3. Communication of information
a. Communication objectives
b. Design objectives
c. Idea generation
d. Concept development
B. Collateral design
1. Corporate campaigns
2. Brand Identities
3. Newsletters
4. Websites
5. Packages
C. Production and distribution
1. Print publications
a. Working with outside vendors
b. Preparing files for pre-press and commercial printing
c. Portable document production (PDF)
d. Proofing
2. Online publications
a. Working with online service providers
b. Uploading files
c. File and directory management
d. Usability testing
D. Software demonstrations and techniques
1. Digital image preparation for electronic media
a. Toolbox
b. Menu items
c. Palettes
d. File formats
2. Web page layout
a. Toolbox
b. Menu items
c. Palettes
d. Importing text and graphics
e. Typography
f. File formats and file management
3. Portable document format (PDF)
a. Toolbox
b. Menu items
c. Palettes
d. File formats and file management
4. Skills and techniques in design presentation
E. Visual Culture
1. Visual communication in a global marketplace
2. Artistic contributions by individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds

Lab Content

A. Software techniques
1. Digital file preparation for print media
a. Prepress
b. PDFs
c. File formats
2. Page layout
a. Toolbox
b. Menu items
c. Palettes
d. Grids
e. Importing text and graphics
f. Typography
g. Style sheets
h. File formats and file management
3. Skills and techniques in design presentation

Special Facilities and/or Equipment

A. A lecture room equipped with an instructional computer, high-resolution color monitor, projection system, scanner, print output device, software, and network connectivity. Lighting and wall space suitable for displaying and critiquing hard copy output and projected images.
B. An integrated or separate facility with student workstation configurations to include hard drives; color monitors; mice or electronic drawing tablets; keyboards; scanners; print output device, software, and network connectivity.
C. When taught via Foothill Global Access: on-going access to computer with java-script enabled Internet browsing software, media plug-ins, and relevant computer graphics applications.

Method(s) of Evaluation

A. Completed student projects
B. Full class critiques
C. Student-teacher conferences
D. Portfolio evaluation

Method(s) of Instruction

A. Lecture presentations and classroom discussion using the language of Graphic Design.
B. In-class reading of Graphic Design texts by the instructor and students followed by instructor-guided interpretation and analysis.
C. Group presentations of major projects followed by in-class discussion and evaluation.

Representative Text(s) and Other Materials

Landa, Robin. Graphic Design Solutions. 5th ed. Cengage Learning, 2014.

 

Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing, and Outside of Class Assignments

A. Example reading assignment: Lesson 1 from textbook - pages 135-149 Identity. Project overview: page 150, Project 5.

B. Example writing assignment: Lesson 1 - Write a thorough creative brief for your project. You will be designing a complete campaign for a restaurant. Describe the restaurant, what type of food do they serve, who are the typical customers, where is it located, when is it open?

 

Discipline(s)

Graphic Arts