Graphic Design 1 starts out in black and white, with type.
Cropped Letterforms //
For this project students create individual compositions using the distinct parts of individual letterforms. Individual squares should be engaging and the grid should form a unified composition. This is an opportunity to both closely examine the attributes and structure of letter forms and the create engaging graphic compositions.
Active Words //
For this project students show the meanings of words through letter-by-letter typographic arrangements. The challenge is to visualize the meaning of a word, using only the graphic elements of the letters forming the word, without adding any outside parts (a difficult rule to adhere to). This oft used graphic design assignment became a lifelong project for designer Ji Lee, which is quite inspiring for the students to see.
Project Brief //
For this project students create album covers in Adobe Illustrator using shapes and letter forms. The goal of the project is to learn technical skills, as well as find creative expression within specific parameters. Each student brings in two songs. The preliminary stage of the project involves familiarizing the students with some principles of gestalt, and ‘words’ that describe music. Students then create simple shape compositions that illustrate the terms that best express the music they have chosen. Initially the simplicity of the assignment is the challenge. In order to arrive at the most effective solutions students need to utilize various design principles. These design principles are used to expand and create dynamic visual language and to give meaning to form. For the final part of the project the students incorporate color and type to create album covers for the artists and songs they have chosen.
Project Brief //
For this project the students created beverage packaging and labeling systems. The beverage names and brands were conceptualized during a class brainstorming process (lesser know brands found in Queens bodegas were used as the initial jumping off points).
Project Brief//
Poster design demands immediacy, graphic impact, and clarity. In this project students explore the relationships between type, found images and concepts. One of the goals of this project is to demonstrate how visual decision-making changes when compositions are done by hand. The assignment is to create a poster for the film 'Everything is a Remix' by Kirby Ferguson. The theme of remix is carried throughout the project. The students begin by watching the film. They then create analog collages which are then shared with their classmates and ‘remixed’. The final stage is digital, in this part of the project the students work individually to make a design that incorporates their visual concepts, expresses the theme of the film, and acts as a promotional poster for the film.
For this project the students designed covers for the book:
Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine. This project was done in conjunction with an exhibition at the Geoffery Yeh Art Gallery at SJU titled Citizen.
Process:
• Students initially created two different treatments for the cover of Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine. These designs reflected concepts in the text based readings of the text and in class conversations.
• One cover was designed with type only, the other will contain both type and image, as per below:
— Type only: thinking about the different ways that type can be used to create image, students used the title of the text, as well as any of the words of phrases to create the cover design.
— Type and image: The imagery they created had to be their own; either collage or illustration or some combination.
A variety of student Motion Graphics projects including;
• Animated Stamps
• Video Portraits
• Type in Motion
• Information Graphics
• Network Packaging
• A collaboration with Student Wellness on 'Affirmative Consent'
Project Brief //
For this project the students design typographic specimen sheet mailers. The students research the typeface designers—their lives, careers and the historical context of their work. In creating the specimen sheet the students are tasked to explore, display and catalogue the attributes and qualities of a typeface design.
Advanced Typography // Typeface Design
Project Brief //
For this project the students design their own letter forms and then use the letter forms to create magazine mastheads.
