My first interest is having a great, productive semester for everyone. I will not leave anyone behind. If you have any trouble, please feel welcome to reach out to me. As an instructor, it’s a pleasure and privilege to be part of a university that supports the incredible diversity of the state of New Jersey, the region, and the country. Our mandate as instructors is to commit to ensuring the academic success and well-being of every single student in our classrooms. Please view the Support page for information.
Typography is the core of graphic design. We are familiar with the use of written language to exchange ideas with other people. The practice of typography is to give this language a visual form, material, and method of distribution. In this course, we will learn the fundamentals of type such as typefaces, type sizes, leading, kerning, grids, guides, composition, space, color, and motion.
For three studio projects, you will be given parameters with which to learn tools, historical and contemporary references, and formal vocabulary of typography. As Robin Kinross states in Modern Typography, “design is understood not as a noun but as a verb: an activity and a process.” We will continuously build upon the work of previous weeks in order to develop conceptual ideas, a strong understanding of typographic rules, and playful ways to address constraints. We encourage you to take risks, make mistakes, and be open to the critiques of your instructor, classmates, and visiting critics. This is how we learn.
This studio course will also build technical and practical skills towards a fluency in setting and manipulating type within a contemporary digital environment. Students will understand and use fonts and typesetting software to create and analyze typographic prototypes for both print and screen.
Right now, we are all remote. But when we return to campus, we need to acknowledge that Rutgers New Brunswick campus is on unceded land from the Munsee Lenape tribe. Even for our video calls, Zoom relies on servers at Equinix data centers in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Melbourne, New York, Tokyo, Toronto, Silicon Valley & Sydney, according to Rory Solomon, Assistant Professor at the New School.
Let’s discuss: what is a land acknowledgement statement? More information can be found here: native-land.ca
As a class, we will create a group agreement that addresses respect and etiquette in the classroom. Students will be responsible for maintaining this standard throughout the semester. Rutgers is very lucky to have a representative group of students with different backgrounds and cultures. With this comes varying amounts of privilege and awareness, so it is important that we practice patience and empathy in the classroom. We must all continuously learn, be open to criticism, develop a consciousness about these discrepancies, and actively seek equity and allyship in the classroom and beyond.
View Fall 2020 Design 1A’s group agreement
By the end of the course students will:
— understand typography as a tool of communication and expression
— learn key typographic terminology
— work with type at both small and large scales
— become well-acquainted with a robust list of key typefaces
— become familiar with historical and contemporary designers
— understand how graphic design fits into the broader design discourse
— demonstrate an understanding of graphic principles and techniques
— set and manipulate type in InDesign and Illustrator, HTML and CSS
— differentiate between different typographic conventions across print and screen-based platforms
Weekly attendance is very important. This is a once-per-week studio class with in-class assignments and instruction that cannot necessarily be made up outside of class.
One absence will be forgiven and not affect your grade. Each absence thereafter results in a partial letter grade reduction of your final grade (e.g. A- becomes B+).
If you do miss class, for any reason, it is your responsibility to catch up on the work. Contact me via email to review any material you missed. Your classmates are also a good resource for catching up.
Classes missed for religious observation will of course be accommodated, but please provide reasonable advance notice to the instructor.
Three late arrivals constitutes one class absence. Attendance will be taken during the first 5 minutes of every class. If you arrive after that period, you will be considered late and it will be your responsibility to check in with me to avoid being marked absent. Three unexcused absences results in a failing grade.
First half of class will consist of one or more of the following...
— ritual
— lecture
— tutorial
— demonstrations
— group reading and discussion
— student presentation
Second half of class will consist of...
— One-on-one or small group critiques
— You will sign up beforehand and be expected to keep track of the time and enter the call at your assigned slot.
End-of-project critiques will use the full class time. → What’s the point of critiques?
Every part of this course can be completed remotely, and no part requires on-campus facilities. In this class, we will be using the primary tools:
— laptop or desktop computer
— WiFi
— Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop
— Zoom for video calls
— course website to view assignment briefs, resources, and class announcements
— Slack for weekly correspondence, peer-teaching, documentation of progress
— Google-Slides for weekly pin-ups and annotations
— Google-Docs for in-class reading discussions
— Dropbox/Sakai to upload final project files
For this online course, you will not be required to print out any files. However, it is very important to begin to create a clear system for storing your digital files.
File management is an important part of the design process. During this class, you are expected to develop a clear system of naming and keeping track of your digital files. Please do not name files “thing for design1a” or “finalfinal project.” Be specific and clear so that you can document your progress and easily navigate your files.
Each student has 30G of storage space on the art.rutgers.edu server. This server can be accessed remotely.
Here are some best practices for naming and organizing your files.
You will receive a grade based for three major assignments during the semester. You will also gain constructive feedback from each assignment’s final group critique. You may use this feedback to revise and resubmit any final project for re-evaluation before the end of the semester. All revisions must be resubmitted before the end of final exams on Tuesday, December 22, 11:59pm.
Your participation will be assessed by...
— Being present and on time
— Actively engaging with readings, assignments, and projects
— Submitting weekly reading questions
— Actively contributing to discussions and critiques, through the chat or verbally
— Helping your classmates, and asking for help
— Participating in in-class workshops
Your course grade includes assignments (60%), exercises (20%), participation (20%).
— 5% Reading Discussions
— 5% Presentation
— 10% Participation
— 20% Weekly Exercises
— 20% P1: Booklet
— 20% P2: Poster
— 20% P3: Website