Course Syllabus

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Course Policies

Outcomes

By the end of the semester, you should be able to the following:

  1. Demonstrate how to apply the principles of creative thinking by creating images that a target audience can understand.
  2. Use the principles of design to make strong visual images.
  3. Demonstrate how craftsmanship strengthens visual images.
  4. Demonstrate how to make images production ready.
  5. Use the design process to meet a client's need.
  6. 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

Course Organization

The course is divided into 14 weeks. There are three projects you will complete over the course of 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.

View the Course Overview Map.

Prerequisites

Take the following:

  • ART 130—Introduction to Graphic Design

Projects

You will complete three projects over the course of the semester.

  • Project 01: Seven Creative Strategies
  • Project 02: Conceptual Book Cover
  • Project 03: PSA Ad 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 will need to 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 for 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.

Project Submissions

Weeks 03, 08, and 13 will 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 on them from both your instructors and classmates. You are required to post in this board weekly in order 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:

  1. Day 04 (Thursday, mountain time) of the week is when you submit your sample work submissions in the weekly Questions and Feedback discussion boards.
  2. 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 will need to 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 will be required to offer critiques to at least three classmates each week to receive full credit in these discussions.

Instructor Consults

Each student is required to 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 would like 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 will need to 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 is an assignment for a grade and 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 will 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 contact your instructor as soon as possible if there are extenuating circumstances.

Faculty Feedback

The instructor will review your submissions, primarily in the Questions and Feedback discussion boards, and give you feedback on each respective 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 in order to post content. Follow this link to sign up for a Behance account.

Grading

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 a designer, they should be able to make connections between the content and the visual form. A student demonstrates their understanding of this idea through smart visuals, presentation, discussions, and writing.

  • The student can create meaningful artifacts.
  • The student can document their process.

Quality of Craftsmanship

The student will craft all elements of their visual presentation, 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 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 a wide range of 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 techniques of research 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 clearly 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 that accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. If you have a disability and require accommodations, please 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 that prevents 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 contact 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