● Assignment 1: (20pts.) Select a well-known story. Possibilities: Romeo & Juliet, Alice in Wonderland, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, Dracula, Robin Hood, Willam Tell, Story of Icarus, Faust, The Telltale Heart, Beauty and the Beast.
A) Write the essence of the story in 50 words or less—your own very concise version. What is the main action, how does it affect the main characters, etc. Be CONCISE but descriptive.
B) Select 3 words to describe the primary actions of the story. For example, in Romeo & Juliet, you might choose: “conflict, kiss, suicide”
C) Think of one object to represent the story. This could be an object used in an important scene, an element from a character’s costume, or something otherwise symbolic to the story. But, it must be an object, not a character’s face or form. Find 3 different images of this object.
D) Pick 1-3 letters that come from the title of your story. For example, for Romeo & Juliet, you might choose “R & J”. Find 3 versions of each of these letters in printed matter—newspapers, books, magazines, or a photograph you take from signage or the built environment.
E) Pick three images found in mass media (not an existing design/artwork) that is somehow relevant to your story.
Save all of your collected materials in a single PDF to show Professor Colby by start of class on 01/27/2015. Make your selections thoughtfully and carefully. We will be working with this story, the object you choose to identify it, and these descriptive traits all semester long. The idea is to work with KNOWN materials (existing story, found letters, found images, and other cultural material) in order to produce something new and unexpected.
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What is a story? At its most basic, a story has a few key elements:
_an identifiable character (could be person, animal, object, or place)
_a beginning, middle, and end
_a change that takes place to affect the character(s)
_this change produces transition (from beginning to middle to end)
_rhythm (pace), tension (conflict or challenge), balance (resolution)
● Assignment 2: (20pts.) Research one of the designers: Josef Muller-Brockmann, Kenya Hara, Stefan Sagmeister, Armin Hoffman, Paula Scher, Katherine McCoy, Jaqueline Casey, Ivan Chermayeff, Tom Geismar, or Steff Geissbuhler, Neville Brody, or David Carson. Look through their work, pick one poster of theirs that you admire. Print it as large as possible on an 8.5”x11” sheet of paper and bring in for class discussion. Write a minimum of 100 words briefly describing the background/history of the design and a minimum or 300 words on what drew you to the poster. Think of this in DESIGN terms. Not just why you like the poster, but what design elements are working. Think of composition, color, rhythm, tension, balance, line, shape, type. What about it is successful?
● Final Project: (50pts.) Compose a 17″ x 22″ poster for your story. Consider all that you’ve learned from your various exercises and how each addition or shift in material has affected your ability to express the story visually. You also need to now consider how this change in scale (BIG) affects your elements and their relationships. You can use typography (your letters) as formal elements but no text. You may also now try using color as another tool in visualizing your story. Build your files real size. Take into account bleeds and crop marks. Cut down poster to rid of these edges.
A) Write the essence of the story in 50 words or less—your own very concise version. What is the main action, how does it affect the main characters, etc. Be CONCISE but descriptive.
B) Select 3 words to describe the primary actions of the story. For example, in Romeo & Juliet, you might choose: “conflict, kiss, suicide”
C) Think of one object to represent the story. This could be an object used in an important scene, an element from a character’s costume, or something otherwise symbolic to the story. But, it must be an object, not a character’s face or form. Find 3 different images of this object.
D) Pick 1-3 letters that come from the title of your story. For example, for Romeo & Juliet, you might choose “R & J”. Find 3 versions of each of these letters in printed matter—newspapers, books, magazines, or a photograph you take from signage or the built environment.
E) Pick three images found in mass media (not an existing design/artwork) that is somehow relevant to your story.
Save all of your collected materials in a single PDF to show Professor Colby by start of class on 01/27/2015. Make your selections thoughtfully and carefully. We will be working with this story, the object you choose to identify it, and these descriptive traits all semester long. The idea is to work with KNOWN materials (existing story, found letters, found images, and other cultural material) in order to produce something new and unexpected.
—--
What is a story? At its most basic, a story has a few key elements:
_an identifiable character (could be person, animal, object, or place)
_a beginning, middle, and end
_a change that takes place to affect the character(s)
_this change produces transition (from beginning to middle to end)
_rhythm (pace), tension (conflict or challenge), balance (resolution)
● Assignment 2: (20pts.) Research one of the designers: Josef Muller-Brockmann, Kenya Hara, Stefan Sagmeister, Armin Hoffman, Paula Scher, Katherine McCoy, Jaqueline Casey, Ivan Chermayeff, Tom Geismar, or Steff Geissbuhler, Neville Brody, or David Carson. Look through their work, pick one poster of theirs that you admire. Print it as large as possible on an 8.5”x11” sheet of paper and bring in for class discussion. Write a minimum of 100 words briefly describing the background/history of the design and a minimum or 300 words on what drew you to the poster. Think of this in DESIGN terms. Not just why you like the poster, but what design elements are working. Think of composition, color, rhythm, tension, balance, line, shape, type. What about it is successful?
● Final Project: (50pts.) Compose a 17″ x 22″ poster for your story. Consider all that you’ve learned from your various exercises and how each addition or shift in material has affected your ability to express the story visually. You also need to now consider how this change in scale (BIG) affects your elements and their relationships. You can use typography (your letters) as formal elements but no text. You may also now try using color as another tool in visualizing your story. Build your files real size. Take into account bleeds and crop marks. Cut down poster to rid of these edges.