Syllabus

Design Fundamentals
ART 320 ONLINE - 8W2 Class

Instructor:   Pam Maddock
Office Hours on campus: 
Wednesday 3:30-5:00p.m.

Online M-F, I try to respond within 24 hours
Voice mail: 916.484.8993 - slower way to reach me

Email: Maddocp@arc.losrios.edu
Best way to reach me is email.             

Our only required meeting is the first week orientation scheduled on:

Tuesday, March 19, 2013, at the Natomas Center, Room N104,
4:00 - 5:30 p.m., for 2nd Eight Week Class.


If you do not attend this orientation and also fail to notify me of your absence, I may reserve the right to drop you from the class to make a place for all those on the wait list who do attend the orientation. However, I will not drop you from the class if you cease attending. This is your responsibility.
         

Bruce Conner "Portrait" 1992 Collage

Catalog Description:

This course introduces the fundamentals of design and composition to beginning art and applied art students. This course is a prerequisite for many second semester art classes and a core requirement for art and art new media majors. The theory of design principles, gestalts, and the use of design elements (line, shape, spatial relationships, texture, value, and color) are combined through a series of assignments or projects. (The creative projects are to be executed using digital design software).

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

design and create compositions using the principles of organization: unity, balance, harmony-variety, rhythm, pattern, proportion/scale, movement and economy.

build a body of work using visual gestalt theory and elements of design: line, shape, value, color, texture, and space.

analyze works of fine art and design to critically assess components of subject, form and content.

compare and contrast historical works of art as they relate to an overall formal assessment of design.

investigagte modern and contemporary works of art to compare their formal similarities and differences from historical works.

measure one's own work in terms of one's premise and concepts of design and their relationship to content.

Grading Policy:

Multiple topics will be discussed during the semester.
1 Web research project and participation in 2 creative project critiques is required.
6 Creative projects using digital design software are assigned.
3 Quizzes are based on the topics covered in the course from lecture material and the text.

Projects, quizzes, and the research will be submitted to D2L and graded.
Grading of the creative projects is based on the following criteria:

1. Demonstrated understanding of the concepts and requirements of the assignment/project.
2. Skill in the use of technical tools. Did you read (and/or watch movies)and/or did you explore the use of the software tools.
3. Originality of concept.
4. Strength of the design. What is its purpose? Enduring interest, immediate attention, or what? Did you build upon principles
and concepts already presented?
5. Overall presentation. Does the work appear professional? Did you follow the instructions for formatting?

Grading Point System

A 5-point extra credit project is assigned during the orientation.

The required assignments are worth 680 points:
The research project is worth 30 points.
Each creative project is worth 100 or 90 points.
Each quiz is worth 10 points.
Participation in TWO group critiques is worth 10 points each.

612 – 680 = A
544 – 611 = B
476 – 543 = C
408 – 475 = D
000 – 407 = F

Notes on Grading

Students are expected to have projects ready by the deadlines. The final grade reflects each student’s overall performance in the course. As you can see the bulk of your grade comes from the projects. In order to obtain full credit, assignments must be submitted by the due date in the SCHEDULE, unless noted otherwise by the instructor or an updated schedule.

Requirements: (Design Fundamentals - ART 320/ONLINE)

• Assignments consist of readings from the software text (optional)or watching movies from Lynda.com (optional if you already know the software), research (drawings, thumbnails and internet research), course lecture materials and tutorials, exercises, required text readings, and creative PROJECTS. It is your responsibility to do ALL the reading. You should plan on approximately 8 or more hours of work/week to complete assignments. Creative projects will take the form of digitally created compositions, using a digital design program and/or a digital photo-editing program. The software that our Mac Lab uses is Adobe Illustrator CS6 and Adobe Photoshop CS6. If you don’t plan to use our lab or the LRC lab, then you will have to purchase or have other access to Adobe Illustrator. Design solutions are to be submitted in the form of YourLastName_YourFirstInitial_ProjectName.ai OR .jpg extensions, unless discussed otherwise per assignment. File extensions depend on what software we are using for a given project. Apparently there are some issues about backward compatibility with regard to CS6 software. If you create a project using CS6, you may not be able to open it in an earlier version of the software, but you can create in an earlier version and open in CS6.
• It is possible to do the work in this class by hand, or another software program, but my tutorials are geared to using Illustrator.If you choose that option, please keep me informed of your decision.You would need to scan or photograph your work and send me a digital image of it if you work by hand drawn projects.
• As stated in the class schedule, it is not recommended you take this class without first knowing the software or having taken ARTNM 302, Digital Basics for Art New Media.

• Assignments must be completed in a timely manner due to the consecutive nature of each assignment.  The deadlines for PROJECTS are given with each assignment and are listed in the SCHEDULE. As stated, work must be submitted by the deadline in order to receive full credit.

• Critiques of two other PROJECTS by fellow classmates are required during the semester. A submission of work in progress (thumbnails, comps) may be a required part of some PROJECTS and submitted before the final version is submitted to the Discussions and/or the Drop Box in D2L.

• Three quizzes, and a web research PROJECT, covering material discussed in the course, will also count toward your final grade. The quizzes will be generated from the lecture material, tutorials, and text readings. The quizzes are time dated, so they will only be available for a short while. Check the SCHEDULE to make sure you don't miss the week that each quiz is available.

Notice: The Syllabus and Schedule are our plan for this class. Unfortunately it is not carved in stone and sometimes the unexpected happens. The Syllabus and, particularly, the Schedule could be subject to change. While I don’t expect this to happen, you will be notified as soon as possible of any changes.

Afterthoughts:

A couple of classes that logically follow this course might be -- ART 300, Beginning Drawing, ART 327, Beginning Painting, ART 323, Color Theory, ARTNM 324, Digital Design, ARTNM 326, Digital Photo Imagery, ART 442 Art Gallery Operations, and if offered spring semester, ART 440 Artists Materials and Techniques, and ARTPH 300, Basic Art Photography