 ADD 282 | SPRING 2009
Mondays 8:30 - 12:30 • The Warehouse
Toni Toland • tatoland@syr.edu or toni@tatoland.com
http://school.tatoland.com
OFFICE HOURS:: Monday 12:30-3:00
Please sign up in advance.
OBJECTIVES & RULES:
This semester you will be refining your skills with Quark XPress, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator with an emphasis on layout and typography. As Ad Design majors, a sensitivity to the voice type creates on a page, and the development of striking visuals demonstrating the concept or strategy that drives print advertising is critical. Poor design can overshadow, and therefore ruin, a great concept.
The projects you will be working on this semester will strengthen your skills with the computer software you are already beginning to master, and include the development of imagery that enhances your print communications.
Other issues of particular concern include the use and/or production of industry standard pre-press materials, spot color, image resolution, font management, paper, and printing techniques.
The goal for the semester is to develop solid work that demonstrates your digital and design skills as a portfolio that you can present with confidence to seek a summer internship (paid or unpaid) with a design firm or advertising agency. (If you want to receive credit for a summer internship, you will have to pay additional tuition.)
You may choose to work with iPods, a portable external hard drive, or on a laptop that you bring to class each week. (If you bring your laptop, please make sure it’s “registered” with the university so you can access the internet while in class.) I will be collecting digital files in an effort to reinforce the industry practice(s) of including all image files, fonts, and layouts on disk for actual print production. Your work will also be due printed, mounted and flapped according to the class standard.
PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT USE THE SERVER TO STORE YOUR WORK IN PROGRESS. IT IS NOT STABLE OR SECURE.
Depending on the nature of our work, we will either meet and work in one of the classrooms, or in the cluster. It is critical that you attend every class.
Classes will begin with a lecture or presentation each week, followed by hands-on, one-on-one activities, from exercises to working on finished comps. It is, therefore, important to be on time to each class so you won’t miss any content. (As you know, I can talk a lot!)
Since the cluster is a Mac facility, it is best if you do your work on a Mac if at all possible.
Missing 3 or more classes will earn an “F” for the semester. Being sick counts as a missed class. Being more than 20 minutes late counts as a missed class. That means you have to get up early enough to catch a bus in time to arrive by 8:30! Instant messaging, Skype, and cell phone use will also count as a missed class. Please respect your peers and your teacher by coming to class prepared to learn and work.
Late projects will be downgraded 15%. Missing projects factor into your average as “F’s” until they are turned in, and will suffer 10% decreases for each week they are not turned in. There will be no option to re-do a project this semester. Since presentation techniques are integral to the work you do this semester, your adherence to and success with mounting, flapping, folding and so on will be factored into your project grades.
All assignments will be handed in digitally on a CD at the end of the semester so don’t loose or toss anything! Remember to include all the fonts you’ve used in each project, including those created in Photoshop and Illustrator. You may hand in your digital portfolio any time up until Tuesday, May 5th, at 5:00 PM. If I am not around, please leave your CD with Sandy. Your CD MUST BE IN A PROTECTIVE CD CASE! Do not wrap it in paper! Do not hand it in without any protection! If you need a case, see me.
When work is to be presented in print form, it must be mounted on BLACK ILLUSTRATION BOARD with a 2” border. ALL work is to be turned in to the server by the due date, even if it will be presented in print form.
Based on the work you did last semester, and the effort you put into your projects, I anticipate a very successful and enjoyable spring... Let’s do it!
ASSIGNMENTS:
(all assignments are subject to change)
We'll start each week this semester with two of you teaching us an Illustrator or Photoshop trick you will research and master. Who presents each week will be random, so be prepared!
EXERCISE 1 : THE NAME GAME :: DUE JANUARY 26
This Photoshop project is about taking at least three different photographic images and combining them to illustrate a common phrase or expression. Due, printed and mounted on January 26th at the start of class.
PROJECT 1 :: SU DIRECTORY COVER
Finished size is 8.5 + .5 for spine X 11. Remember to add at least 1/8” for bleed at the top, right, and bottom edges.
Final presentation is to be printed in color, trimmed to size and mounted on BLACK ILLUSTRATION BOARD with a 2” border all around.
- Thumbs : January 19
- Roughs : January 26
- First Comps : February 9
- Finished pre-press : March 16
- Client Presentation : March 23
EXERCISE 2 : MUSIC FESTIVAL POSTER :: DUE FEBRUARY 23
This is a strictly Illustrator assignment. Do some snooping around on the web and find an interesting up-coming music festival. (I typed “2009 music festivals” in Google and got over 100 choices!) This is not for a specific group or band, but a festival featuring several performance artists.
Design a poster that includes an image that illustrates the nature of the music/genre, along with text that includes the dates(s), time(s) and place. This is a “flat” color project, so only PMS colors and tints are acceptable - no halftones, no gradients. You may use two colors (black counts as a color!). You may choose to "print" this virtually on colored stock. (check here for some ideas)
The finished size for your poster is 11” X 17”, mounted on black illustration board with a 2” border, due February 23 at the beginning of class. Be prepared to for a crit.
PROJECT 2 :: WAREHOUSE WELCOME PACKAGE FOR STUDENTS MOVING DOWN IN THE FALL
Propose and develop a package that contains at least three printed pieces; examples include a brochure that describes the surrounding community, a coupon for a free soda and cookie at the café, a map for the best driving routes and where to park, etc. You determine the appropriate sizes for each piece, and must develop any photos, graphics, and text required.
- Thumbs : February 2
- Roughs : February 16
- First Comps : March 2
- Finished pre-press : March 30
EXERCISE 3 : HEXIFLEXIGON :: DUE PRINTED MARCH 16
This is a fun project that has not a lot to do with advertising design, but will provide additional practice with Illustrator as well as learning a wacky 3-D presentation format. Download the template here to work with. Open the template in Illustrator. And the instructions for putting it all together are here. (You’re going to love it!)
Your final project is due in 3-D form by the end of class on March 16th. Plan ahead—it must be printed before class begins! We will mount and fold them into the final toy in class that day.
PROJECT 3 :: SUMMER INTERNSHIP BRANDING PACKAGE
Propose and develop a package that establishes you as an ideal summer internship candidate. Consider a “mini-portfolio,” a resume, and a cover letter at the very least. You must create 5 different pieces, so the remaining two will be a challenge to your imagination (leave-behind ideas, mail teasers?). You will also research the area where you want to live (or must live) to find appropriate firms for whom you might work, and prepare a brief written summary of those agencies/studios, including the name and position of the person you would work for, a client list, and the agency’s/studio’s billing.
- Thumbs : March 2
- Roughs : March 23
- First Comps : April 6
- Finished pre-press : April 20
FINAL CD OF WORK :: DUE MAY 5TH, 5:00 PM
|
