Today’s Plan:
- Welcome
- Visual Rhetoric and Design
- The Basic C.R.A.P.
- Homework
Welcome
Name, rank, and last TV show you finished.
A Quick Intro: Why Learn
First, a little bit about me. My undergraduate degree is in British Literature, and my MA focused on 18th Century British Literature. I wasn’t a big fan of computers until I got into PhD program, way back in 2003. I learned HTML, CSS, and some Java back when English majors could get jobs designing websites. I taught web design and writing at my first job. But by around 2012, I noticed things had changed. Web design and coding jobs required more sophisticated, back-end skills those jobs weren’t going to English majors anymore.
But, because learning to develop web sites had taught me the fundamentals of visual rhetoric and design, I was able to transition my skills into other media–particularly videography (some of you have probably taken ENG 229) and print design and production. That’s what this course is about.
As I indicate in the syllabus, I see this course as serving a multitude of different purposes; I hope the course is flexible enough that the exact learning outcomes conform to your trajectory. All student should benefit from learning how to design more coherent and striking presentations–from something as seemingly simple as selecting a template, to pairing image and text, to maximizing contrast, and improving readability. Those skills should translate into developing flyers and handouts (both for academic contexts and professional ones). Those looking to pursue a career in publishing benefit not only from knowing how to use InDesign as a technical tool, but also from understanding how the “flow” process influences textual formatting and use of styles (in, say, Microsoft Word–how do you prep a Word document for publication?). And, as I emphasize in 229, knowing how to take and edit a photograph always has value–both professionally and personally.
The last time I taught this course at UNC I focused on these technical, professional outcomes. This time, however, I find myself more drawn to my theoretical, rhetorical roots: thinking about the ethics and importance of data presentation. How do we translate difficult concepts/content into easy-to-read yet hard to dismiss visualizations? How can we leverage the powerful affective response design engenders to persuade? How to do we ensure we do not cross the (fuzzy, ambiguous, “don’t know what it is but know it when I see it”) line between ethical persuasion and nefarious manipulation? These are questions that I want us to encounter this semester.
The first 8 weeks of this course will emphasize the professional and technical elements of the course, as we learn key design concepts and softwares (primarily Canva and InDesign). The second 8 weeks will have a “menu” of longer projects that will include: a rhetorical analysis and rebrand project, a data visualization project, a publishing project, among other choices.
Okay, let’s take a look at the syllabus.
The Basic C.R.A.P.
The first design book I ever read was Robin Williams’ The Non-Designer’s Design Book. I assign Golumbiski and Hagen’s White Space book because I believe they are more comprehensive, and because I appreciate their work on color. But William’s opening lessons on the basic CRAP of design are immediately accessible and actionable. And so, I begin with them today. I’ve emailed out a .pdf.
If we have time, then I’d like to try something.
Homework
There is an assignment in Canvas called “Reading and Effective Design” due before Wednesday’s class.
