Today’s Plan:
- Welcome
- Visual Rhetoric and Design
- The Basic C.R.A.P.
- Homework
Welcome
I’ve got a quick Google Form for you to complete.
A Quick Intro: Why Learn Design?
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 had to mess around with Photoshop a bit teaching a first-year writing course (IIRC, the project required students to write liner notes and design a cover for a favorite CD). I got hooked on technology, and 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. And front-end CMS sites, like Squarespace and WordPress, were taking over the web writing world.
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–videography (I teach ENG 229) and print design and production. I feel more confident about the latter than the former (hence why production is a 200 level class and design is a 300 level class).
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. I’m going to get this out of the way right now: don’t ever center-align text. A title? Maybe if you are lazy and uninspired. Text that you actually want me to read? Nope.
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 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 half of the course is constructed around 3 community engagement projects. 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. There’s a .pdf in the Files section of Canvas.
Recognizing Bad Design
Over the course of the semester, we will learn a handful of design principles. That’s not the same thing as learning beautiful design. We might end up disagreeing on what makes good design, but we’re probably going to agree on what makes bad design. So I like to start this class by focusing on recognizing bad design, by becoming familiar with some cardinal design sins.
Let’s turn to Golumbiski and Hagen, specifically their Design Sins.
Homework
Due Tuesday before class: There is an assignment in Canvas called “Reading and Effective Design” due before Wednesday’s class. It requires you do some reading and then analyze a cool design of your choice.
