Document Design

Assignments

Assignments

All assignments will be posted in detail online. Unless noted otherwise, all assignments are due at the start of class.

The Participation Grade
The participation grade will be based on attendance (see the “Attendance and Tardiness” section), reading reflections & mini-quizzes, homework, participation in the class forum, in-class activities, and participation assignments. The assignments will be graded on a 0-5 scale:

• 5: Excellent work, goes above and beyond the assignment
• 4: Good work, strongly responds to the assignment
• 3: Fair work, responds to the assignment but could be stronger
• 2: Barely adequate work, neglects important aspects of the assignment
• 1: Poor work, barely responds to the assignment
• 0: Not done or does not respond to the assignment at all

Your participation in the class forum, beyond responding to assignments (such as the reading reflections), will also result in participation points. Any questions you ask or answer will count towards your participation, as will your participation in discussions on the forum.

Your participation grade will be determined by adding up your earned participation points and then divided into the total number of points available. For example: if you earned 182 points and there were 200 points available you would receive a 91 or an A for your participation grade. 

If necessary (if people are not doing the reading) I may add longer (and harder) quizzes which will be graded on a 0-100 scale and will be added to the participation grade separately.

Participation assignments:

Name Tag Assignment

Due 1/28. Counts as a double participation grade. You will have class time for this.

Using the various design principles and concepts we have covered so far and design software, create a name tag for yourself in this class. Here are the guidelines:

1. Design it so I can read at least your first name from the front of the class
2. Design it so it fold or can stand in such a way that you can place it in front of you for each class
3. Make it not only reflective of the design principles, but also your own personality

Also, write a page memo or document to me explaining what you did and why. Make sure you discuss how you applied the various design principles and concepts from class, especially William's "CRAP". Hand in a copy of the name tag (and keep another one for yourself) and the memo.

The Design Critique:

Before we get into the specifics of document design, I want you to try critiquing design based on what knowledge you already have and what seems intuitive to you. Find a design to critique. It could be a webpage, a brochure, an advertisement, a magazine story, a business card, or something else. Write 1-2 pages (regular sized font & formatting--single spaced) discussing a design you found. Talk about what you think are the strong points of the design and the weak. Discuss if it “works” as a design or not. Is it appropriate for its audience, purpose, and content?

Next class, 1/7, turn in your critique at the start of class along with the design itself.