Document Design

English 3115 CRN15719

Corporate Identity Project

Due: 2/25 on paper (various as required for each item)

Worth: 15% of the final grade

For Feb. 23rd bring two items to class to be critiqued (not including your logo)

Purpose: The purpose of this project it to gain familiarity with the design and use of the basic documents in industry: the letter, the business card, the brochure, the flyer… The purpose is also to focus on creating a design identity and a consistent design package, while working with the principles of design.

In this project you will create a “corporate” identity for yourself (more of a personal identity); a business or organization you hope to have in the future; or a small company, organization, or group that currently exists and does not have a corporate identity. You will first create a logo and then:

• a business card
• letterhead (one copy with just the letterhead, and one with a “letter” [can use greeking] to show how the design will work)
• envelope
• and one other document type. For the other document type you may choose to do:
  • two flyers
  • a newsletter
  • a brochure
  • two postcards
  • two newspaper ads or
  • web site (at least 2 pages—the main page and another page).

  For these other documents I will be focusing on design, not content you may use greeking except where content is important (like newspaper ad heading).

You will turn these items in on paper (except the website) in their appropriate form (size and paper type) and level of professionalism (for example if they are in color get them printed in color). So I may fully evaluate the logo, include the logo on its own separate piece of paper as part of the project.

Along with your Corporate Identity project, turn in a 1-2 page (single spaced, or equivalent length in your preferred spacing) explanation of your design. In this you will discuss the audience, purpose, and context of your designs, and rationalize your design choices. You will need to draw on the textbooks and other readings for this discussion. Feel free to attach earlier drafts of your designs for discussion purposes.

Grading: You will be graded on your understanding and application of William's design principles, along with the guidelines she provides for each identity piece in Chapter 8 and our class discussion of the pieces. Also, the logo will be evaluated based on your application of the various logo readings and our own discussion of logos.

A few ideas (should you need some)

• Talking Traffic: a podcast and related blog "Explaining Traffic, Transportation, and Mobility Issues for the Everyday Person".
• The Extraordinary Contraptions: Aan Atlanta-based rock band that fuses a neo-classic rock sound with a "steampunk" aesthetic (including the assumption of neo-victorian alter egos) are looking for a corporate identity that ties them to the elegant, neo-victorian and retro-future aesthetic of the steampunk movement.  As they are an atlanta-based band, they'd also like to tie themselves to Atlanta's beginnings as a major railroad hub.  Trains, gears, brass, ray guns, brown leather, goggles, airships, (although they tend to stay away from them...) pulp magazines and the works of authors like Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and other victorian scientific romances are common sources of inspiration for steampunk iconography. 
  
  www.myspace.com/theextraordinarycontraptions
  http://www.last.fm/music/The+Extraordinary+Contraptions?autostart=1
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk#Subculture