During this project you will learn the principles of visual communication by researching and designing objects that communicate.

In particular, you will:

• Examine how people make sense of visual perceptions, which will help you make informed design decisions.
• Explore different ways of looking at and framing everyday objects through photography and image manipulation.
• Experiment with typography and graphic layout to turn data into information and evoke meaning.
• Use HTML and CSS to turn unstructured data into structured, aesthetically cohesive and accessible information.
• Get familiar with the edgeless medium of the Web and Responsive Web Design methods.
• Work in teams, learning from your peers and teaching them what you learned.
• Document your work regularly and reflect on your creative process.

Plan

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When	In class	Homework	Blog
Monday 03.10	Welcome Ways of seeing Team project: EyeBombing Workshop: GitHub and MarkDown	Peer learning: choose a visual perception principle to research and teach next week Work on EyeBombing	EyeBombing
Monday 10.10	Peer learning: teams mini-lessons on visual perception principles Tutorials on EyeBombing Project: OneTweet	Peer learning research on typography Work on OneTweet	OneTweet
Monday 17.10	Peer learning: typography Tutorials on OneTweet Team project: The Union Hack	Peer learning research: symbols and brands Work on The Union Hack	The Union Hack
Monday 27.10	Formative assessment with special guest		Reflection blog
Week 6 Mozfest
Monday 07.11	Peer learning: symbols and brands Tutorials on The Union Hack	Peer learning
Monday 14.11	Guest lecturer: Metod Visual design theory for the win! Workshop: grid systems Project: Code in your plate	Work on Code in your plate	The Web's Grain
Monday 21.11	Workshop: HTML & CSS Tutorials on Code in your plate	Peer learning research: CSS tricks Work on Code in your plate	Code in your plate
Monday 28.11	Peer learning: CSS tricks Workshop: Responsive Web Design Tutorials on Code in your plate	Prepare summative (tweak your work)	CSS tricks
Monday 05.12	Summative assessment

Projects

EyeBombing

This team project is about looking and creating images. Looking at everyday objects and our surroundings with different eyes and using photography to frame them, so that others can see what we want them to see.

All the project material is here.

OneTweet

This project is about about typography and creating meaning with text.

All the project material is here.

The Union Hack

This team project is about about symbols and brands. By designing flags, you will devise symbols to represent identities and convert ideas into shapes.

All the project material is here.

Code in your plate

This project introduces you to coding as a process of translation: from ideas to words, from words to sketches, from sketches to technical descriptions in various languages.

You will get familiar with 2 of the 3 languages of the Web: HTML and CSS (JavaScript next term).

All the project material is here.

Learning goals

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

1. Use principles of visual perception to make informed design decisions.

• Experiment with framing, lighting and colour to create and manipulate photographic images.
• Tinker with fonts, sizes and layout (aka typography) to create meaning and evoke emotions with text.
• Play with ideas and turn them into visual symbols and shapes.
• Turn unstructured data into structured, aesthetically cohesive and accessible information using HTML and CSS.
• Document your creative process, from the exploration of ideas to their practical implementation. Including successes and failures.
• Adapt your communication to different audiences and contexts (eg: team meeting vs presentation).
• Use the Git version-control system (through GitHub) to collaborate with your team and back-up your project files.

Rules of the road

• Be present. If you happen to be late or absent, make sure you email me about it before a session starts. We'll deduct 2% from your grade for each uncommunicated tardiness or absence (aka the 2% Tardiness Tax).
• Participate in class debates and workshops. We'll make sure that your ideas have space to be heard and that nobody makes you feel uncomfortable about sharing them.
• Present your work during formative and summative assessments. If you can't make it those days then you'll record your presentation and upload it to YouTube (or similar).
• Be responsible for what happens in class. Organise with your peers to get class information and material that you may have missed.
• Meet the deadlines. If you submit your work after a deadline, your grade will be capped at D- (bare pass).

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License