Lesson 02

Project 01 | Visual Alphabet

Step 02 | Expansion and Poster Design

What are we doing?

Choose one idea from Step 1: Observation and Creation and expand the concept to a 26-character alphabet and design the poster.

Visual Alphabet Objectives

• See typographic opportunities all around us.
• Think about typography beyond choosing a font on the computer.
• Visual Alphabet: Overview

Why are we doing it?

Having an idea is one thing, but giving a finished physical form to the idea is another. Learning to give a visual form to your ideas takes brains, effort, thought, revision, evaluation, and editing. All of these things are learned best by doing.

How are we doing it?

Poster Thumbnails

Sketch 6 different ideas for your poster.

Produce Poster

Choose one of the poster sketches and complete the poster. The poster should use the following specifications.

• 17 x 11 inches
• created from high quality color photographs
• expertly masked in Adobe Photoshop to remove the background
• contain the typeface name
• contain the designer’s name
• contain all 26 letters
• full size color print

Workbook

The workbook should be organized and designed. The sketches below are to be used as a minimum guideline. If you need additional pages, please feel free to add them.

Include the following pages:

Poster concept sketches

Project Step Title, Introduction, Question, Blockquote, Conclusion, Finished poster, and poster caption

Process Blog Post

After you have completed all of the steps listed above for this lesson, you are ready to complete your process blog post. Please include the following in your blog post:

• Write a 200-word blog post that includes the JPEG image of your 6 new compositions exported from Adobe InDesign.
• Answer these questions in your post: What challenges did you face trying to extend the alphabet to 26 letters? What are some other adjectives you could use to describe the fonts you picked? Where did you get the fonts you used in this assignment?
• Post Title | P1:S2 Thumbnails
• Categories | Team #, P1:S2 Thumbnails
• A one- or two-sentence introduction describing project step in your own words
• A blockquote from your answer
• Poster sketches (6 minimum), with caption
• Poster final, with caption
• A concluding sentence
• Copy the text from the blog post and paste it into Project 01 workbook.

The blog posts should be designed and encourage a reader to engage. Include paragraph breaks, captions, subheads or other typographic elements to make the post visually accessible and desirable to read. Once the Process Blog Post is complete, submit a link to the post in I-Learn. To submit the link in I-Learn, click P1S2 in the left navigation and then click on the Open button at the bottom of the I-Learn window.

After you have submitted your assignment in I-Learn, you will need to provide feedback to your team members in WordPress. Your feedback to team members will be on the following areas:

• Idea: Rate the uniqueness of the overall idea. Is it ordinary and expected or original and unexpected?
  • 1–3 pts: unimaginative – confusing
  • 4–6 pts: ok – great
  • 7–10 pts: great – amazing
• Formal design choices: Rate how well the design principles are used.
  • 1–3 pts: unimaginative – confusing
  • 4–6 pts: ok – great
  • 7–10 pts: great – amazing
• Typography: Rate font choice, size, kerning and spacing, add to the communication of the concept.
  • 1–3 pts: not at all
  • 4–6 pts: doesn’t help or hurt
  • 7–10 pts: significantly adds to the overall communication
• Portfolio: Would you put this in your portfolio? Base this on the quality of the work, not whether it would be appropriate for your personal portfolio.
  • 1–3 pts: no
  • 4–6 pts: maybe with changes
  • 7–10 pts: yes with no changes – absolutely
• Blog Post: Rate the quality of blog post.
  • 1–3 pts: messy, unclear, major errors
  • 4–6 pts: understandable, organized, rambling, spelling or grammar errors
  • 7–10 pts: clear, thoughtful, engaging, free from errors

You should list the item, your rating, and any comments you have to help your team member improve. Your feedback on process blog posts will not be used as part of their grade but will help you to teach one another to improve their work.

Pet Project

Adopt a Pet

Your pet is an object that you will photograph 100 times over the course of the semester. Choose a “pet” and take a basic photograph to share with the class that documents what your pet is.

Some guidelines for choosing a pet:

• small enough to hold in one hand
• durable (can it take a lot of abuse?)
• renewable (if it breaks, can you get another one?)
• unusual
• multiple angles
• interesting texture
• could be a symbol for a topic (chalk = education)
• not a recognizable character (action figure or cartoon)
• recognizable object (the general population should know what it is)

Once you have posted to WordPress, submit a link to the post in I-Learn. To submit the link in I-Learn, click Pet Project | Adopt a Pet and then click on the Open button at the bottom of the I-Learn window.

Deadlines

Schedule for Week 01