S y l l a b u s

I n s t r u c t o r s :

Cary Staples
Associate Professor, Art
324 Art+Architecture Bldg.
423.974.3210
staples@utk.edu

Russel Hirst
Associate Professor, English
401 McClung Tower
423.974.6952
rkh@utk.edu

G o a l s f o r S t u d e n t s :

To become proficient with some major tools used in designing and publishing information.
To develop expertise in textual and non-textual communication.
To develop expertise in communicating in print and electronic forms.
To create a website analyzing and evaluating communication effectiveness.

T o o l s :

Quark Xpress
Illustrator/Freehand
PDF files/Acrobat
Dreamweaver
Basic html

A s s i g n m e n t s :

Business Card
Country exploration -Generation of mark and promotional materials for new country
Remake of bad directions -Combination of textual + non-textual
Warning manual -Research: what is out there? -What is needed?

Please bring materials to work in class. Work must be presented as assigned.

Example: when the assignment requires markers, ball point pen is not acceptable.

Assignments will be graded A-F. Unfinished work and work turned in late will be accepted only with medical or other excused absence, in writing.

Students who do not present "roughs" when required will be marked down one full grade on the completed project.

R e q u i r e m e n t s :

Completion of all exercises and assignments at the time and date designated.
Presentations/critiques during scheduled class meeting.

E v a l u a t i o n :

Your work will be evaluated on:

Concept--your ability to define the problem, explore various possibilities, and develop a unique solution.
Design Quality--your sensitivity to the principles of design and typography.
Copy-your use of copy to present information in an interesting, clear,effective way.
Collaboration--your ability to work successfully with others
Creativity--your ability to invent new, imaginative, engaging materials and to effectively combine textual and visual materials.
Presentation--your display of technical skill, ability to follow directions, and ability to put on a quality presentation.
Professionalism--your ability to present work on time, during class critique, in a mature, effective manner.

Other Factors in Grading:

Class participation, attitude, growth, interaction, and curiosity will affect your final grade.
Time commitment: 9 hours per week (6 in class, 3 in lab).
Absenteeism: Attendance throughout class period and lab period is required. A course like this functions most effectively as a community of thinkers and communicators. When members are absent too often, the entire community suffers. Since your instructors wish to foster collaborative effort, assignments have been designed to take advantage of the time we have scheduled together. Three unexcused absences will result in a failing grade. Leaving class early or arriving late will be counted as an absence. You can receive an excused absence for reasons of illness, personal tragedy/emergency, important professional opportunity, or jury duty. Excused absences must be discussed with the instructors before the beginning of class. Please do not ask to be excused for any other reason.

E - m a i l :

You must have an e-mail account. We expect you to check your e-mail and class web site for class information.

P r e s e n t a t i o n s / L e c t u r e s :

Lawyer
Corporate person/PDF
Cognitive psychologist

Before you ever sit down at the computer, you need to plan ahead. Take a survey of the project. What images are you going to use, if any? How much text are you using? How many pages is the final product going to be? How many colors? Black and White? Four color process? Two spot colors? All these things are going to have an affect on your project. You may not be able to answer all your questions in the beginning, but it will save a lot of time in the long run if you plan.

When I first start a project I like to brainstorm and do sketches. In fact, I did many pages of sketches before I sat down to create this website. Sketches are an important way to help organize information, as well as gather ideas for a layout, and visual content of the project.