Digital Design fine arts 4400 Monday & Wednesday 3:30-6:15pm Boulder Creek 125

Ryan GaddisAdjunct Professor, CU Denver, User Experience Design & Multimedia

ryan.gaddis@ucddenver.eduM 303.523.7067

W ryangaddis.comMichelle Carpenter, Assistant Professor

michelle.carpenter@ucdenver.eduOffice Hours-Monday & Wednesday 10:50-12:20 and by appointment

Cell- 303-818-0520Office- CU Building 8th Floor, 800 PCAM Vision, Mission & Values

Vision—art changing lives

Mission—The College of Arts & Media exists at the intersection of art, technology, and commerce, and as such, faculty and students use powerful art making, expansive teaching/learning, and strategic service to connect deeply with the arts disciplines and the culture industry—as these currently exist and as they might become.

All notifications will be sent by email to your official ucdenver.edu email address exclusively. If you do not have a ucdenver.edu address you must activate it in order to get emails and have access to the Blackboard system for discussions and other course materials which will be posted online. !!!!!!!

CAM Websitehttp://www.camarts.orgCAM Events http://www.camarts.org/events !Course Description

Course Description Set up as a collaborative studio course, students learn to identify problems in the cultural and urban environment and design solutions that address those problems. Through discovery and research students will learn how design can be a catalyst for change. Prereq: Digital Design majors: F A 3428, 3434, 3444, 3454, can be taken concurrently with 4480, portfolio review or permission of instructor. !

DESIGNSTUDIO 3Fa

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14 3Values Experimentation and Innovation Excellence and Professionalism Community Creative Research and Scholarship Leadership !

Entrepreneurship Technological Innovation Critical Thinking Diversity, Accessibility, and Equity Intellectual Freedom and Artistic !!!

Integrity Sustainability Civic Engagement Experiential Learning Social Responsibility

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Course Goals and Objectives

The goal for this class will be to learn how to research a design project in depth, considering design as a medium for the communication of ideas. You will learn how design shapes and influences society through it’s use of visual rhetoric, consider the role of the designer and the role of the audience. The course will encourage and require collaboration and group discussions in a process for creating a design that will make a social impact through a thoughtfully conceived visual argument. A successful student will emerge with an understanding of the design process required for advanced design work.

Knowledge

 - Examine the role of artists and designers in visual culture - Define roles in a group dynamic  - Identify socially dynamic topics where design and art can be a catalyst for change  - Examine the history of the designer in visual culture - Recognize the semiotic relationship of the message and the receiver - Identify artists and designers whose work impacts society  - Identify movements in design and art that influence the development of visual culture !Skills

 - Research and identify design problems  - Conceptualize and implement design solutions  - Employ a process-oriented approach to problem-solving  - Develop professional practices involving collaboration to solve a common goal  - Conceptualize complex visual solutions to problems in preparation for BFA thesis projects !Dispositions

 - Research a topic in-depth and identify the potential for design to solve the problem  - Collaborate in a group setting - Research a problem and develop a comprehensive solution  - Communicate verbally and through written proposals

Course AnnouncementsAll notifications will be sent by email to your official ucdenver.edu email address exclusively. If you do not have a ucdenver.edu address you must activate it in order to get emails and have access to the Blackboard system for discussions and other course materials which will be posted online. !Class Format !Readings and Class Discussions For each class a discussion will take place that will be about the previous class readings. You are expected to have read the assigned reading and will be asked to give your opinion and interpretation of the reading. The readings are an important aspect of this course and will be factored into your grade based on your ability to discuss and/or tests. !Research !Each Project will require reference gathering, art making and other forms of research to create your work. You are expected to do shoot footage, visit places and re-shoot and re-visit as needed. !Critiques !On the project due date there will be a critical discussion and a formal presentation of the work. !!

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Projects !Two major projects will be given for the semester. Both of the assignments are group assignments, each assignment will have sub-project components. The final project will build from all of the required components and the readings. !Students with Special needs!If you have special needs please contact me during my office hours and be sure that you have registered with Disability Resources and Services (Arts Building, room 177, (303) 556-3450) !Course Policies !Homework Expectations This is a studio class and will be taught as such. Students should prepare and bring the required materials in class to work on each project, significant class time will be available for work and in-progress critiques. Failure to bring materials to class (a lost or forgotten jump drive, for example) will be considered an absence. !Attendance and Course Work!The Digital Design curriculum integrates aesthetic, creative, and critical thought with expertise in advanced electronic media. Configured as an interdisciplinary arts and design laboratory, Digital Design offers a hands-on education combining new art technologies and design concepts within a concentrated theoretical framework that promotes an understanding of the cultural impact and uses of digital technologies. The interactive studio and case-based model of teaching employed within the digital design program hinges critically upon the attendance and active participation of students in the classroom. Therefore the following Attendance and Course Work policies will be observed: !Attendance at critiques are mandatory. Failure to attend a critique, without an excused absence, as defined under university policy, will result in a letter grade drop from the project. !As is consistent with University policy, absences for reasons including job interviews, field work, and personal commitments (e.g., attending a friend's wedding), are not considered excused. The only absences not penalized are those for the death of close family members, severe illnesses ( doctor’s note) or observance of religious holidays. If you plan on attending a religious event later in the semester you MUST notify me in writing or electronically within the first 2 weeks of class. !The full University attendance policy can be found at: http://administration.ucdenver.edu/admin/policies/OAA/StudentAttendance.pdf !Tardiness!You must arrive to class on time fully prepared. Failure to do so may negatively impact your grade and negate future recommendations for employment and graduate schools from your Professors. !Progress Grades !As design and learning are iterative processes Progress Grades may be assessed at anytime during the semester. These grades may be part of a specific project or randomly at the discretion of the instructor. Examples of possible assessment are: work done to date on a give project, reading comprehension of assigned readings, research completed towards a design problem, contributions to a collaborative project, etc. Any student not present on the day a Progess Grade is assessed will recieve a zero for that grade !Redo Grades!As Art and learning are iterative processes Redo-Grades (R) may be assessed at anytime during the semester. These grades may be for part of or for a whole project. Grades for redone projects will replace the initial grade for the project even if the new grade is

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lower then the initial grade. R grades are given at discretion of the instructor. Students may choose not to accept the invitation to redo a project if they so wish. To be eligible to receive an R grade students must have fulfilled all of the assignment requirements and attended critique. Specifics such as requirements and due dates for the redo will be decided on a case-by-case basis by the instructor. !Late Work !Assignments and due dates are listed online in Canvas. When an assignment is due as an upload or html link, the timestamp is recorded by Canvas and is considered final. Late assignments are automatically deducted 25% and must be turned in by the start of the next class. If the assignment is turned in by the start of the second class after it was due, it will be a 50% deduction. After that, the project is awarded a 0. !You must be present during the first week of class or contact me to inform me that you will be unable to attend during the first week, giving the reason for your absence (which must be deemed a valid reason for excused absences). If you are not present during the first week (and I have not been notified with the valid excused reason), and there is a wait-list for the class, you will be dropped at the end of the first week and the first person on the wait-list will be added in your place. !Required Texts !Graphic Design Thinking: Beyond Brainstorming by Ellen Lupton ISBN 9781568989792 !Designing for Social Changeby Andrew SheaISBN 9781616890476 !Recommended Texts !Just Design: Socially Conscious Design for Critical Causes by Christopher Simmons ISBN 9781600619717 !Recommended Items: !1) Digital camera or equivalent 2) Flash drive 3) Portable Firewire Drive – 60 GB or more. USB 2.0 drives are also acceptable. Every digital artist should really have their own external drive(s), for backing up, capturing, moving between computers and storing the large quantity of files that are created in the course of producing digital video and animation. 4) Blank CD’s or DVD’s will be required for turning in final project files !Canvas and Email !All communication through email will take place exclusively using the ucdenver.edu official email addresses that you are required to activate this semester. I plan to use the Canvas system to post grades, make announcements, post the syllabus and to conduct class discussions. !Online Discussions are a required component of this class, you must have access to Canvas and be able to post to any discussion forums. See “Participation” below for specific grading criteria and weighting. Grading

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Grades for the semester will be evaluated on the following criteria: Final Projects = 70% Tests and/or Reading Discussions = 30% !Semester grades will be done on a ten-point scale: A: 90 - 100, B: 79 - 89, C: 68 - 78, D: 57 - 67, F: 56 – down !Evaluation of Semester Grades !DO NOT expect an above average grade for simply completing the minimum project requirements. Grades for assignments, projects and the course will reflect student performance in the following criteria: !“A” is for exceptionally excellent work; clearly better than very good and reflecting special research, aesthetics, theory, design, innovation, excellence, abilities, effort and execution. Papers and research projects are extremely well thought out and executed. Perfect attendance. !“A-” is for very good; reflects a strong performance on all course requirements and for making regular and important contributions to the course. Work shows extra research, aesthetics, and application of design theory to projects. Work displays exceptional attention to detail and execution. Papers and research projects are very good and executed at a high level. Attendance is extremely good – perhaps missing only one class all semester. !“B+’’ is for finishing all the course requirements and doing a very good job on each of them or doing a good job on some of them and an exceptional job on a few of them. Student exemplifies attention to detail and going beyond the assignment guidelines to display initiative and creativity on all assignments. Attendance is extremely good. !“B” is for completing all course requirements in an extremely consistent manner that displays inspired creative work and a continued desire to improve and push one’s abilities to the next level. A student has at least redone one assignment to those ends. Attendance is very good. Papers and research projects are executed with a high degree of precision and professionalism. !“B-” is for slightly above standard performance on all course requirements. Student shows potential and some effort but has not pushed their execution and ability to the next level. !“C” is for completing all course requirements without special distinction in terms of creativity, aesthetics, theory, execution or presentation. Papers and research projects are executed at an average college-level. Attendance is fair. !“D” and lower is for poor performance and generally means that the student is not showing progress in the course. Incomplete - I assign VERY FEW incompletes. Students wishing to be assigned an incomplete grade must schedule individual conferences during office hours and offer sufficient justification for the request. !Grade Evaluation Criteria !Each assignment has a possible total score of 100 points based on the criteria listed below. There is no single criteria that will guarantee an ‘A’, instead you must pay attention to each criteria and challenge yourself with each assignment. Below is a brief explanation of each major area of concern. With each project you will be able to clearly see where your strengths lie and what areas you may need to work on to improve your creative work and grade. Artwork Grading # of Points Investigation 10 Experimentation 10 Applied Research 15 Technology 15 Meeting Objectives 15 Form and Composition 15 Presentation 20

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TOTAL: 100 !Investigation For these assignments you should not rely on what you already know or think about the subject, but you should look at the assignment as a visual problem that needs a solution. Designers are frequently presented with projects that on the surface appear to have no good solution. The client wants one thing, and the audience seems to prefer the opposite. A good designer will find a “third” solution that fulfills the project requirements but in a new and unexpected way. You are expected to develop an idea through proposals, presentations and sketches. A good grade for investigation will indicate that you are thinking through an idea and doing research that explores various potential solutions. !Experimentation You must do multiple sketches and present multiple ideas that show different approaches. The ideas presented will need to be ideas that are risky and ideas that you really would want to do as a final piece, which means they should be fresh, original and reflect the research and goals of the project. !Applied Research The grading for concept will examine how well your research has been incorporated into your visual solution. Does your final solution reflect what you found during your research? Did your choice and methods of research provide relevant data? You must think about the questions you are asking as you do your research, designing research questions that provide information that is useful to your design. !Technology This will be scored based on how well you are able to utilize and navigate the digital medium. If you are doing video, are the cuts and transitions clean? If your work is layered imagery, are there obvious seams or color correction problems? Is the overall presentation clean and neat (if appropriate)? With print or web, are there alignment problems? Things that will lower your grade include blips in audio or video, smudges on prints, poor alignment, compression artifacts (both video and .jpg), poor quality resolution on finished project or source imagery and poor dynamic range (too dark or washed out). !Meeting Objectives An average grade for Meeting Objectives means that you have met the basic requirements of the assignment. Each assignment is meant to be only a framework, and in design it is expected that you find new ways of interpreting what may seem like a standard problem. A good grade in this category will mean that you have gone beyond the assignment and created a concept or work that is unique and original, pushing the assignment beyond what is expected. !Form and Composition This grade is based on the surface qualities of the artwork. The surface is what we see as the final product, often this quality receives more attention during critique and evaluation of art. It is important, but is only part of the grade in design classes because the context and research process is equally valued. !Questions to ask yourselves about the surface quality of your work: Is the work well-designed and appropriate for the solution? Are font choices conscious and appropriate to the solution and audience? Has a grid been established, addressed and used to communicate a hierarchy of information effectively? If you are ignoring the grid principle, is it done intentionally and forcefully? If you are creating video, does the editing reflect your subject? !Presentation If you do not care about how you present your work a client will not have any confidence that you can present their company any better. This class is about ideas, particularly new ideas that push the boundaries of the assignment. New ideas need to be sold to the client and presented in such a way that the client feels that you as a design know what you are talking about. No great idea can survive a poor presentation. !Presentation includes the mock-ups that you will prepare and the .PDF documentation of your research as well as the final project. Designs will be neatly executed, cohesive and they will need to convey the “attitude” of the design piece in how they are constructed and designed.

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!A low grade will be given if pages are not cut cleanly and square, glue marks, smudges or poorly design comps and mock-ups. A poor verbal presentation of your work can also drag down the presentation grade. !Class schedule: !Week 1: !8/18 Introduction and Syllabus- Introduction to The Art of Storytelling For a Brand 8/20 August 20: Auditing Successful Stories, Studio Time (Article & Class Discussion) Discuss readings !Week 2: !8/25 Work Time and meet with Ryan !8/27 Due: Individual Presentations – Exercise 1 (Elements of a Successful Story) !!Week 3: !9/1 Labor Day, No Class 9/3 Due: Pitch Presentation – Initial Concept & Creative Brief

Week 4: !9/8 Revised Pitch (If Necessary) & Preproduction Tasks (Film or Interactive) !9/10 In class Studio, Due: Preproduction (sketches, wireframes, mood/storyboards) !Week 5: !9/15 In class Studio Milestone 1 Progress Check !9/17 In class Studio (Article & Class Discussion)

Week 6: !9/22 In class Studio (Article & Class Discussion) !9/24 Due: Rough Cut Version 1 Brand Storytelling !Week 7: !10/1 In class Studio !10/3 Due: Rough Cut Version 2 Brand Storytelling

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!Week 8: !10/6 Midterm In class Studio !!10/8 Due: Brand Storytelling Project & Critique Assignment: Read for next class: Graphic Design Thinking pages 1-25 (GDT) Lupton Present Project #2 Non-Profit Design Identity !!Week 9: !10/13 Assign Groups and NPO Do Brainstorming and Mind mapping exercise for NPO Assignment: Contact NPO before next class (one person from each group) Read for next class: Graphic Design Thinking pages 25-55 Part 1 - Prepare outline, style guide and design brief for next class and create group blog Watch- http://www.aiga.org/video-design-for-good !10/15 Due: Part 1 Present outline, style guide and design brief Begin to design identity for NPOs (each person in the group will create an identity to present to the NPO). Discuss rhetoric, applications to designers. Read for next class: Graphic Design Thinking pages 55- 76 (GDT) Lupton !

Week 10: !10/20 Due Part 2 NPO pitch Group Presentation After feed back refine NPO designs Discuss - How to get ideas and Action Verbs NPO Complete suggested revisions NPO project deliver files to NPO. Assignment - Collect B-roll !10/22 Meet with NPO- Approval of design Present design ideas to NPO and approve design concepts Read GDT 77-95 !!Week 11: !10/27 Discuss GDT 75-95 Assignment: Continue NPO project and meet in groups to decide roles (web and video.) Work out final timelines. !10/29 Critiques Part 3 Due: Web Mock Up and Video story boards due Read- Flies in Urinals: The Value of Design Disruptions http://changeobserver.designobserver.com/feature/flies-in-urinals-the-value-of-design-disruptions/33108/

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Week 12: !11/3 In class work time, Discuss - Flies in Urinals: The Value of Design Disruptions !11/5 NPO Work Day Discuss- GDT 96-139

Week 13: !11/10 NPO Work Day Read GDT 96-139 !!11/12 NPO Work Day Read - GDT 140-182 !!Week 14: !11/17 NPO Work Day Reading- Bierut- The Book (cover) that changed my Life, Information Design and the Placebo Effect, Barthes on the Ballpoint, The Tyranny of the Tagline, Designing under the Influence, Authenticity: A User’s Guide, and I am a Plagiarist !11/19 Due: Work in Progress Critique Discuss Bierut Assignment: refine work for next class !Week 15: Fall Break November 24-28!!Week 16: 12/1 NPO Work Day 12/3 NPO Work Day !12/8 Finals Week - DUE- NPO and Final Critiques Individual Report/Reflections !!!! !!!

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!!!!Content Notification !Art History scholarship and Art Studio practice, along with art teaching and learning, are complex endeavors. They involve the critical exploration of ideas, theories, art-making practices, and art movements, and encompass such things as the human body, sexuality, race, gender, ethnicity, politics, strong languages, religions, and cultures. This course may cover one or more of the above categories and each student will be required to be an active participant in all course assignments, discussions, and tests. Given this information, it is the student’s obligation to determine whether the course content and requirements conflict with the student’s core beliefs. If a student determines that there is a conflict with his or her core beliefs, one of the following actions must be taken prior to the last day to drop a course without penalty: 1) drop the class; 2) meet with the instructor to determine if an accommodation can be made. Faculty will ascertain if an accommodation can be made; however, faculty are not required to grant content accommodations. !Syllabus Agreement !I, ____________________________________________ (print name) affirm that I have read the attached syllabus and understand the policies of the Design Studio III class. I further acknowledge that should a dispute arise regarding the content of the attached, the issue of my notification in advance of course requirements and policies has hereby been disclosed. !Date:____________________ !!Signed:_________________________________________________ !!CONSENT TO POST STUDENT ARTWORK ON WEBSITE !I hereby give Michelle Carpenter, Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Denver, College of Arts & Media (CAM) and the permission to post my artwork and my image ________________________________________( name) on her and on the CAM website, and to include with the artwork my name. !!Signed ___________________________________________(student artist) !Date ____________________ !Type to enter text !! !

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