Course Syllabus

Summer 2024 | ART-1350-VO01 - Typographic Design

Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Faculty

Robert Kirk
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Dana Lee

General Education Requirements

VSCS Arts & Aesthetics

Note

Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.

Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

In this course, students learn the practical and critical thinking skills necessary for working with type and why typographical skills are fundamental to design projects. The history of basic typefaces are explored as well as their expressive potential to communicate. Assignments in both traditional studio work and digital technology teach basic skills through the use and manipulation of typefaces in practical applications such as posters, logos, and advertisements. Prerequisite: Introduction to Adobe Creative Cloud.

Essential Objectives

1. Survey the history and development of letter forms, type, and printing.
2. Analyze how letters are constructed and alphabets designed in order to gain a basic understanding of the character of each letter and of an alphabet.
3. Analyze the major classes of typefaces; understand how they differ and why these differences dictate their uses.
4. Analyze the size, spacing, and color adjustments available to a designer and how to determine and use the "readability" of a typeface.
5. Describe how meaning and expression of that meaning determines the selection of type for typical graphic design projects.
6. Examine, discuss, and critique historical and current typographical works in their cultural and social contexts.
7. Complete individual projects and display in a professional manner.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV IT Support page. https://support.ccv.edu/general/computer-recommendations/

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

This course uses one or more textbooks/books/simulations.

Summer 2024 textbook details will be available on 2023-11-06. On that date a link will be available below that will take you to eCampus, CCV's bookstore. The information provided there will be specific to this class. Please see this page for more information regarding the purchase of textbooks/books.

ART-1350-VO01 Link to Textbooks for this course in eCampus.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Methods

• Notes and lessons via videos and readings
• Textbook discussions
• Quizzes
• Project based assignments
• Project feedback and discussions
• Online discussions

Evaluation Criteria

Grades Are Based On:

1. Satisfactory participation each week — 15%

Each week you will receive a grade for your participation that week.Weekly participation is important in order to receive a passing grade for this course. It counts as 10% of your overall grade.

Full weekly participation consist of of the following:

• Completion of all assignments on time each week.
• Satisfactory participation in all discussions each week.

You will receive a grade of 100 if you meet these participation requirements fully. For every missing discussion post or assignment I will deduct 10 points.

2. Weekly assignments — 60%

You will receive a grade for every assignment. See Rubric for each assignment.

3. Weekly discussion board posts — 25%

You will receive a grade for every discussion. See Rubric for each discussion.

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

There are simple participation requirements for this course in order for you to receive a passing grade.

They are:

You must complete ALL the assignments and post them for discussion and critique. I provide a rubric for each assignment that will give you clear criteria for grading the quality of your work.

You must participate in ALL discussions each week. Discussion participation will vary slightly depending on the discussion. I will clearly state the participation requirements when I post a discussion. I will provide a rubric for each discussion that will give you clear criteria for grading the quality of your discussion posts.

It is important that you participate in the discussions on a regular basis. Keep these things in mind during Zoom time and when posting to a discussion.

1. Attendance and full participation in all Zoom meetings.
2. Obviously, first and foremost, post your discussion assignment by due date and time. Earlier is better because it gets the conversations going, sooner.
3. You should respond to at least two discussion post from your classmates. So, including your discussion assignment, that’s a 3-post minimum, 4 posts if you want to get in to the “A” zone (and, of course, the quality of your posts also matters).
4. The ideal is 4 or more posts per discussion; that is not an undue burden, and it’s actually quite easy — just get involved in the conversations! Basically, you start the week with 100 points. When grading time comes, I grade the overall quality of your post, then subtract 10 points for each post under 4 posts. So, if you have four posts, you’d get a 90 as your grade. However, if you only have one post for the week, you’d get a 60, due to low participation.
   
   1 post = 60
   2 posts = 70
   3 posts = 80
   4 posts = 90
   5+ post = 100
   
   
5. You should participate on at least two separate days during the week.
6. Your postings should be of substance. Posts such as “I like it!” or “That’s a cool design dude!”, with no further explanation, although well-meaning, will not count towards your participation.
7. Do not post all of your work in one day and refrain from the class for the rest of the week. Another important thing: as I mentioned before, often, I, or sometimes another student will follow up your post with another question. Be sure to answer those follow-up questions. Check in periodically to see if anyone has asked you a follow-up question.

Missing & Late Work Policy

Late Work:

I do not accept late work unless you contact me in advance of the due date and have an extraordinary reason.

One of the reasons I am strict about deadlines is because that is how it will be with any graphic design job. Often there are deadlines out of your control, such as a publication date, an event date, or a time frame for production of a design that will take weeks, or simply a demanding client or boss. Get use to meeting deadlines no matter what it takes.

Redoing Work:

You may chose to redo any assignment for regrading BUT you must have turned in the original assignment by its original due date.

You cannot add to a discussion once it is closed.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity