Senior Typography

“[typography] is a craft by which the meanings of text (or its absence of meaning) can be clarified, honored and shared…” —Robert Bringhurst

As designers, we use typography as one of our tools to affect how, when, why and where people receive information. In addition to the tools we use and the skills we develop, we are challenged to leave our mark, our voice on the project, to reveal the information through the filter of your own perspective.

Type is the foundation, the backbone, of graphic design. Many of the best design projects are grounded with excellent typography, whether they are print or digital, motion or interactive. Well considered typography will often help lead to a projects success. Typography carries the message, the point, the ultimate goal of the design.

The goal of this course is to present you with a series of typographic challenges. You have learned the rules of type and have advanced your skills as typographers. Now we are going to push you on those, test you on when you could or should break the rules and when they should be respected. You will be asked to bring your own voice and personality into these projects as well while you experiment with type.

Class Rules

• Work hard.
• Be respectful.
• Show up. And show up on time.
• Work harder.
• Show your work, process, everything you have or be prepared to, daily. The more you are getting feedback from the class the better. It makes your work better and it helps you evolve as a designer.
• Questions. Ask them. Often. Questions are ALWAYS beneficial to the entire class, not just the person asking.
• Experiment. Sketch. Test. Sample. Prototype.
• The project is never complete.
• The printer is always broken.
• Collaborate.
• Dish it out and take it.
• Laugh.
• Be opinionated. Debate. Ask more questions.

Communication

It is expected that you as a class will help and support each other throughout this course and others for that matter.

That said, I am of course fully accessible in class, at my office, via email: nickrock@bu.edu and Instant Messenger (AIM, iChat) RockBostonU. In addition to these avenues of communication we will also be using an online collaboration tool called Basecamp.

You all will have access to our Basecamp site after the first class, this will act as a central portal for class discussion outside of class as well as a digital library of class resources, such as this syllabus, project briefs, certain readings as well as our class calendar.

The projects in this class will be sequential, however we will also have work that happens simultaneously. There will be small weekly homework assignments as well. These weekly assignments are designed as exercise, to keep your brain moving, and are not designed to be too demanding.

Weekly Homework — Graphic Response

Individual · weekly, every Monday

Every Monday, you will be expected to post a typographic response to a news story from the previous week. You will post these to our Basecamp site, and you can post any time throughout the week, as long as you have one each week. We may or may not discuss these in class, but we should engage in discussion via comments in Basecamp.

Requirements: 8.5 x 11 portrait orientation · Black & White, type only · Must include source (link, newspaper etc) · Must include date of story.

Project 01 — Typographic Voice

Individual · Part 1 due 23 September 2011

Typographic form as information is an extremely valuable tool to utilize as a graphic designer. Regardless of the medium, using only type you can create a message, both that encourages interest and a process of discovery. For example making simple formal gestures with the type such as typographic form as a metaphor for the topic which you are discussing allows you to avoid the need to use any imagery at all.

“If you come to a project determined that the end product is going to appear this way or that (it’s called “conceptualism”), the publication will never be appropriate, as integrated, or as satisfying as it could have been if the designer had “listened” to the material in the first place. No, you have to immerse yourself in the text and the illustrations, and let the material tell you how it might best be treated and what, in the end, it wants to look like.” —Greer Allen

For the first part of this project I would like you explore aspects of this idea of typographic form as information combined with your voice / point-of-view. Choose a speech or short passage of text that you have been inspired by to illustrate typographically as an A1 poster. I would like you to read, and re-read this speech and let it “tell you how it might best be treated.” How do you convey the concept and point of your speech using only typography?

While I would like you to immerse yourself in your text, this part of the project is meant to be quick. Draw from your skills as a typographer and create an engaging poster that communicates the idea of your speech.

Requirements: A1, portrait or landscape · Type only · B&W only.

Your grade in this class will be based on a number of factors:

• Attendance. Attendance at each class is mandatory, you must contact me in advance if you need to miss a class. If you have more than one un-excused absence your mark will be lowered by one full grade. If you are late, or absent you must follow up with me, as you will still be responsible for the work.
• Class Participation. Part of the job as a designer is communicating effectively, on a design team, in a studio environment or with clients. You will be expected to be an active member of the class, particularly during critiques as all feedback is important. The weekly homework assignments are also considered part of your class participation requirements.
• Project Execution. All projects should be given your full attention and effort. Each component of your projects will be reviewed, projects need to be submitted on deadline and should be complete according to project brief. Projects must be completed by the due date. Late work will be penalized.
• Project Process. You are expected to document the process of each of your projects throughout the semester. This means, saving all sketches, writings mock ups etc. You are not required to formally document your process, however it may be helpful as we may ask to refer to your process documentation in order to understand how you arrived at a solution. It will be particularly important to have this with you during final critiques for each project.

• Basecamp — central portal for class discussion and a digital library of class resources.