COM 305: Multimedia Production
design girl
Spring 2010 | TR 9-11 a.m. | Laughlin 111 (lab)
Professor: Dr. Brian Carroll
Office:
LAU 100
Office phone:
368-6944
Office hours:
M-F 10-noon | walk-ins welcome

Lose your syllabus? Download another one, at no extra charge

>>Course schedule<<
(it's tentative, so go with the flow and refer back frequently and regularly)

Class session
Topics & Software
Texts, Readings, Resources
Week 1: Jan. 14

What is media design, multimedia production? Visual rhetoric? Who do we serve? What's the message?

For next week: Chapter 5 of Dr. Carroll's new book | Introduction to Graphic Design | Theory
Week 2: Jan. 19, 21

Introduction to Design

Balance | Unity | Contrast | Repetition | Proximity | Alignment
Context | Denoting & Connoting | Negotiation | Ideology & Representation | Appropriation

InDesign | Logos & Business Cards

Due Thursday: Currency assignment (beginning of class) AND three personal logo ideas

Dr. Carroll's Ch. 5

Typography | Evolution of Type

Week 3: Jan. 26, 28

Working with text, learning the InD interface | Identifont.com

Type exercise (i s o l a t i o n; etc.), letterhead, tables & resumes

Due Tuesday: by the end of class, type exercise
Due Thursday:
by end of class, biz card and letterhead (in .pdf format) >> print out from .pdf and submit

McClelland overview, 1-4

Debunking Myths
Single Image

Week 4: Feb. 2, 4

Working with graphics, wrapping text | Building our resumes

Due Thursday (end of class): resumes

Flyers | Getting ready for newsletters

Lessons 5, 6 & 7

Resume how-to (.pdf download) | BC's resume | A very different resume (.doc download)

Week 5: Feb. 9, 11

Working smarter not harder

Due Tuesday (beginning of class): flyers

Newsletters | Master pages & libraries in InDesign

Lessons 8 & 9

Week 6: Feb. 16, 18

Other InDesign skills

Due Tuesday (end of class): newsletters

Magazine layout: all materials accessible via forseti server

Magazine layout

Excerpts from Lessons 10-12

Layout

Week 7: Feb. 23, 25

Introduction to Web, DW Interface

Due Thursday, end of class: magazine spreads

AEJMC logo contest | Three Circles Foundation

Get started on reading in Dreamweaver -- there is quite a bit, especially at the beginning!

Introduction to Web Design
Planning Your Web Site (required!!)

Week 8: March 2, 4

Planning a Web site | Managing files and pages | Intro to HTML

DW (Que book) 1-4, 14
Week 9: March 9, 11

Web: Working with text | Working with images (bring 2 like-sized)

Meeting with Jeremy and Jessie Collins of ThreeCircles

DW 5 & 6

use of tabs | use of tabs 2 | backgrounds | backgrounds 2 | clipart | animation (careful) | icons | visibone (for color & design)

Spring Break

Let's have some fun!

Week 10: March 23, 25

Web: Links and Tables

Resumes due Tuesday beginning of class, published to fssweb (use Fetch); also due -- storyboard for your home page, storyboard ideas for Three Circles pages you're responsible for

No class Thursday: BC in Chapel Hill

DW 7-8

Tutorials

More tutorials, these with humor!

Week 11: March 31 & April 1

CSS (ruh-roh!) and behaviors

DW 9, 15

Web Design No-nos

 

Week 12: April 6 & 8

Selecting and working with color | Navigation schemes -- Flash buttons, Flash text | Incorporating slideshows for photography, using Flash or Soundslides

Layout | Navigation & Theme

DW 17 & 18

Good example of a portfolio site

ColorCombos.com for color palettes
ColourLovers
also for palettes
Backgrounds

Week 13: April 13 & 15

Building out Three Circles Foundation

DW 19-21
Week 14: April 20 & 22

Building out Three Circles Foundation

Jeremy Collins visiting Tuesday, April 20

Three Circles pages due end of class Thursday, April 22
Week 15: April 27 & 29

Finishing Three Circles and our personal Web sites, testing, de-bugging

Wrapping it up | Course evaluations

Graduation: May 8 | Finals May 3-7

Tuesday, April 27: Submit to the prof the full URL for your published Web site, as well as a paragraph or two covering:

  • What you were trying to do (the goal of your Web site)
  • The audience(s) you are trying to reach
  • Anything else to help me understand your site (limitations, wish list of what you'd like to add with more time & know-how, missing elements, etc.)

>>

Course Description

Introduction to the process of graphic art production, with emphasis on materials, principals and methods of translating ideas and information to printed and digital forms and formats. Primary focus on production, design and typography as related to print media, digital media and public relations.

Introduction

You will apply the principles of graphic design to print and digital media. The course will cover how publications are designed and produced, including newspapers, magazines, newsletters, brochures, advertising, and Web pages and Web sites. Students also will learn how to appropriately and creatively use typography, color, photography and illustration, layouts, and software tools such as Dreamweaver and InDesign. The role of graphic design in contemporary media and society also will be discussed.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, my goal is for students to:

  • Achieve competencies with computers and design- and publishing-related software.
  • Learn about design strategies and principles to make more functional and creative publications and messages.
  • Know, understand and apply many of the principles and theories of graphic design.
  • Design to specification, as for clients and third parties

What you will need (required):

• Steve Johnson, Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 On Demand, Que Publishing
• Deke McClelland, Adobe InDesign CS3 one-on-one, Deke Press/O’Reilly
• Memory for storing and backing up work (stick or USB wand)

What you may want (not required):

• Amy Arntson, Graphic Design Basics
• Ryan Conover, Graphic Communications Today, 4th ed.
• Irene Hammerich and Claire Harrison, Developing Online Content
• Steve Krug, Don’t Make Me Think
• Patrick Lynch and Sarah Horton, Web Style Guide 3
• Robin Williams and John Tollet, Design Workshop (Peachpit
• Robin Williams and John Tollett, The Non-Designers Web Book (Peachpit)

Stuff you need to know:

Instructor: Dr. Brian Carroll
Office: Laughlin Hall 100
Office phone: 368.6944 (anytime)
E-mail: bc@berry.edu
Home page: www.cubanxgiants.com

Blog: Wandering Rocks

Policies

Attendance: Attendance is a part of your grade. Be here every day on time, just as you would for a job, surgery or a haircut. Everyone gets one unexcused absence >> no questions asked. Stuff happens. After that, unexcused absences and/or lateness will result in deductions from the "professionalism and participation" portion of your grade -- one point for each unexcused absence and/or late arrival. What is excused is at the instructor's discretion, so you are best served by discussing situations and extraordinary circumstances prior to class whenever possible.

Late submissions: Because the due dates for written assignments are known well in advance, there is no reason why the assignments cannot be completed on time. Moreover, it would be unfair to selectively grant extensions. All late work, therefore, will be penalized. Assignments received from one to three days late will be penalized one letter grade. Assignments received four to seven days late will be penalized two letter grades. No assignments will be accepted more than one week late. Failure to submit the final paper will result in automatic failure for the course.

Distractions: This instructor is easily distracted. Ringing cell phones, therefore, will be lobbed out of the classroom window. Chatter during lecture will result in "professionalism and participation" point deductions, particularly after a warning has been issued. If you have to arrive late or leave early, clear it with the instructor beforehand whenever possible. Do homework for other classes somewhere else. Basic civility is what is expected. If you are at all unclear as to what “basic civility” implies, the instructor would be more than happy to elaborate.

Readings: All reading assignments should be completed before the class period for which they are assigned. You may be called on in class to answer questions related to the day’s readings. In addition, I will expand upon and update the material in the texts. It will be extremely difficult for you to follow the lectures, participate in discussion, respond to my questions and ask intelligent questions if you come to class ill prepared. This is especially true for our mock trials, during which your classmates will be depending on you to pull your weight.

Academic integrity: Because academic integrity is the foundation of college life at Berry, academic dishonesty will result in automatic failure on the assignment in question. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the following: cheating, unauthorized collaboration, plagiarism, fabrication, submitting the same work in multiple courses, and aiding and abetting. For definitions of these terms, please consult the instructor. Additionally, violators will be reported in writing to the Provost. Students who are sanctioned for violating the academic integrity policy forfeit the right to withdraw from the class with a grade of “W.”

How you will be graded:

Weekly projects 65%
Web site 25%
Professionalism and participation 10%
Total   
100%

To compute your final grade, add up your point totals, apply the appropriate percentages, then refer to the grading system summarized here:

A
93-100
A-
90-92
B+
88-89
B
83-87
B-
80-82
C+
78-79
C
73-77
C-
70-72
D+
68-69
D
60-67
F
59 and below

Definitions of the grades can be found in the Berry College Bulletin. “A” students will demonstrate an outstanding mastery of course material and will perform far above that required for credit in the course and far above that usually seen in the course. The “A” grade should be awarded sparingly and should identify student performance that is relatively unusual in the course.

Deadlines

  • When an in-class/in-lab assignment is due, it is due. This reflects the reality of many mass communication professions and work environments. Late in-class assignments will not be accepted unless permission for extension had been granted prior to deadline. Turn in whatever has been done by deadline.
  • If we have out-of-class assignments, they will be accepted up to one week after deadline, but late assignments will be penalized. After an assignment is more than a week late, however, that work is not eligible for points.
  • If a student misses a class when an assignment is due and that student has a legitimate excuse, the professor will accept the late assignment without penalty at his discretion. The professor defines what constitutes a legitimate excuse and reserves the right not to grant full credit for assignments turned in under these circumstances.

Berry Viking code

Academic dishonesty in any form is unacceptable because any breach in academic integrity, however small, strikes destructively at the college’s life and work. The code is not just policy, it is foundational to the academic environment we enjoy and in which scholarship thrives. It is in force in this classroom.

For the complete Viking Code, please consult the student handbook. In short, each student is “expected to recognize constituted authority, to abide by the ordinary rules of good conduct, to be truthful, to respect the rights of others.” The College’s mission, in part, commits to a community of integrity and justice. During an era when ethics are sometimes suspect, there seems no higher goal toward which students ought to strive than that of personal honor.

Students with special needs

If you have special needs of any kind, including learning disabilities, please let me know. Come discuss it with me. I want to make sure on the front end that we prevent any problems associated with the course. Martha Van Cise, director of the Academic Support Center, suggests: “Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodation in this course are encouraged to contact the Academic Support Center in Krannert Room 301 as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.”

Finally, I believe we are here for a good time, not a long time, so let’s have some fun!

Sites & Resources:

Evolution of Type
Thinking With Type
http://www.3dtextmaker.com
http://www.mediabuilder.com
AIGA
Web Style Guide, 3rd edition
Geocities
Google Images
Color presentation
Web pages that suck
Bob's Print Guide

Introduction to Photoshop
Using Dreamweaver
Lynda.com tutorials for DW CS3 (and Photoshop, Illustrator and others)

bc home | berry home | email the prof

©2010 cubanxgiants.com

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I believe this constitutes a "fair use" of such material under Title 17, U.S.C. § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.