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| Class pages > English 4553: Document Design | |
English 4553 Document DesignSpring 2001 Course Requirements This class will teach you a rhetorical approach to document design. Using the rhetorical principles of arrangement, emphasis, clarity, conciseness, tone, and ethos, as explained in the textbook, we will discuss sample documents, analyze the layout of documents (both professional documents and ones you will create in class), and talk about what makes an effective layout and design. This class will be mostly activity-based, with some lecture and discussion. I will try to give you the principles and then let you work them out in your own projects. We’ll spend every Friday in the electronic classroom to give you time to work on your smaller and larger projects. Every week, you should bring in a short document to class that we can discuss in terms of its design. Be creative; bring in letters, memos, flyers from work, announcements, newsletters, brochures you pick up at the vet’s office, anything that represents visual rhetoric. Start a folder at home and stick in any interesting document you run across, then bring that folder to class; we’ll work with examples, particularly Mondays and Wednesdays when we’re in the regular classroom. Textbook Designing Visual Language, Kostelnick and Roberts Graded Assignments Your grades will be based on the following breakdown of points:
Description of Assignments Weekly activities in computer lab (10% of grade) These will always be collaborative. You’ll do exercises from the book or activities involving sample documents you’ve brought in. Presentations on the software (5% of grade) Every Friday, one person will give a brief (10-minute) Powerpoint presentation on using some aspect of the software available in the lab. You will lead the class through one task–these should start very simple and get more complicated as the semester progresses–with a simple lesson. I assume that everyone is at a similar level of inexperience with the software; this process will help us build a communal understanding of how to learn the tools. Brochure (10% of grade) Due week four. You will design or re-design a tri-fold brochure for a real or fake client. You may choose to re-design one of the documents you’ve brought in. The document must be for a real rhetorical situation so you can analyze the audience, purpose, and context and choose the best design. Process report and rhetorical analysis of brochure (10% of grade) Due week four. You will give a description of how the brochure evolved and an analysis of the design decisions and how they suit the purpose, context, and audience. Final project (55% of grade, 30% collaborative) A series of related assignments in which you will design a set of documents (flyers, posters, and brochures, or brochure and instructional manual, or newsletter and flyer) for a real client, with whom you will need to communicate at least twice. You will do the design aspects of the project in groups; pair up with people around week four and start looking for clients–a family business, a local organization you’re involved in, a campus activity or organization you’d like to publicize. I am also working on rounding up clients that I can provide if you can’t find one; keep in mind that my clients will reflect my interests, such as the Women’s Studies Certificate or a local outdoor network. These assignments include the following:
Grading Criteria Assignments will be graded based on how well the work would be received at a professional job.
Work that has no sense of audience, too many errors, or uses inappropriate templates, is unacceptable and will not be graded. Your group may rewrite any assignment as many times as you would like to improve the grade, but you must check with me before you redo assignments so you can get my feedback. Class Schedule Week 1
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