Typography 1 is the first in a three-course sequence that introduces students to the fundamentals of typographic practice, both as a set of technical skills and as an expressive medium. This first semester of typography begins fully zoomed-in -- exploring how and why letterforms are formed. Students will work with various tools and materials to construct letters; with attention paid to meaning, voice and the line between language and abstract form. The second part of the semester concerns itself with setting type. Typesetting is the score for the reading experience. Typesetting conventions and nomenclature will be taught by zooming out from the letter, to the word, to the paragraph and to the page. Students will become comfortable with typographic color and texture in a finite static composition. This is a studio course, so some class time will be used for discussions, most of the time we will be working in class. There is an expectation that students work both individually and in groups and be prepared to speak about their own work and the work of their peers in supportive and respectful ways. A laptop and relevant software are required.

Please contact the department for permission to register; registration is not available in Workday. 

Major Requirement | BFA Graphic Design

This course will explore the possibilities of design online from a conceptual, historical, and programmatic perspective. The class celebrates the Internet as a space for social exchange and independent expression, while questioning the cultural contradictions embedded in online discourse and the motivations of individuals and entities behind online platforms. Through projects, readings, workshops, and presentations we will explore the relevance of network technologies in the context of contemporary art and design practices. Students will learn basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript along with methods for conceptualizing, designing, and developing websites. Outcomes won't necessary be practical, nor pragmatically functional. Instead we will strive for a poetic understanding of design and the Internet as mediums for critical research and action.

Open to Junior, Senior and Graduate Graphic Design Students only. Please contact the instructor to be added to the waitlist.

Elective

Students are expected to develop personal working methods and interests through more general questions posed by the faculty. Longer-term projects will be intermixed with shorter projects posed by visiting critics. Students should complete the Design Studio track with a developed sense of self, and able to start framing questions and lines of inquiries of their own. End forms will be more emphasized than in Design Studio 1 and 2, in part as evidence that craft and working methods are sufficiently evolved. The twice-a-week format is intended for juniors or advanced designers who have completed the first two semesters of Design Studio or an equivalent design principles track.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Junior Graphic Design Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Graphic Design

Web as Medium is an advanced studio course for students who have been exploring browser-based technologies as a creative medium. Students will build on their critical understanding of code to investigate the cultural, social, and philosophical implications of the internet, culminating in the creation of self-driven projects as their responses. The course will provide a space for students to conduct in-depth experiments on the web, fostering active skill-sharing and knowledge exchange among peers. The course features student-led research/workshops as a point of engagement with relevant technologies and its discourse, along with self-driven projects that utilize the browser as a space to experiment and communicate. Prerequisite knowledge of or coursework in HTML/CSS/JS basics is required — students are expected to have solid understanding of network technologies, including how to publish web pages to the internet.

Elective