Brief

You will create a brief and daily practice that will cumulatively become something more significant. This can take a number of forms, but must fit within the parameters of the course, so it must feature print and/or web design as the primary avenue. Submit digital documentation/link on Learning Suite. If this manifests physically, submit digital documentation (photo/video) and also submit the physical item in class on the due date.

This is meant to be a low-impact assignment–meaning that you are are not spending exorbitant amounts of time to generate this project. Small, daily practices can eventually add up to something significant. The most intensive part may be how you choose to assemble these daily productions, but if you also work on this over time, you can spread out the workload. The expectation is that you will have a minimum of 30 unique daily components to the project. This gives you some room early on to spend time conceptualizing the project, and some time at the end to compile and aggregate parts. Budget your time accordingly since you will have other projects due throughout the semester and the final at the end.

Consider how you can use the concepts of time, accumulation, collaboration, or other pertinent ideas as key components of the work. Also think deeply about how this might manifest itself through print or web design. Do not just take an idea and an execution and randomly combine them. Be thoughtful in your approach so that the concept informs the execution, and/or vice versa.

It is highly recommended that you run your idea(s) by the instructor prior to fully engaging in it to make sure you are spending your time wisely.

Examples

• Take a daily photo and aggregate that on a site or in a book.
• Record one second of video each day and compile that together on a site that allows you to navigate through different days or randomly serve up different days.
• Have friends add to a contiguous drawing that will result in a gigantic exquisite corpse that can live on a website with a looooong scrolling option, or a giant accordion book that is printed in a limited edition.
• Take a screenshot on your phone each day, at a different and sequential time. These screenshots can be compiled into a flipbook that show a clock progressing minute by minute through time.
• Have different people record one word each from a poem. Create a site that allows visitors to click on each work of the poem to hear that person read that word.

What to Do

• Consider what might be low investment, but high impact.
• Consider how this might tie into your existing projects and central concepts, so this becomes part of a personal portfolio rather than just a one-off assignment for a class.
• Examine what you tend to already do on a daily basis. Is there a way to collect that or integrate collecting into that existing routine?
• Think of the various things you can collect/create: objects, images, video, sounds, language, drawing, painting, sculpture, receipts, screengrabs, or whatever.
• Consider what each avenue offers and leverage that. Print is good for tactility, physical presence, texture, etc. Web-based projects are good for navigability, time-based sequencing, randomness, etc.
• If creating a print piece, consider all the things we have discussed so far: print process and quality, paper quality/color/weight, scale, creative/premium features like pop-ups, die cuts, foils, pockets, sleeves, etc. Push yourself and have fun. Don’t go for a bare minimum, boring execution.
• If creating a web-based piece, consider all the things we have discussed so far: responsive pages, clean code, metadata, SEO, navigation and wayfinding, web-optimized images, etc. Don’t go for a bare minimum, boring execution.

Artists to Consider

• On Kawara
• Tehching Hsieh
• Danica Phelps
• Charles Wong Tze Chau

Grading

Assignment grades will be based on the following:

Conceptual Concerns (40%)

Student demonstrates evidence that they understand and inventively integrate conceptual concerns and implications of print and web design.

• Excellent: Student demonstrates conversational familiarity with the material—making interesting connections between ideas, readings, and presentations.
• Average: Student is able to recall and recite material, but not do anything interesting with it.
• Below Average: Student struggles to demonstrate a grasp of the material and shows no facility in connecting ideas or new thinking.

Execution (40%)

When executing a project, the student demonstrates a firm grasp of the materials, techniques, hardware, and software. The student’s skills and approach are appropriate to their concept. In written/oral assignments, this includes proper spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, grammar and formatting for written assignments; and annunciation, confidence and focused arguments for oral assignments.

• Excellent: Student displays skills and sensitivity when creating projects. The level of craft and approach to making is appropriate to the concept. In written/oral assignments, student understands writing and presentation modes including style guides and oral confidence and is able to nimbly employ these tools in their art projects, writing, and speaking.
• Average: Student work shows some flaws in their understanding of materials and skills. Stylistic and formatting mistakes are present.
• Below Average: The execution is unconsidered and hasty. Student repeatedly makes the same mistakes and ignores instructor input and suggestions.

Assessment/Critique (10%)

The student will produce a self-evaluation for each art project including the strengths and weaknesses of a given work and plans for future improvement. This will also include an accounting of time taken. The student will also be present for and participate in group critiques of projects.

• Excellent: The student thoughtfully and honestly engages in the self-reflective process of critiquing their own work and efforts. The student enthusiastically engages with group critiques, seeking ways to offer constructive feedback to other students.
• Average: The student performs a cursory and surface-level assessment of their work and efforts. They make neutral comments during the group critiques and do not fully engage.
• Below Average: The student demonstrates an inability to honestly engage with their work as it exists in the world, and does not adequately participate in group critiques, or is absent/tardy.

Following Instructions (10%)

The student adheres to the guidelines provided for the course and the assignment. If the paper has a particular framework, the student adheres to that framework. If an assignment is to be submitted as a Word doc on Learning Suite, the student does not email the instructor a PDF.

• Excellent: A detail-oriented student who takes instruction and fastidiously executes it within their work.
• Average: A student who misses some details because they didn’t read instructions thoroughly or take proper notes when instructions were given.
• Below Average: Student ignores basic instructions and guidance given for assignments.

On-time Submission

Projects lose 5 points (our of 100) per 24-hour period they are late. If an assignment is submitted 5 minutes late, that is within the first 24-hour period, so it loses 5 points. If it is 27 hours late, that puts it in the second 24-hour perdiod, so it loses 10 points.

Learning Outcomes Addressed

Design Fundamentals and Processes

Students will be able to implement the steps that guide a designer to effective solutions, apply compositional skills to design problems, and employ fundamentals of 2D design such as grid systems and the basics of typography.

Technical Proficiency

Students will be able to employ the technical fundamentals of print and web design and production.

Professional Practices

Students will be able to employ professional practices in supporting their art through a portfolio website and awareness of professional opportunities for studio artstis to deploy their art skills in commercial contexts.