Assignment: Reading Responses – ART 240: Print & Web Design for Studio Artists

Brief

On weeks in which a reading assigned, you will be required to submit a reading responses for each reading set. Respond to one of the reading response questions found at the bottom of each reading set. If there is one set of readings for a week, then you should submit one response. If there are two sets of readings in a week, you should submit two separate responses below—addressing one question under each reading set. Each response should be 125–250 words. You should make direct references to the required reading(s) within your response(s). Remember, these entries are evidence that you did the readings, completed them, and processed them. Without evidence that you did the work, we cannot give you a proper grade.

Start each response with the number set that corresponds to the reading set and the response question to which you are responding. For example, if you are responding to the week 3.2 reading set, then start your response with “3.2” above your response. If the question you are addressing is, “What did you learn this week? What are you still stuck on?,” add that above your response, but after the number of the reading set. This helps us contextualize your remarks.

If you completed no readings in a given week, do not enter anything in the field on Learning Suite.

Tips

Plagiarism is not allowed. Most of the time I see this, it is due to not properly citing quotes or thoughts that are not your own. If a quote or idea is not coming directly from the reading addressed in your response, then you need to create a footnote with the proper attribution.
Do not use AI to generate any part of your response.
Always reread your writing after you are done to help spot errors. What works even better is reading it out loud.
I recommend writing out and saving your response in a word processor as you go. Once you are done, then copy and paste your response into Learning Suite. You do not want to lose your work if Learning Suite glitches and doesn’t save your response.
Responses will be randomly examined over the course of the semester. I will not be going over these with a fine tooth comb, but please be attentive to your writing, punctuation, and formatting. Egregious errors will be corrected and result in a reduced grade.

Example

2.1: If hardware and software keeps changing faster, then what does that mean for the programmers, engineers, and industrial designers vs. the artists?

Based on the videos I watched on the Linotype machine and letterpress, industry seems primarily concerned with keeping up with technology, whereas artists seem to relish delving into outdated practices. It is artists who are preserving the machines and producing work using them. Industry has moved onto giant offset lithography machines. Even Risography is outdated, but artists have resurrected it. So, for people working in commercial fields, they need to be able to keep up with the latest advancements. That will mean more training, and that the new advancements will still have to behave a bit like the old advancements to keep the learning curve low. It was a bit sad watching Farewell ETAOIN SHRDLU, the documentary on the NY Times printers, because I kept thinking that most of these people worked most of their lives on the same process, and were just born at the wrong time to get their knowledge and skills thrown to the scrap heap as new methods were adopted. As for artists, they seem to work at their own pace.

That being said, there are a lot of artists who are working at the cutting edge of tech and help to push both culture and technology forward. Those artists need to be OK with their work being inaccessible in 10–20 years as old software and hardware are abandoned, or the artists need to also build methods of archiving their work.

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.