Course Intro

The Art Institute of California – Orange County

Course Syllabus

Course Number: MM1141
Course Title: Digital Typography
Class Meetings: Tuesdays 5:30–9:30 PM
Session/Year: Fall 2010
Instructor Name: Lou Bispo
Email Address: lbispo@aii.edu
Phone: 714-830-0200 x3349
Instructor Availability Outside of Class: 1 hour before and after class.

Student Success Center
Faculty will be available during office hours to share knowledge, engage in dialogue and/or give advice and guidance to our student body in the Student Success Center located in Building C, Room 226.
Students may meet with faculty during their office hours by scheduling an appointment with the faculty member, or by consulting the SSC schedule posted around campus, outside of C226 and the Academic Affairs Suite (A208).

Digital Typography

Course Description: An introduction to the basic principles of systems and structures of digital layout. Students will learn the principles of layout for creating effective visual compositions.

Course Length: 11 Weeks
Contact Hours: 44 Hours
Lecture: 22 Hours
Lab: 22 Hours
Credit Values: 3 Credits

Course Competencies:
Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:
• Understand the history, theory, and formal aesthetics of typography.
• Understand the role of type hierarchy in visual communication.
• Identify typefaces appropriate for screen-based media.
• Select appropriate typefaces to communicate visual content.
• Apply principles of typographic design to create effective visual communications.

Course Prerequisite: FS131 Typography I – Traditional

Required Text: Thinking with Type. Ellen Lupton. Princeton Architectural Press, ISBN: 1-56898-448-0.


Recommended Text:

Basics of Design: Layout and Typography for Beginners, by Lisa Graham, Delmar/Thomson Learning (2002). ISBN: 0-7888-1362-2

aterials and Supplies: Reliable Method for Transporting and Storing Files; Notebook; Pen/Pencil, sketchbook or folder to keep work samples

Estimated Homework Hours: At least 4 hours per week

Technology Needed: Access to the Internet; AI student account and password; Adobe Dreamweaver CS3; Adobe Photoshop / Illustrator CS4

Grading Scale:
All assignments must have clear criteria and objectives to meet. All students shall be treated equitably. It will be that student’s right to know his/her grade at any reasonable point that information is requested by that student. The criteria for determining a student’s grade shall be as follows (on a percentage of total points basis):

A 100-93
A- 92-90
B+ 89-87
B 86-83
B- 82-80
C+ 79-77
C 76-73
C- 72-70
D+ 69-67
D 66-65
F 64 or below
Process for Evaluation:

Process for Evaluation:
Attendance and Participation 10%
Assignments, Exercises and quizzes 60%
Final Project/Examination 30%


Classroom Policies:

Student Evaluation/Grading Policies:
•Class time will be spent in a productive manner.
•Grading will be done on a point system.
•Points for individual activities will be announced.
•All work must be received by the set deadlines.
•Late work will be accepted up to one week after the set deadline, and will be given a maximum of 50% credit for the assignment, no exceptions.
•On-time projects may be redone with instructor approval.
•ABSOLUTELY NO WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THE FINAL CLASS MEETS WEEK 11.

Classroom Policy:
• No food allowed in class or lab at any time. Drinks in recloseable bottles allowed in classroom.
• Edible items brought to class or lab must be thrown out.
• If student elects to eat/drink outside class or lab door, missed time is recorded as absent.
• Attendance is taken hourly. Tardiness or absence is recorded in 15-minute increments.
• Break times are scheduled by the instructor at appropriate intervals.
• No private software is to be brought to lab or loaded onto school computers.
• No software games are allowed in lab (unless in course curriculum).
• Headphones are required if listening to music during lab. No headphones are allowed in lecture.
• Any student who has special needs that may affect his or her performance in this class is asked to identify his/her needs to the instructor in private by the end of the first day of class. Any resulting class performance problems that may arise for those who do not identify their needs will not receive any special grading considerations.

Student Art Work:
All student work, which has not already been returned during the quarter, will be available for pickup no later than 5:00 pm, Monday of the first week of break. Any work NOT picked up by that date and time will be discarded unless other arrangements have been made. Students must take responsibility for their art work.

Students with Disabilities:
The Art Institute of California – Orange County is committed to providing qualified students with a disability an equal opportunity to access the benefits, rights and privileges of school services, programs and activities. The Art Institute of California – Orange County provides reasonable accommodations to students with documented disabilities.

Accommodation requests should be submitted as far in advance as possible. It is the responsibility of the student to contact the Student Services Department to initiate this process (714-830-0239). The Student Services Department will assist qualified students with disabilities in acquiring reasonable and appropriate accommodations.

Attendance Policy:
The student who accumulates eight (8) hours of absenteeism in a class during an academic quarter may be placed on Academic Probation. A student who accumulates twelve (12) hours of absenteeism in a course will receive an F grade for that course.

Student Conduct Policy:
The Art Institute of California – Orange County expects its students and employees to conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times. In addition, the Art Institute has a strict policy which disallows sexual harassment of either students or employees. All students or employees are encouraged to report any professional or sexual misconduct to the Director of Student Services.


LRC Assignment:
All students will need to utilize the Learning Resource Center for research and reference throughout the quarter. The LRC is a valuable source for finding design ideas that will be needed for this course, i.e.: inspiration and design fundamentals for mid-term and final projects; locating popular trends in design, illustration and photography; referencing past award winning designs which may be used as a guide; identifying benchmarks or referencing competent design works. LRCWeb URL: fac.aii.edu/~af301

Commitment to Excellence: Reading/Writing/Comprehension:
While the principal goal of this course is the acquisition of knowledge in the subject area, students should be aware that The Art Institute of California--Orange County requires that research on a particular topic, and clear and effective writing be an integral part of the learning process.

Course Schedule

Week 1: Lecture: Letter. Type basics. Type History. Type anatomy. Reviewing vocabulary.
Lab: Letter exercise, 58–59.
Homework:
Reading: Text 11–51.

Week 2: Lecture: Type families and hierarchy.
Lab: Begin project 1.
Homework: Letter exercise, 58–59.
Reading: Text 52–59.

Week 3: Lecture: Text. Families, variants and multiple masters. Font file types. Typographic contrast.
Lab: Word exercise, 104–105.
Homework: Project 1.
Reading:

Week 4: Lecture: Text. Alignment and justification. The space between. Horizontal and vertical spacing.
Lab: Paragraph exercise, 102–103. Text exercise, 109–107.
Homework: Project 1.
Reading: Text 80–91.

Week 5: Lecture: Midterm. Final project.
Lab: Project completion.
Homework: None.
Reading:

Week 6: Lecture: Web and hierarchy. Technology restrictions – Web. Different types of information. Wireframes.
Lab: Wireframe exercise.
Homework: Project 2.
Reading: Text 94–101.

Week 7: Lecture: Inverted pyramid structure. Writing for the Web.
Lab: Inverted pyramid exercise.
Homework: Project 2.
Reading: Text 166–171.

Week 8: Lecture: Punctuation requirements. Typographic elements and symbols.
Lab: Finish Project 2.
Homework: Project 3.
Reading: Text 112–137, 164–165.

Week 9: Lecture: Storyboards. Requirements for animatics, video and motion graphics.
Lab: Animatics exercise.
Homework: Project 3.

Week 10: Lecture: Review for final.
Lab: Project 3.
Homework: Project 3.

Week 11: Lecture: Final. Final project.
Lab: Project completion.
Homework: None.