Good visual designs are based on underlying grid systems that help to provide consistent locations for type and graphic elements, resulting in an ordered, legible design. Combining type and image further expands the building blocks for visual communication. This is true whether a designer is working in a static format (such as a book or a poster), or an interactive format (such as a touch screen or an application interface). These building blocks remain the same whether the goal of a project is to communicate pure information (such as an instructional manual), or to communicate something more emotional (such as Maya Lin's Vietnam Memorial).
In this assignment, students will create a digital poster for a lecture series. Students will use text and images to communicate informational and emotional content.
The digital poster should be designed as a static digital display with the dimensions of 1024px wide and 1600px tall in vertical orientation. Imagine the digital poster will be viewed by your audience as a digital sign display arranged in vertical orientation, like something you might see at the Price center.
Use an underlying grid to create your design. You must use ALL of the text provided. You can select any number of images from the ones provided and treat images in any way you'd like. You may also create graphic elements such as rule lines and shapes. You may explore color, or design in black and white. You may choose your own fonts.
For your splash page design, utilize all of the text provided here. You can use any number of images, but you *must* use at least one image. Here's a google folder with the images.
Students will complete this as an individual assignment.
Develop proficiency with using a grid system to organize content for a screen design
Learn how to design for different screen configurations
Understand how font choice, hierarchy and typesetting can affect legibility
Work iteratively through sketches and multiple layouts under different constraints
Develop a proficiency in laying out type and images
Explore the information and emotions that they communicate
Learn how to give and receive feedback in a constructive way during critiques
Visual design tools
Adobe Creative Cloud (Illustrator, InDesign, etc.) are free to all UCSD students this quarter:
Visit https://creativecloud.adobe.com and enter your @UCSD.EDU email address
If prompted, select “Company or School Account.” From there you’ll go to UC San Diego’s single sign-on screen to complete your login.
Once in the Creative Cloud website, browse for and download your desired app. Click Apps on the top of the page to view all apps.
Alternatively these are (free) online tools: Sketch or Figma
Readings
Lupton on Letter, Text, Grid
(optional) Meggs (1992) pg 1-15 and 17-67
Stage 1: Read and review the text provided for the splash page. Produce at least 10 hand sketches on paper of different layouts. Sketching roughly in pencil is the fastest way to look at a page layout holistically. Choose the sketches that you feel are good candidates for your design, and iterate on these in the form of more refined sketches. These can either be converging on a single design that will then be iterated on to explore variations on that theme, or they may be diverging designs that you feel both work and want to explore further. In any case, these iterations will then be translated to your Stage 2 digital layouts that will receive feedback for the interim crit.
Stage 2: Create at least two layouts in black-and-white only with no images. Use one of the visual design tools listed above (e.g., Adobe InDesign). Create an underlying grid to create your design. For the Aug 4th interim crit, upload your designs to the google slide deck.
Stage 3: Create at least two iterations in full color with images. This time explore the use of color and images to add emotional quality to your design and to create emphasis. For these designs, upload your images to the google slide deck.
For each of your iterations, employ a variety of typefaces and sizes to explore hierarchy. Instead of making one big text box, break up the content and move it around the page. Experiment with color in the background or to add emphasis to information.
By 11:59pm on Sunday Aug 8th, upload a single PDF (named A2-Lastname-Firstname.pdf; eg., A2-Rill-Bryan.pdf) to Canvas with the following content in this order:
Title page with your name, pID, date, and email
At least 10 sketches (can have multiple on one page)
All digital iterations you created in the lead-up to the final designs, with labels indicating where in the process they arose (this includes any that you worked on or iterated on after the final crit)
Your final design
Grades will be based on the following:
Is there a clear hierarchy of content? Is there progressive disclosure of content?
Is there a clear emotional quality expressed through type, layout, images, and colors?
Does the solution conform to the rules? Is all information visible and legible?
Are the deliverables presented in a professional and timely manner?
Are there clear design considerations to account for the screen configurations?
Were the sketches and examples varied and exploratory? Did the design improve over time with clear inspiration from previous iterations.