Curriculum
First Year
The first year will be tightly structured, aimed at providing introduction and skills. In addition, first years will be offered optional electives and audits in other SVA programs.
Second Year
Second year students will have only one core class in the final semester and be exposed to a series of mini workshops. In addition, students will be required to meet with a thesis advisor on a regular basis.
Writing and Designing the Visual Book
This course combines the ideas and skills inherent to design and literature towards an integrated, meaningful expression. Throughout the semester students will develop their creative writing skills through a sequence of exercises in continuous writing, observational writing, titling objects and images, theatrical improvisation, storytelling, writing from different points of view, structuring a narrative, writing as visual composition, reworking and editing. Selected texts from writing exercises are then set into a variety of book formats using any combination of typography, images and symbols. Emphasis is placed on finding a visual form that emerges out of the meaning, feeling and inherent shape of an original text. Historical and contemporary examples of “visual text” will be presented. The course focuses on the book format as a primary vehicle.
Crossing Disciplines: Authorship on the Web
This class will present students with the challenge of authoring a strong Web experience. Focusing on how content can be handled effectively, students will work on a semester-long project which will take them through all phases of producing a Web site—pitching ideas, making an information architecture document, gathering content and site navigation. Their final project will be a Macromedia Flash/HTML hybrid and will be presented as a real pitch. Guest lecturers will share their experiences of creating and working in the interactive realm.
The Book: From Idea To Package To Consumer
Writing, Designing, Editing, Packaging and Marketing.
Creating the overall design concept for a book that has commercial as well as artistic appeal is the aim of this course. A range of formats and genres will be discussed-illustrated books, children’s books, interactive, and non-illustrated (fiction and non-fiction). The “book” will be discussed and scrutinized from editorial conception to design to production to sales and marketing. Key to the examination will be the “client” and how to meet its needs and expectations while maintaining creative integrity. Throughout the course, working independently, students will develop a portfolio of book concepts and related covers and layouts for various formats. Each student is responsible for extensively developing one entire book dummy of such quality and commercial appeal to be suitable for submission to publishers for publication review.
3D Product Reality
A class devoted to the “how” in the question-how do I begin to create a ‘prototype" model of my product idea? This class will devote attention to both you and your specific product’s prototype development. By exploring different materials available and demonstrating methods of working with those materials, together, we will reach the final goal of a finished product.
Design and Intentions
The course is structured to help students examine their assumptions about their own work. It begins with a restaurant project where many design considerations intersect; i.e. communication, service, interior spaces, lighting, color, comfort, etc.
The course continues with a series of exercises that intend to disrupt or compliment the students working methods. Ultimately, the objective is to develop the students awareness of what they are already doing.
Paul Rand Memorial Lecture Series, Part 1
A six-part lecture and presentation about our graphic designer ancestors. Each session will cover a particular movement from the last 150 years. The course is given by a professional designer presenting significant historical work, primarily to influence emerging graphic designers in originating their own creativity. In addition to slides actual samples will be presented. General discussion will be encouraged and students will relate their current work to that of the past.
Paul Rand Memorial Lecture Series, Part 2
Lectures on the history of graphic design. Themes include racism and design, symbolism and the swastika, type and culture, Modernism and the Modern, avant-garde magazines of the 20th century, the 60s design culture, 20s- 30s book jackets, and more. The final lecture is devoted to the life of Paul Rand.
Just Type
JUST TYPE is an exploration of contemporary and classic typefaces that students will apply to ten short projects over the course of the semester. Every week, each student will be given a font to research and work with on a specific project. In some cases, we’ll work in class with printouts and glue sticks. Seriously. At the end, a type catalogue of the fonts used will be compiled, and the class projects shown as examples of the faces in action. There will be no images,color or devices used—JUST TYPE.
Explaining Yourself
How do you use design to tell engaging stories? How can you help people understand something new? And how can you communicate clearly and/or appropriately—both in your work and about your work?
This isn’t a public-speaking class, but you’ll do some. This isn’t an information-design class, but you’ll make some. And this isn’t a portfolio class, but you’ll think about your work and how others experience it.
During this class we’ll work on projects with different sets of constraints, hear from guest speakers with different points of view, and think about speaking to different audiences through (and about) design.
Thesis Introduction
This course will introduce students to faculty thesis consultants who will assign exercises that are designed to initiate R&D and jumpstart the conceptual process for the thesis project. By the end of the course, students will have identified at least two areas of interest to be further explored for the final thesis.
Design in 3-Dimensions
This class is an opportunity to explore design projects of a three-dimensional nature that are ambitious in scope, innovative in approach, and worthwhile in enterprise. There will be a great deal of discussions concerning the notions of appropriateness and intention as they relate to design. We will concentrate on developing critical thinking skills and searching out creative problem-solving methodologies.
Introduction to Design Criticism
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the complex issues and ideas that are essential to understanding what is happening in the graphic design field today. The course is designed to give students the linguistic tools they will need to decipher the various and often conflicting cultural, philosophical, historical, and political trends that impact the way we think about design. Among the topics we will explore in the first semester are arcane subjects such as semiotics, structuralism, Marxist theories and postmodern analysis as well as more pragmatic fields of inquiry such as branding, marketing, visual research and brainstorming techniques. Though this course deals with abstract theories, it is hands-on, interactive and practical, with constant references to how the ideas discussed in class can help students shape their thesis projects and transform them into viable products.
Thesis Consultation: Preparation
This course will prepare students to identify a product suitable for full-scale development and the audience they aim to target. The semester is divided into four sections: developing a market research survey; writing a comprehensive business plan; e-commerce and e-ideas. In addition there will be seminars on the theory of design and fabrication of design objects, as well as advice on how to produce viable thesis projects that will have marketplace potential.
Thesis Consultation: Research and Writing
This course will intensely assist students in the preparatory market and audience research needed to identify a product suitable for long-term development. The semester is divided into three sections: proposal writing and editing, material research and development and media exploration. In addition there will be numerous off-site visits to related exhibitions and resource centers. The end result is a written, edited and designed proposal book and fabricated prototype.
Intellectual Property and the Law
Writing, Designing, Editing, Packaging and Marketing
This course will examine the general concepts of law and intellectual property law as it applies to the practice of design. The basic legal issues of contract and property law, within the creative context, will be examined. Among the topics explored will be the work for hire agreement, the consignment agreement and the agency agreement. The law of copyright, trademark, and patents also will be explored. Issues such as registering a copyright, copyright infringement, registering a trademark and trade dress infringement and patents (in particular design patents) will be examined from the perspective of the professional designer. In addition, design and information issues presented by new technology, such as the Web, will be included throughout the context of this course.
Thesis Consultation: Production
With the aid of a faculty advisor, students will complete a thesis project—a finished product ready to be marketed. Students will be required to make a final presentation to the thesis committee for their approval. The MFA degree may not be conferred without approval of this final project by the committee.
Thesis Consultation: Exhibition
In this course, students will design and install an exhibition of their thesis projects. They will divide responsibilities of the multiple elements for producing a show including: design of the installation, production of poster, invitation and exhibition labels; public relations and editorial work, project coordination; budget and opening reception. As a group, they will figure out how to create exhibition components of their thesis. The course will culminate in the thesis exhibition.
Thesis 1:1
In this intensive class, students will develop a viable and professional pitch book to use as a tool to bring their thesis product to potential producers, investors and the market. In addition, they will be given tutorials on how to deliver a verbal pitch to potential backers and clients.
