Art 85
History of Visual Communication
Course Objective: This course will expose students to the history of visual communications as it pertains to graphic design, photography, lithography, and the print/new media industry.
Course Assignments: This is a Writing Across the Curriculum course. The requirements of a WAC course are as follows.
Papers:
5 Papers of 3 pages each.
Paper structure
Title page – name, course and project number – 1 page
Abstract – 150 words – approx .5 pages
Discussion and argument – 2.5 pages
Bibliography – 1 page
Topics covered:
From Lascaux to the Digital Era
Origins of design and visual communications
Traditional Lithography
Traditional Photography
Traditional Print and Advertising
Birth of the Modern Designer
Birth of the Digital Age
Birth of the Web
New Technologies
Process
Each assignment has two drafts. The drafts are typically outline first and then sample paragraphs for each final paper. Research is focused on directed text readings and supplemental readings. Students are asked to present their arguments orally in class while submitting the drafts for review.
Assignment One – Due 9/23
Read and review visual communications from antiquity – Book of Kells for example. Decide if it is truly art or design. Other examples from the text and within the prescribed timeline are acceptable. Read a synopsis of Hume and Kant’s theories of beauty and art. Using the formal historical text as a basis students are asked to present the example then reflect upon the example’s place as art or design based of the supplemental readings.
http://web.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/phil%20of%20art/hume_and_kant.htm
Assignment Two – Due 10/16
Discuss which occurrence generated a bigger impact on society, the advent of the printing press or the advent of the Internet/Web. Chapters from “History of Graphic Design” regarding the advent of machined typography and the printing press. Also find article on the history of the Internet/Web from valid source. Examples of sources –http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/
Assignment Three -Due 10/30
Discuss the process and value (commodity or cultural wealth) of either, lithography, photography or printmaking as described by the formal historical text. Read Benjamin’s “Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” and use that as a basis for ascertaining the two views of value for the process and some examples – Ansel Adams photography, Durer litho’s, Warhol’s printmaking or silk-screening. We then present in class and discuss the viewpoints of the students.
http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC15folder/WalterBenjamin.html
Assignment Four – Due 11/21
Students are asked to review and select artists and designers from a modern style – 1930s to 1980s and from a post modernist style – 1980s to present. A supplemental reading is prescribed, typically one that deals with the concepts of “high” and “low” art. The student is asked to identify each selected work as “high” or “low” art and to contrast and compare the work as it pertains to its communicative ability within its historical context and its reach and interaction towards a combination of art or design. The works in question are discussed on all levels and presented to the group.
Assignment Five -Due 12/4
Given the student’s new knowledge base in this assignment we progress from paper to pixels. Students are asked to select work from only a digital format. The examples given are the Whitney’s artport or commercial digital uses – Web pages, digital portfolios or more animated Flash websites. In the case of digital art the text of Lev Manovich is used to supplement the prescribed readings. In the case of digital design current periodicals are selected as supplemental readings. Students are brought full circle with this assignment to review each work based again on the viewpoints of Kant and Hume. The selected work is reviewed and the issue of craft and its importance in the process is focused on. Students present their findings and theories to the group.
Paper Content:
All papers are to have rhetorical arguments at their base. If you reference a topic you must use proper citation – MLA style. Plagiarism will result in a failure for the paper and possibly the course. Please remember to cite your references.
Grading and Absences:
Grades include all five papers, and journal entries. Class participation is also necessary as is mandatory reading assignments:
EVALUATION:
A= Excellent Work
B+ = Above Average
B = Average
C+ = Minimal Average
C= Below Average
D+ = Well below average
D = Minimal Level
F = Failure to meet expectations
Required Text:
History of Graphic Design, Meggs, Philip – 2005
Supplemental Readings:
From links supplied in class