Undergraduate Course: Graphic Design 2B: Applied Typography 2 (DESI08101)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This Course reinforces the terminology, rules and guidelines, philosophies and theories of typography through historical and contemporary perspectives. Incorporating a series of short projects, the course explores writing and the aesthetic concepts of typography, including key technical and perceptual knowledge and understanding of the subject. Students will explore; organising and arranging text; classification, type detailing, grid structures; and experience using traditional reproduction, printing techniques, paper and finishes. |
| Course description |
The course encourages graphic design students to develop their skills in typography, by examining its potential as a communication tool and its expression of form and function. It aims to equip students with knowledge and specific skill-sets that can be applied to their undergraduate working practices, and to optimise future graduate employment possibilities. This course guides students through a series of practical projects exploring historical and contemporary themes, encouraging written reflection and analysis in the form of sketchbooks. The course allows students to establish in depth knowledge vital for generating individual typographic language.
Students will participate in a series of short projects, exploring the dual purpose of type; the relationship of the written word or narrative, highlighting why type plays a significant role in guiding and helping the reader interpret information. It teaches students to make words visible by applying the principles of composition in detail, make aesthetic judgments and create their designs using appropriate software. Ultimately the student will be able to produce artwork ready for print, incorporating bookbinders skills, working with papers, materials and techniques to successfully integrate typographic layouts into a variety of substrates.
Students will be expected to understand the value of observing, analysing and documenting information. They will discover how to choose appropriate typefaces and create letterforms for a variety of typographic solutions and will become knowledgeable and conversant in the use of typographic terms
used by the professional design and print industries. Students will be able to resolve typographic design problems through set projects, printing, production and creating layouts for a variety of publications.
The course comprises multiple projects, leading to a final, summatively assessed submission of preliminary work (approx. 2-3 sketchbooks); final resolved piece(s) (approx. 3-5); and a presentation both verbal and digital. The basic course structure is outlined below:
Wks 1-5
Theory and Practice of Type and Letterforms
Lectures: Workshops/Projects
History, Classification and Anatomy of Type. Contemporary Views,
Traditional Printing Techniques: Letterpress
Wks 6- Mid-Course Formative Review and Feedback
Wks 7-10
Practical Projects in Typography
Communication: Narrative, Words
Composition and Typography Techniques.
Collating and Binding Paper.
Print Production- Wk 11
End of Course Summative Assessment and Feedback
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | This course is only available to students on the Graphic Design Degree Programme in the School of Design. |
| Additional Costs | Approx £100 for:
Studio Costs; Basic Graphic Materials - pens, pencils, cutting tools, paper, ruler, sketchbooks, portable USB stick
Printing Costs; Print Workshop Materials (depending on specific needs) |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: 24 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 3,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 5,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 32,
External Visit Hours 3,
Online Activities 3,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 15,
Formative Assessment Hours 0.5,
Summative Assessment Hours 0.5,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
134 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Formative Assessment
Midway through the Course, students will submit 250-word self-reflective statement
Summative Assessment
At the end of the Course students will submit a multi-page assessment document (pdf) format) demonstrating the student¿s development and experimentation in response to a project brief. This assessment document will comprise 100% of the final course summative grade and will contain:
- Worksheets, sketchbooks or a digital sketchbook
- Evidence of workshop experiences or field trips (where applicable)
- Documentation of research themes, evaluation and critical analysis illustrating a personal approach to the design process and resolved outputs.
- Presentation of typographic design solutions.
- A 250-word self-reflection statement.
Summative assessment document is assessed against all three course Learning Outcomes. Each Learning Outcome is equally weighted, and therefore comprises 33.33% of overall final course grade. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Mid-way through the Course students will be given verbal feedback during individual tutorials.
Summative Feedback
At the end of the Course students will be given written feedback plus summative grades. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Research a range of typefaces for their inherent characteristics, classification systems and functions and apply an appropriate selection of these to your project informed by this research.
- Refer to typographic theories, their principles and practice, in order to explore and apply the possibilities of visual language within your project.
- Create solutions through experimentation, which effectively communicate language and typographic concepts, utilising appropriate output methods.
|
Reading List
Lupton, E., Thinking with Type; Princeton Architectural Press, 2010
Triggs, T., Type Design: Radical Innovations and Experimentation, Harper Design, 2003
Baines, P and Haslam, A., Type and Typography, Laurence King, 2005
Lupton, E., How to Design and Produce Your Own Book; Indie Publishing: Princeton Architectural Press, 2010
De Soto, D; Know your Onions, Graphic Design, BIS Publishers, 2012
Elam, K;, Typographic Systems, Rules for Organizing Type, Princeton Architectural Press, 2007
Ellison, A., A Complete Guide to Digital Type, Laurence King, 2006
Levine, F and Macon, S; Sign Painters, Princeton Architectural Press, 2013 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Enquiry Understand and apply design principles
Personal Effectiveness Ability to analyse and critique own work and work of others.
Communication Convey complex information to a range of audiences and situations. |
| Keywords | Fonts,typeface classification,letterform,creative writing,paper,hierarchy,alignment,letterpress |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Ms Mary Asiedu
Tel: 0131 221 6110
Email: m.asiedu@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Ruth Lee
Tel:
Email: clee5@ed.ac.uk |
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