Assignment: Concert Poster

Objective: While this project is a design assignment, you may use any Adobe Creative Suite software or combinations thereof to produce it, as long as the final art is "press ready" as both an InDesign and a PDF print document when completed. (Final size should be no smaller than 14 x 17 in.)

You will design a concert (or other event) poster including relevant details about the event. The artwork may be original or "borrowed and enhanced" but the overall design, typography,and layout must be yours alone. Pay particular attention to creative typography-I'll be looking for unique type treatment or other creative graphic design elements.

This assignment is meant to be a showcase of what you've learned about unity, composition, and impact this semester-so show off a little. If Illustrator is your best medium, then design part of your work in Illustrator, for instance.

When Finished: Export the finished poster as a print-ready document in PDF format and email it to me, keeping the final ID file in your drop folder on our server. Package (see the ID "file" menu commands) your fonts and images into a folder you keep in your drop folder for my access.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT USING BLEEDS: When you bleed a photo or any color background or art to the edge of your document, you need to allow your printer one-eighth inch of bleed that extends off the page. What this means is that the printer is going to cut away that much of your content wherever you indicate a bleed. So keep this in mind when designing! Have a 1/8" of content on any side of your art (or display type) you want to bleed that you don't mind losing. (As a rule of thumb, leave yourself choices when working in Photoshop or Illustrator; get in the habit of leaving extra content around the image edges so you can crop or bleed effectively in InDesign.) Start your new document in InDesign with the bleed included before importing the art (set the bleed to.125 in or 1p0). In InDesign, your page edge is the black line, the red line is the printers' bleed (the blue or purple line is the frame around the "active area" indicating where you set your margins). Anything between the red and black lines will be trimmed away. (Bleeds give the printer's trimming apparatus room for error so ugly white paper doesn't show at the edge if the trimmer should slip up.)

Assignment: Revamp the Newsletter Tutorial

Using the finished tutorial as a template, consider how the pages hold style continuity within a particular grid system (as explained in class) and improve upon it. Use the tutorial newsletter as a template but use your own images and headlines to give it a fresh look and tweak the design to be more professional.

The finished piece should serve as a full-size mock-up in InDesign for a 4-page newsletter with your own stamp on it. You are copying the layout but introducing your own subject matter, art, photos (which may be borrowed from the Internet), and display text choices to give it your own "signature."

Examine your tutorial newsletter for its page-to-page, article-to-article continuity. Is it working? If not, fine-tune your grid, column lines, and anchor points. While examining the newsletter for recurring fonts and other repeating stylistic choices, consider such details as page size, folio location, column widths, typographic and stylistic continuity, use of horizontal anchor-lines (weight lines), etc.--all things that make up a publication's unique "look." Note the inconsistencies. What would be helped by repeating elements? What could be cleaner, more creative? It may help to make a visual guide as you study the publication, writing notes and column/gutter measurements directly in your sketchbook or a copy of the newsletter. You can turn in your notes and/or sketches with your final InDesign document.

In summary, improve on the design and demonstrate your understanding (as explained in class) of good design. You will be evaluated on your attention to detail for things such as point size and style of body text and accurate measurements throughout (alley widths, common headline sizes, and consistent artistic styles--such as BW vs. color photo vs. illustration, etc.). You will also be evaluated on the elegance and readability of your type.
Your layout needs to include effective typography with important elements like pull quotes, teasers, subheads, captions, and anything else that might appear on a "real" page of a magazine. Pay attention to readability, focal points, eye path, and other effective design rules AND GOOD VISUAL STORYTELLING.

Your final layout should look like a published article E-newsletter or magazine spread. You may use place marker text for body copy in your mock-up but write your own headlines.

Does not worry about printers marks or bleeds for this assignment.

Export the finished article as PDF format but also keep the original InDesign file in your student folder. Be sure to "PACKAGE" your file, too. as explained in class. (For an explanation of packaging, refer to the Adobe reference manual | Look for "package" under the ID "File" menu commands. Packaging places your fonts and images into a folder you keep for your printer (or instructor).

Assignment: Self Promotion

There are two components to this final assignment.

Part I-The Written Component: Should be completed first with a series of thumbnails indicated your finished format for this project.
The first step is to write up something about your design and software skills and the knowledge you believe you've accomplished in Art 109 and other courses or internships you've completed. Write the piece in a way that would sell your accumulative design or creative skills not just to me but to a potential employer. You can list skills, previous experience, values, and data you have on your resume. Also include effective headlines, subheadings, blurbs, and bullet points throughout. Your copy can be informally written in terms of voice but should be edited for grammar and spelling. The final text should convince me you are a professional who pays attention to detail.
A draft should be presented to me as a Word doc via email before laying out your InDesign document so I can proofread your copy and critique your approach. On the copy due date I also like to see sketches for your final design piece (described below).

Part II-Design a Self-Promo:
The second step is to adapt the text you've written as a professional self-promotional piece. You will create this in InDesign as a creative "visual resume" or portfolio promoting your design and/or technical skills--developing a layout that features effective graphic elements and images of the best artwork you've completed for this course (and others if you wish). The final product will be a well-designed showcase of your skills using appropriate headlines/captions/call-outs/quotes/etc. and your own images to make the piece inviting to a potential employer. When working with art consider changing colorcast, going black and white, or simplifying your artwork files to make it all work together cohesively.
The final product must be an intended print piece (no billboards or web designs). This might include brochures, newsletter formats, posters, booklets, catalogs, 2-sided color resumes, an info graphic or any other print work with sophisticated graphic elements for which a potential client or employer is your audience. The final layout should be created in InDesign but you may use any CS6 software to finesse the art and typography.
Your final email to me with the art should provide the document in pdf form (printers marks are not necessary)--and indicate in your message anything you think I need to know for understanding your intent.