Thanks for another great semester!

Our semester is coming to a close. It's been a blast having all of you in my class!! You continue to do me proud and raise my expectations! Enjoy your Christmas break!

Mr. T.

Campaign critique

Please bring all of your campaign materials to class today to turn in. We will critique each campaign in class so all of your classmates can see what you've done!

Campaign presentations!

Today is the day! Come to class dressed to impress! Know your presentation backwards and forwards! Speak with confidence! Impress the judges!

I can't wait to see these!

NO HOMEWORK this weekend. You deserve it!

Going over your campaigns

Today we will be going over your campaigns. They are due today so I can go over them with your group and talk about any last-minute changes you might need to make.

Remember: Your presentations are on Wednesday! Dress professionally (or creatively) and be PREPARED to present your campaign to your potential clients!

Work on your campaigns over the break

Keep working on your ad campaigns over the break. I want to see the campaigns finished (or REAL close to it) on Monday when you come back to class. Remember, we are presenting these on Wednesday! Monday's class will be used to catch any last-minute changes that need to be made! Have your campaigns AND presentations polished by Wednesday!

When preparing your final pieces for presentation, follow the following criteria:

• Each piece must be presented on black poster board.

• ONLY ONE AD PER BOARD!

• Each board MUST have a 3" border all the way around your ads.

• Magazine ad finished size will be 8.5" x 11". VERTICAL orientation!

• Billboard finished size will be 16" wide by 8" tall.

• Storyboard finished size will be 8.5" x 11" per frame (you can include your description in this size - at the bottom - TYPE these, please!)

• Your storyboards must be on THREE boards (two frames on each board.) Make sure to leave 3" border around the entire area!

• Point-of-purchase displays must be made ACTUAL SIZE! It's up to you to get these done! If they need to stand up, mount them on foam-core board or something else that will stand up!

• If you are producing your commercial, you must present me with a format that I can play on my computer on the big screen. I want a copy ON CD turned in with your project!

Any questions, please ask.

Advertising: working as a collective (part 3)

Today you will start the design phase of your advertising campaign. You will be presenting your sketches and showing us your direction. Now is the time to take things VERY seriously. Spend enough time on these projects to do them justice! You will have all week to work on these and then I will see if any more time is needed. Use class time wisely! Ask questions or ask for my opinions. I will be watching closely to see who has their act together this week. Plan ahead, delegate responsibility to your team members or you won't have time to finish!

HOMEWORK:

• Begin working on the design phase of your ad campaigns!

Advertising: working as a collective (part 2)

Today you will be presenting your ideas to the class. Each member of your group should present one idea. If you don't present, you get a grade of -0- for this part of the assignment. Remember, your job is to sell your idea to us, so do whatever it takes to convince us your idea is AWESOME!

The class will vote on which idea they like best and that will give you the direction for your ad campaign. Once you have your idea, you will begin the next phase of the assignment: Sketching your ideas.

When sketching your ideas, you'll need to work through your creative block. I want these sketches to be fully fleshed-out, so take your time. I will be giving you all week to do these. If they aren't spectacular when they are turned in, your grade will suffer big-time. DON'T rush through these! Delegate which team member will be responsible for which sketches!

You will be sketching ideas for your campaign in the following media:

• three different magazine ads (can be single full page or double truck)

• two different billboards

• one point-of-purchase display

• one storyboard for a television commercial

For those of you interested in actually producing your commercial, you may substitue one 30 second video commercial or two different 15 second video commercials for: One magazine ad, One billboard ad and your POP display. That means, if you do video commercials, you will still need to turn in: two magazine ads and one billboard.

You will present your ideas to the class on Monday, November 14th. Have your sketches ready and in a presentable format! That means pasting your sketches onto black poster board for presentation to the class. You will be graded on the quality of your sketches, the quantity of your sketches (must have all media finished) and the presentation of your sketches. Each will give you 33.3% of your grade for this phase of the assignment.

Use your class time wisely!

HOMEWORK:

• Work on the sketches for your ideas!

Working on your ideas

Use class time today to fine-tune your ideas. Please ask me any questions you might have and feel free to use the class as your own personal focus group. Work hard during class time!

HOMEWORK:

• Come up with a MINIMUM of 20 different (decent) ideas. Write them down to turn in.

• Pick your THREE favorite ideas and develop a presentation for all three.

• EACH MEMBER OF THE GROUP MUST PRESENT ONE IDEA!

• You must "sell" these ideas to the class. The class will pick your final direction for you.

Your 20 written ideas and your 3-idea presentations are due on Monday, November 7th.

Advertising: Working as a collective (Part 1)

You've gotten your eye for advertising trained to be pretty sharp. Or so you think. In the real world, no one every works alone! For this next assignment, you are going to come up with a full advertising campaign as a group. THREE people will make up each group and there will be four different groups. Now, the pressure is on.

The group's performance depends on the reliability of it's members. You all now have a stake in each class member's attendance, work ethic, dependability and creativity. If one of you slacks off, it's up to the others in your group to get the slacker back on track. ALL members of the group will receive the same final grade for your final presentation regardless of individual participation. Don't allow any of your members to get away with not pulling their own weight! It's up to YOU to control your group, not me.

We will handle this campaign in stages. During each stage, your group will present your ideas and concepts, sketches and drawings, working comps and then final campaigns. Each phase of this assignment will be graded! Each person must do part of the presentation. If one person does not, they get a ZERO for the grade for that particular presentation. You can NOT make this zero grade up. I will NOT change it in my grade book! Discuss your presentation before hand and decide which of you will present what information. Plan ahead! For your FINAL presentation, you must all dress up as if you were presenting to real clients. That means dresses (or business-type suits) for ladies and suits (at the very least, dress shirt and tie) for the gentlemen. I am taking this project VERY seriously! Don't test my boundaries on the final presentation. You won't like the results!

Now, I wouldn't put you through all of this without some sort of prize as an incentive. :) The final presentations will be judged by a panel (of my choosing) and it will be decided which group did the best job. The winning group will get a free pass on the next assignment. That means you won't have to do the next assignment AND you'll get an automatic 100 grade. If you choose to complete the next assignment anyway, your grade will be entirely extra credit! 100 extra credit points will go a LONG way to improving your grade!

So, on to the assignment:

This week, your group will start to discuss ideas. You will have today's class and Wednesday's class to come up with them. I want to see ALL of your ideas written down to turn in. (there must be at LEAST 20 different ideas.) First thing on Monday (of next week) your group will present your three BEST ideas to the class and the class will vote on them and tell you which one to choose and work on. DO NOT SKETCH IDEAS AT THIS POINT. Just work on your ideas, written down on paper. Remember, your group has to turn in at least 20 ideas on paper by Monday. Be thinking of catchy tag lines, advertising headlines and body copy. Think of the direction for your ad. Will it be serious? Funny? Who will it appeal to? Adults? 20-somethings? 30-somethings? Men? Women? Single people? Families? First time customers or experienced customers? I want you to put a LOT of effort into thinking about this. That's why you'll be getting TWO class periods to work on ideas as a group. You should ALSO be spending time OUTside of class to work on this as a group. If you don't have good ideas hashed out by next Monday, you'll FAIL this part of the assignment. Am I clear?

Now, you'll need this one vital piece of information:

You are advertising an automobile.

You can choose any car, any car company, but it must actually exist. No made-up companies or cars. You may NOT use any of their existing advertising slogans or messages. You should research your ideas to make sure someone hasn't already used them. If they have, you'll FAIL this part of the assignment. You'll look like you're cheating if I think you've stolen an ad slogan or campain from someone else.

HOMEWORK:

• Come up with a MINIMUM of 20 different (decent) ideas. Write them down to turn in.

• Pick your THREE favorite ideas and develop a presentation for all three.

• You must "sell" these ideas to the class. The class will pick your final direction for you.

Your 20 written ideas and your 3-idea presentations are due on Monday, November 7th. Each group member should present one idea during the presentation.

Crits in class today!

We will be going over your ads in class today for your final critiques. I want you to be able to talk about your original ideas, what you found out worked/didn't work, what ideas you got from our initial critique and how you implemented those ideas to create the ads we are looking at in class.

Please be prepared to talk about your ads! Part of your grade is your ability to present your work. For those in the audience: be prepared to make comments. If people aren't commenting on their classmate's work, everyone will get a bad critique grade!

NO Homework

Work on your ads today!

Keep working on your new product ads. You should finish them today in class or for homework. They will be due at the beginning of class on Wednesday! Use class time to ask me any questions you might have, technical or aesthetic.

I want you to collect your InDesign files for output and save everything to a folder on your network drive. I also want you to save the ads in .PDF format to turn in.

HOMEWORK:

• Finish your new product ads! They are due Wednesday!

Reviewing your ads today

We will be reviewing your (almost) finished ads today on the screen. The class will critique them and you'll make your final tweaks. We wont have much class time to work on these after critiques but you should work on them for homework. Depending on how the crit goes, and how much work you all have left to do, these will either be due on Monday or beginning of class next Wednesday.

Continue Working, Mock-Ups are Due Wednesday!

Hi All,

Mr. Wells is out sick today. Please continue working on your product ads - you will refine them on Wednesday!

Keep working on your ads!

I wont be in class today, but you will still meet at normal time and work on your projects. Use this class time wisely! Tina will be letting me know who works on their projects and who ducks out early.

We will discuss your progress on Monday. If you haven't made significant headway by then, you're on the wrong track. Don't slack just because I'm not there!

HOMEWORK:

• Continue working on your product/advertisement!

Working on your ideas

Today you will be presenting your ideas to the class. Once you do, use today's class period to work on them. Take your time and ask questions.

HOMEWORK:

• Keep working on these!

Advertising a product: from start to finish

You've had some practice recreating existing ads and you've even tried to come up with some ideas of your own. Now it's time to work on finding just the right idea.

Our next assignment will focus on the thought and creative process in creating an ad campaign from start to finish. You will work on a logo for a product. You will come up with a slogan for your product. You will come up with ideas on how to market your product. And lastly, you will create the advertising for your product.

Your classmates and myself will be your creative sounding board and we will critique each stage of this process. If we don't like your direction, we'll tell you why and answer questions you may have on how to be more effective. Use this opportunity to gather information and help develop your market strategy. We are your focus group!

These products must be totally made up. You can NOT use an existing product! No existing companies, no existing names, no existing products! You may ONLY choose a product in one of the following categories:

• a food item

• a child's toy

• a kitchen appliance

• a cleaning product

• a tool

Stage one: (also known as HOMEWORK:)

Use your class time today to think about the product type you would like to use. Sketch ideas out in your sketchbooks to get rid of bad ideas and tighten up good ones! Think carefully about your product. Come up with some basic information: Name of product. Slogan for your product. To whom are you marketing this product? Who is your target audience in advertising? (They are not always the same!) Write these ideas down in your sketchbook and begin sketching ideas! Keep working on these this weekend. Spend plenty of time developing your ideas. We will be able to tell if you put little effort into this stage and we will call you on it. PLUS, I'll be grading each stage of this assignment separately, so this part is GRADED!

We will talk about these in class on Monday. We will go over everyone's ideas and critique them to give you better direction. Again, this presentation is GRADED! Just want to be clear about that, so be prepared!

Finishing your ads

Use today's class time to finish your ads. They will be due at the BEGINNING of class on Wednesday. Use your time wisely!

HOMEWORK:

• Finish your ads!!

Working on your ads

Use today's class time to start working on recreating your ad. Be prepared to show me your ad (don't forget to bring it with you!) and tell me your plan of attack. If you are "mocking" the ad, be prepared to tell me your ideas for graphics and/or body copy.

You are expected to use class time to work on these. If you do not, your grade will suffer. Take advantage of class time to ask questions or get help with your projects or ideas.

If you work hard during class, you will also have Monday's class to work on these. If you goof off, they will be due for homework on Monday!

HOMEWORK:

• Keep working on these!

Recreating an ad using InDesign

This week we are going to brush up on our technical knowledge a little and work in Adobe InDesign. Most of the layout work you'll do as a professional will be using InDesign, so what better time to start working with it?

I want you to pick out a full-page, full-color advertisement (8.5x11) or a two-page spread (11x17) out of a magazine that you like. You will be recreating this ad using Adobe InDesign as your layout software. Be prepared to TALK about WHY you picked the advertisement you chose for this project. I want you to have some sort of connection to it. Maybe you're a photographer and the ad you chose is photography-based. Maybe you love illustration and the ad you chose requires a hand-drawn illustration. Maybe you just love Coke (yuck!)

You may use Photoshop and Illustrator to build the graphics, but you'll be turning in your final piece in InDesign. Be sure to pick an ad that has graphics you are able to reproduce! I will give you a *little* lattitude in altering your ads' content as long as it carries the same message. If you stray too far from the original idea, you'll have to do it over. You CAN mock the original ad if you would like. But it must be obvious that is your intent.

I will be checking your imported graphics to make sure they are the correct size and resolution for print. Remember, your photos or other graphics in *photoshop* MUST be 300 ppi at FINAL OUTPUT SIZE. You can't "enlarge" photos in InDesign. You must plan your ad out ahead of time and know what size they must be. Points will be deducted for images less than 300 ppi at final output size. Adobe Illustrator drawings CAN be scaled up or down in InDesign as Illustrator drawings are resolution independent.

When finished, you will be collecting all your files for output, just like you would if you were turning this job in to a print shop for professional printing. That means you'll be including all your photoshop graphics, all your illustrator files AND all of your fonts used in your final document.

Please don't take this assignment lightly. I will be tough on grading these, as I need to start seeing proficiency in all Adobe software from you, as well as responsibility in being able to turn in press-ready designs.

We will be talking about these during class on Monday, September 26th and I expect you to come to class on Wednesday, September 28th with your materials to start working on these. You are EXPECTED to work during class hours. If you are not working on them in class, you must leave the classroom. It's too distracting to other students to have conversations going on around them when they are trying to work. If you don't bring your materials on Wednesday to work, you will have one letter grade deducted from your final grade. It's responsibility time, people. I take this very seriously, and now, you must too.

HOMEWORK:

• Pick out one 8.5x11 or 11x17, full-color magazine ad to reproduce

• Start gathering images (or better yet, take your own!)

• Start working on Illustrations if needed.

• Come to class on Wednesday with your materials to start working!

Learning to Critique

We will finish off the critiques that we didn't get to on Monday during today's class. The crits on Monday were pretty weak, so I want some more class participation this time. Don't use terms like "I like this" or "that's cool" when critiquing someone's work. That doesn't help them. Explain WHAT makes it cool or WHAT doesn't work when talking critically about someone's work.

You can find a LOT of good information about What Goes Into a Well-Done Critique. (You'd better READ this link!)

A good critique should:

• Be specific in your likes/dislikes

• Provide educated reasoning to back up your comments

• Lead into design alternatives (if necessary)

• Compare the design to others for reinforcement

• Be firm and honest (but not a jackhole) when giving negative critique

• Look for the use of or lack of design elements and principles

- Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity, Color, Unity and Balance

• Respect the designer and the work

To test your critique knowledge after you've read the link above and looked over the list above, I'm going to give you a homework assignment:

HOMEWORK:

Find THREE different full-page ads in magazines. Different products and different companies. Yes, they MUST be out of magazines. (The Goodwill has lots of CHEAP magazines, if you need some.) Carefully remove the ads (no rough edges) so you can turn them in. Along with your three ads, I want you to critique each ad. I want a full page of critique for each ad. Touch on the finer points of the ads AS WELL AS tell me what you think doesn't work, or what could be done better. Tell me if you think it was an effective ad.

Take the weekend to think about these and have them ready to talk about and turn in on Monday.

Class critique of your ad campaigns

Today we will be critiquing your ad campaigns. We talked, as a class, at the beginning of these projects and offered suggestions and helpful advice. Now we will see if you stayed on track and knocked these out of the park or not. I will be leading the class in a very frank look at these campaigns and what did, and did not, work for them.

Wear your thick skin! It's about to get real!

No homework today to recover from this brutal crit! ;)

Is your ad campaign effective?

You should be finishing up your ad campaigns today and have them ready to turn in. But before you do, ask yourself this one question: is your campaign effective? Did you get your point across to your target audience? Did you ask your classmates if they "got" your creative copy? Did anyone comment on how "spot on" your campaign was?

Always remember to gather others' opinions on your advertising. What's funny, to-the-point or effective to you may not be to others. Be sure to test-market your product's idea to others before continuing.

In the meantime, have a look at 10 Principles of Effective Advertising. It will give you some insight as to what goes into creating effective advertising.

Don't forget: If your advertisement doesn't reach it's target audience or fails to "sell" your product to the correct crowd, your advertising is a failure.

Be ready to turn in your ad campaigns at the end of class today.

HOMEWORK:

NO homework today!

Ad campaigns due Wednesday

O.k., so you should be finishing up your ad campaigns this week. We will work on these during class on Monday and see where you are. They may be due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, or, if you're working hard on them and need more time, they may be due at the END of class on Wednesday. Your conduct during class will determine the time due on Wednesday.

I expect great things from these. Please ask any questions needed during class on Monday!

Finishing up your advertising campaigns

Today we will keep working on your advertising campaigns. I want to see everyone's progress individually and discuss direction. You will have all of the class period today to work on these. If your idea is already approved, continue to build your ideas on the computer. I will assess the class progress at the end of class to see how much extra time is needed. I plan on allowing Monday's class period to work on these but Wednesday may be needed as well. Keep checking here to see your final due date.

Refining sketches and strengthening ideas

Today we will be going over your ideas for your ad campaigns. Now is the time to make sure you have strong ideas before continuing on to the computer and physically building your ads. Your classmates are a great resource, use them! We will be bouncing ideas off one another during class to see what's hot and what's not.

Afterwards, keep working on your sketches to refine your idea(s) further. By the end of class, you should have a solid direction and should be able to start building your ad campaign on the computer. We will work on these during class on Wednesday, September 7th as well.

Don't forget, no class on Monday! It's a holiday!

What is Graphic Design?

Today we'll be talking about the different components that make up graphic design. You will learn how each of these elements contribute to design and the overall aesthetic of your piece. We will also be learning about the different types of graphic design. Each has its' own place and you should know all of them.

Today, we'll be focusing on image-based graphic design. The use of an image to convey an idea isn't a new concept, however, using the correct image is a challenge every designer faces. While the right image can blow the roof off of an advertising campaign, the wrong image can sink it quicker than the titanic. Take your time when choosing imagery for your designs!

For today's assignment, you will be coming up with an advertising campaign for a product of your choosing using images to draw the viewer in and sell your product. You must design THREE different ads for this campaign and all three must use only images to sell the product(s.) Each ad must use a different image! Text must be kept to a minimum (one to three words or so) and NOT play a prominent role in the design of the ad. Slogans are o.k. (even encouraged) but the text can only compliment the image. The only other element allowed in this campaign is the company logo. It will be a true challenge to make these ads work, so take your time and sketch out your ideas ahead of time. I want to see a minimum of 10 different sketches of ideas for this product's ad campaign.

HOMEWORK: (Due Wednesday - beginning of class)

• Decide on a product to advertise in your campaign

• Draw at LEAST 10 different sketches for ideas for your campaign

• Get approval from me before starting to create these ads digitally!!!

Work on your papers during today's class

I want you to keep working on your papers during class today. I will be available to help you with any problems you might have. Spend your time wisely. If you work hard in class, I might even allow you to finish these over the weekend. Remember, I want insightful, intelligent papers that will do justice to the incredible graphic designers you have chosen!

Welcome to ART 251 - Communication Design I

Hi Everyone! Welcome to ART 251! In this class we will be studying the theory and principles of graphic design and how it relates to the real-world. You will get plenty of hands-on assignments this semester, but also be ready to have your knowledge tested as well! One of the main goals of this class is to teach you how other designers work, trouble shoot and stay current in today's fast-paced world of advertising.

So let's start this journey and introduce you to some famous graphic designers!

For your first assignment, pick one of the following graphic designers and tell me about them:

• Stefan Sagmeister

• Paul Rand

• Neville Brody

• Paula Scher

• Saul Bass

I want to see a ONE page (single-spaced) paper detailing the graphic designer of your choosing. Tell me about them as a person, as a student, as a professional. Tell me where they went to school, some of their early employers, some of their most well-known work.

Take your time and read up on them. Learn about them. When I read these papers, I want to understand who these people are.

Include FOUR examples of the work they have created. Put two images per page (and give me two pages) and make them LARGE images.

These papers will be due at the END of class on Wednesday. I'll say again, TAKE YOUR TIME and learn about these graphic designers. These papers will be due at the END of class on Wednesday. Please be thorough in your research as I will be grading these papers very carefully and checking your facts! You may use books, magazine articles, web pages and online articles, etc. as your sources. Just be sure to give proper credit for the sources! Be sure to include your works cited on a separate page. Use MLA Works Cited Formatting for your works cited page!!!

If you don't care enough about graphic design to learn about your predecessors, you are in the wrong profession!