Any student who has questions outside of class, please email me at zigahelen@yahoo.com.

Instructor: Helen Ziga
Office Hours: 5:15-5:45 on Mondays and 1:00-1:30 on Saturdays by appointment; Room 417

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Course Description

The course is designed to showcase the advanced interactive design skills of students preparing to graduate and helps them market themselves for a career in graphic design. All previous knowledge of on and off-screen development should be utilitzed through two half-quarter-long student self-directed projects; an identity system and a personal website. Solutions will require innovative thinking and alternative design approaches with creative and intensive use of otherwise traditional media vehicles. It is recommended this class be taken in the last two quarters of a student’s collegiate career.

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Course Objectives and Purpose

Upon completion of this course, students will:

• Produce a personal identity system consisting of a resume, letterhead, business card and leave-behind so they may market themselves within the graphic design community;
• Relate the purpose underlying a design project to its content;
• Accomplish innovative integration of media capability and formal design elements in order to create meaning;
• Realistically assess the demands of a particular electronic medium and map an efficient strategy for the timely completion of a project in that medium;
• Achieve a professional standard of execution for electronic images; and,
• Record an electronic image on an appropriate playback media

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Class Rules

• Come to class on time and prepared to work for the entire class period. You will be marked absent if you do spend a significant amount of time surfing the net, checking emails (from the computer, blackberries or any other personal communication devices) or generally wasting class time.
• Bring your binder to every class and keep your project sheets and work from all projects in this binder.
• Cell phones must be turned off while in the classroom. Students who take calls or reply to text messages on their phones in class will be asked to leave if they regularly ignore this rule. Students may use their phones outside the classroom while on break.
• Headphones are permitted but must be turned off during lectures, class discussions, critiques and when asked.
• Food and drink are not permitted in computer labs.
• You do not have to ask to take breaks. However, students who take regular extended breaks or who leave class early will be counted absent.

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Required Text
Designing a Digital Portfolio by Cynthia L. Baron

Recommended Text
Adobe Flash CS3 Professional on Demand by Andy Anderson and Steve Johnson

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Required Technology
Adobe Creative Suite - Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Acrobat, DreamWeaver, Flash

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Estimate on How Many Hours You Will Spend on Assignments Outside of Class
Expect to spend 4-6 hours per week in addition to the 3.5 lab hours to complete your assignments.

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Grading

• Personal Identity System: 40%
• MySpace Page: 10%
• PDF Portfolio: 10%
• Web Portfolio/Presentation: 40%

Grading Standards
A 95-100; A- 90-94; B+ 87-89; B 84-86; B- 80-83; C+ 77-79; C 74-76; C- 70-73;
D+ 65-69, D 60-64; F is Below 60

• A - Superior performance on all levels of evaluation, participation and submissions standards.
• B - Above average craftsmanship and problem solving abilities
• C - Average performance, everything is turned in on time of an average quality of creativity and production
• D - Failure to meet minimum quality requirements in most areas
• F - Serious problems with work and attitude

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LATE PROJECTS

Project specifications and deadlines are given when projects are assigned. Students who are absent must email me their completed project by 5pm on the due date. For printed work, email me a pdf and for web-based work, email me a link. Students who miss class on a due date must turn in their finished project by the next class meeting in order to avoid grade penalties.
Assignments not 100% ready for to turn in, lest extraordinary circumstances or extreme illness (doctor’s note required) will not be given an extension and will receive a 30% grade reduction.

Attendance Policy
Any student who misses more than 3 classes will receive a 10% decrease in their final grade. Missing class includes not attending class, leaving early before being dismissed or generally missing more than 1 hour of class.