Lecture

The Elements: basic components used as part of any composition, independent of the medium.

• Value:Signifies the relative differences of light and dark
  • Achromatic: Value with the absence of hue (color) and saturation (intensity).
  • Chromatic: Value demonstrated by a given hue.
  • Grayscale: The full range of values simplified into a graduated scale.
  • Low-Key: When the values of an image are predominately dark
  • High-Key: When the values of an image are predominately light
  • Narrow Range: When the values congregate around the dark, middle, or light part of the grayscale.
  • Broad Range: When the values are spread over the dark, middle, or light part of the grayscale.
  • Shadow: Dark area of an object as a result of a disruption of the light source.
  • Highlight: Portion of an object that receives the greatest amount of direct light
  • Chiaroscuro/Tenebrism: Forceful use of contrasting lights and darks, creating a dramatic mood.

The Principles: basic assumptions that guide the design practice.

• Emphasis:The special attention or importance given to one part of a composition. Emphasis can be achieved through placement, contrast, size, etc.
  • Dominance/Hierarchy: The expression of visual and conceptual order that communicates degrees of importance of the various parts of a composition. This can also be achieved through placement, contrast, size, etc.
  • Focal Point: The elements or objects on which the viewer’s attention is focused.
• Contrast: Occurs when elements are unrelated or dissimilar in value, size, shape, etc. Increasing contrasts can create dominance.

References:

Lab – Class 10

Note: — if you missed class on Friday, please see Prof!

Value-Added Portraits: Value Range Evaluation Exercise

1. Designate a new section of your Creative Process Book and write ‘Value-Added Portraits’.
2. From magazines or online sources, find examples of  photographs, paintings, or graphic design with the following qualities:
   • predominately within the high-key value range (2 examples)
   • predominately within the low-key value range (2 examples)
3. Compose a minimum 2-paragraph description, with specific references to the images, indicating how the key sets the mood of the composition. Also notice and report how the forms in the composition create highlight and shadow relationships, some may be abrupt other may have a gradation of value from light to dark. How does this contribute expressive quality (mystery, drama, success, joy, etc) of the compositions?

Image Research Exercise

1. We have been given a research task with specific guidelines:

• Find 4 images to represent the 4 navigational sliders on this website: http://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/
• Make sure they represent each section topic and are also “student-friendly.”
• Images must hold an appropriate Creative Commons License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
• Or be in the Public Domain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain_image_resources#General_Collections

Questions to ask before you begin your search:

• What is the purpose of the OpenLab website and what kind of people are they trying to reach?
• What is the purpose of the slider?
• What should the images communicate?
• What is the best way to visually represent News, Getting Started, Help, and About?
• Example Brain Dump for HELP: hand, helping hands (need a hand?), map, confused face, person lost, lost signs, help signs, arrows, trail markers, etc….
• What is the purpose of the images in relationship to the text?
• How do we determine which image will work best for each section?
• What dimension and resolution should the images be? (optimized size: 748×361 pixels, 72 dpi)
• What kind of value range will work best?
• Can we take any old image off the web and use it?
• What do the different types of Creative Commons licenses mean? Which one is appropriate for this type of use?
• Do we need to credit the photographer?

How to Submit your Projects

1. On the back lower right-hand corner of each work, write the following in pencil:
1. Your full name
2. ADV1100 + your section number
3. The name of the project and exercise.
2. Protect your work by creating an envelope using tracing paper and drafting tape (NOT masking or scotch tape)
3. Make sure you create an envelope that is easy to open and close. (DEMO)

Lab – Class 11

Value-Added Portraits: Value Scale

• Create a Value Scale (a graduated scale of achromatic gray tones).
• On a piece of 9×12″ bristol, use this guide to create 4 scales starting with 2 steps and ending with 9 steps ranging from black to white in even, progressive increments.
• You may want to do a few practice runs on a piece of scrap bristol. Try mixing black and white in a variety of proportions until you get a progression from light to dark and the paint application is smooth and free of brushstrokes. REMEMBER: That adding 50% black + 50% white may not get you a perfect middle value! All mediums are different, you need to experiment. Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it!
  
• Label (in good handwriting) your 9-step value scale with black, low dark, dark, high dark, mid-value, low light, high light, white.

Painting Tips:

• Mix a very small amount of water thoroughly into the paint, for each value you create. The consistency should be like whole milk or cream. Before you apply paint to paper make sure it’s completely mixed in the palette to produce a flat consistent appearance. We want flat, blocks of paint with no streaks or brush marks.
• Wash your brush after each value is mixed and applied. Keep two containers of water, use 1 for washing your brushes and 1 for adding water to paint. Use a paper towel or rag to get excess paint and water off the brush before mixing a new value.
• Use non-stick tape along the edges of each square to create a sharp painted edge. Wait for the paint to dry completely before removing.
• If your completed scale is not accurate and does not produce even, progressive value increments, repeat the exercise.
• Escape Hatch: If your edges end up being very sloppy or uneven, you may also cut out and remount the value steps on a fresh piece of bristol.

Homework Class 10

1. Complete the Value Range Evaluation Exercise.
   
2. Materials needed next class: CPB, 9×12″ Bristol, pencils, eraser, cutting mat, knife/scissors, ruler/T-square, tubes of black and white gouache, brushes, rag, palette, water container, drafting tape. (NEW supplies!! — see supply list!)
3. Print out this document and bring it to class.
4. GRADES: Project #1 grades are available. Visit the Check Your Grade page and register for a password. If you did not submit your email in class, then you will not be able to check your grade.

Homework Class 11

1. Complete the Value Scale exercise.
   
2. Materials needed next class: CPB, 9×12″ Bristol, pencils, eraser, cutting mat, knife/scissors, ruler/T-square.

Vocabulary REVIEW

1. The Practice: Concept + Form are ingredients that a designer uses to produce a composition that communicates meaning. The relationship between the Concept (idea) and the Form (process/result) produces the Content (meaning).
   • Concept: A comprehensive idea or generalization that brings diverse elements into a clear relationship.
   • Form: The organization of elements in a composition arranged according to principles that will support the communication of the concept.
   • Content: The expression, essential meaning, significance, or aesthetic value derived from the relationship between the concept and the form. Content refers to the sensory, subjective, psychological, or emotional properties of a composition, as opposed to our perception of its formal qualities.
2. The Elements: basic components used as part of any composition, independent of the medium.
   • Line: An series of points, which has length and direction. It can be the connection between two points, the space between shapes, or the path of a moving point. A closed line creates a shape.
3. The Principles: basic assumptions that guide the design practice.
   • Rhythm: Is a repeated pattern, such as what we hear in music. In different art forms, it can be a very complex interrelationship or a regular, steady beat.
   • Repetition: Repeating a sequence; occurring more than a few times. In design, repetition can create visual consistency and a sense of unity.
   • Pattern: Unbroken repetition, the repeating of an line, object or symbol.
   • Variety: Visual rhythm is often punctuated with variations or changes in color, texture, or form. Creating variety is easy. Too much variety can lead to chaos and confusion for the viewer. A designer must effectively use pace and spacing to create rhythm and achieve unity in a composition.
   • Monotony: Without variety or change, excessive repetition can lead to boredom and uninteresting compositions.

Discussion

Group Critique (1 hour)

1. Setup your work somewhere in the classroom.
2. Present the following:
   • Creative Process Book with sketches, writing, assessment and work hour tally
   • Monotony Line Network
   • Variety Line Network
   • Staccato / Legato Pattern Mashups
   • Rhythmic Elevation drawing
3. Review  Assignment #2: Aural Topographies : Visualizing Sound
4. Review Vocabulary: Line, Pattern, Repetition, Rhythm, Variety, Monotony, Unity
5. Based on the project guidelines, choose 1 student that has most successfully completed the project.
6. Spend 10 minutes crafting a statement about the chosen student’s work. Discuss the finished work using the vocabulary above. The critique you give will not affect the student’s grade, but it will affect yours.
7. Present your statement to the class and include:
   • your name
   • what you are presenting (title and design problem)
   • which parts are successful and why
   • which parts are unsuccessful and why

Lab (1.5 Hours)

Written Review

1. Based on your short statement above, write a 1-page review of your classmate’s successful Rhythmic Elevation composition.
2. Take a few minutes to interview the artist and determine if your understanding and interpretation of the work is similar or completely different from the artist’s intentions. It’s okay if it’s different!
3. Your review must include a detailed description of the goals of the assignment (in your own words!) and must use the design vocabulary we’ve studied thus far within a discussion of Concept, Form, Content.
4. FOR EXAMPLE:
   1. Discuss how the Content of the Rhythmic Elevation composition, whose Concept is to create a variety of repeated “sounds” or rhythmic patterns within a figure/ground composition, communicates… “a rhythm similar to the sound of a chorus of birds, the swell and crash of an ocean, a certain type of music, etc.” or “a feeling of joy, sadness, excitement, etc.”
   2. Describe how the Form (use of  line weight, line direction, pacing and spacing of line, figure-ground relationship, organic and geometric shapes, repetition of horizontal pattern, use of economy, etc.) successfully supports the Concept and explain how and why this allows the Content to be communicated.

Photo-shoot

• Please come and get your photo taken by the professor (for use in the next project)
• IF you miss this class, contact the professor to get your photo taken or to learn about guidelines for taking your own.

Homework

1. Finish your 1-page, well-written critique/review. The final piece should be typed and printed with your classmates name, the title of the project, and the date at the top. Make two copies, one for your creative process book and one for your classmate. Do not put your own name on the page.
2. Materials needed next class: CPB, 9×12″ Bristol, pencils, eraser, cutting mat, knife/scissors, ruler/T-square, tubes of black and white gouache, brushes, rag, palette, water container, drafting tape. (NEW supplies!! — see supply list!)
3. Check this website the day before for additional supplies
   — UPDATE: Print out this document and bring it to class.

Lab

1. Critique of Staccato / Legato Pattern Mashup.
2. Introduction to Assignment #2 | Rhythmic Elevations
3. Work in class.

Homework

1. Complete or rework all parts of  Assignment #2. See Assignment page for details.
2. Be prepared to turn in your assignment for grading and critique. Make sure it is neatly wrapped in tracing paper and labeled with your full name, project name, and course and section number.

Lecture

• Review Elements and Principles
• Explore this project: Seaquence

Lab

1. Critique of Staccato / Legato Patterns. Work on inked pattern mashup.
2. Introduction to Assignment #2 | Rhythmic Elevations
3. Work in class.

Homework

1. Complete parts 1 & 2 of  Assignment #2. See Assignment page for details.
2. Materials Needed: 14″x17″ Bristol, ruler/t-square, pencils, inking pens, knife/scissors, cutting mat, collage materials, or any materials of your choice.

Lecture

• Review Elements and Principles from last class
• Discuss examples of Repetition in web design from Design Meltdown
• Examine different types of Pattern design from Artlandia and examples in class.

Lab

Assignment #2 | Aural Topographies

1. Critique of  Line Networks : Monotony and Variety
   • Use vocabulary: Rhythm, Variety, Pattern, Repetition and Unity.
   • What works, what doesn’t work?
2. Pattern Exercise: Staccato / Legato Patterns
3. Work in class.

Homework (UPDATE)

1. Complete Writing Exercise & Monotony and Variety Line Networks. See Assignment #2 page for details.
2. Work more on your Staccato / Legato Patterns. See Assignment #2 page for details. We will complete these in the next class. Come prepared to work.
3. Materials Needed: 9″x12″ Bristol, ruler/t-square, pencils, inking pens, knife/scissors, cutting mat, collage materials or any materials of your choice.

Critique (1 hour)

1. Setup your work somewhere in the classroom (spread out)
2. Present the following:
   • Creative Process Book
   • Inked Thumbnails
   • Cut-Paper Compositions
3. Review Project Guidelines: Assignment #1 | A View from My Window | Figure-Ground Relationships
4. Based on the project guidelines, anonymously choose 3 students that have successfully completed the project.
5. Discuss the finished work in terms of concept, craft, what was learned, and the creative process:
   • your name
   • what you are presenting (title and design problem)
   • which parts are successful and why
   • which parts are unsuccessful and why
   • what you learned from this exercise
     

Lecture (30 Min)

The Elements: basic components used as part of any composition, independent of the medium.

1. Line: An series of points, which has length and direction. It can be the connection between two points, the space between shapes, or the path of a moving point. A closed line creates a shape.

The Principles: basic assumptions that guide the design practice.

1. Rhythm: Is a repeated pattern, such as what we hear in music. In different art forms, it can be a very complex interrelationship or a regular, steady beat.
   1. Repetition: Repeating a sequence; occurring more than a few times. In design, repetition can create visual consistency and a sense of unity.
   2. Pattern: Unbroken repetition, the repeating of an line, object or symbol.
   3. Variety: Visual rhythm is often punctuated with variations or changes in color, texture, or form. Creating variety is easy. Too much variety can lead to chaos and confusion for the viewer. A designer must effectively use pace and spacing to create rhythm and achieve unity in a composition.
   4. Monotony: Without variety or change, excessive repetition can lead to boredom and uninteresting compositions.

References:

Lab (1 Hour)

1. Introduction to Assignment #2 | Aural Topographies : Visualizing Music
2. Materials needed:
   • Creative Process Book, pencils (wide range from 4h to 4B), inking pens (range from thick to thin).
   • Your favorite piece of music on CD or flash drive.
3. Work in class.

Homework

1. Complete the first experiments for Assignment #2 : Line Networks : Monotony and Variety
2. Materials needed next class: 9×12″ Bristol, ruler/t-square, pencils, inking pens, tape. — check website for extra supplies.

Assignment Review (1o min)

1. Take a moment to read through the Assignment #1 project guidelines.
2. Reform your groups from last class and discuss the project goal and requirements.
3. Make sure you are all in agreement.
4. Send 1 ambassador from your group to another group to explain the project guidelines.

Demo/Lab

1. Demonstration: Large, cut paper compositions
   • Materials Needed: 1 sheet 14×17″ Bristol, black paper, scissors, exacto knife, cutting mat, glue, ruler/t-square, pencils, tape.
2. In-Class Work: Complete Assignment #1: Cut Paper Compositions
3. Individual meetings with Professor.

Homework

1. In your Creative Process Book, at the end of the View from My Window section, document your “Thoughtful Assessment” and “Work Tally”.
2. ALL ASSIGNMENT #1 WORK IS DUE: Bring all parts of Assignment #1 to class for critique. Check project guidelines for details.
3. Materials needed next class:
   • Creative Process Book, pencils (wide range from 4h to 4B), inking pens (range from thick to thin).
   • Your favorite piece of music on CD or flash drive.