Explorations in Design Spring 2019
Eames Do-Nothing Machine
Course Info
ART 366: Explorations in Design
VAC 115
M/W 2–5:50pm
Jake Dugard
jake@latech.edu
Office: Room B17
Office Hours: M/W/F 8–11:20am
Course Description
This course encourages students to discover new materials and processes in the context of contemporary design problems. Emphasis is placed on experimentation, combining new and old technologies and processes, implementing digital and analog methods, and discovery through making.
Objectives
— Develop self-realized methodologies for approaching a problem
— Develop a system for documenting process through experimentation
— Develop a better understanding and appreciation of craft and materials
Studio Structure
Birthed out of the necessity for more compliant, factory workers, compulsory education was instituted in 1918. Students were placed in straight rows and told to obey the teacher. “Large-scale education was not developed to motivate kids or to create scholars. It was invented to churn out adults who worked well within the system. Scale was more important than quality, just as it was for most industrialists.”¹
This is a studio first and foremost. We will be attempting to shift 13 years (give or take) of what most people think a classroom should be into something that feels more like a shared studio space. Curiosity through experimentation and exploration is necessary. Students are encouraged to be autodidacts. In many ways, the instructor will act more as a collaborator poking, prodding, and posing questions. If in doubt, follow these “rules”.
External communication will happen primarily via Slack.
Supplies
Supplies and materials will vary depending on the student’s approach to each assignment. Standard tools like pencils, pens, x-acto, sketchbook, and laptop will be expected for each class. Specific materials will be addressed for each assignment.
Evaluation
Like all of the design disciplines (and the arts and humanities for that matter) graphic design is at times troublingly subjective, ever more so as new tools enable us to manipulate every aspect of how something looks, behaves, and functions across multiplying media. There are not correct solutions to visual problems and yet there is still a pressing need to rationalize judgements and preferences, to define what we consider inventive, considered, meaningful, evocative, in short ‘good design’.²
This class is high pass, pass or fail (A, B, D/F). Because of the collaborative nature, everyone is expected to participate and do so openly, consistently, and generously. You will not receive a grade for each individual assignment but you will receive a midterm grade to help you assess your performance. The following are the criteria I will be looking for:
— a good understanding of design concepts
— thoughtful responses to assignments
— a sustained, wide-ranging, experimental process
— responsiveness to feedback
— clear articulation of design ideas
— refined craft and presentation
— active and meaningful participation in class
— timeliness (assignments and attendance)
— works well in collaborative environment
Documentation
Each student will be required to make a Process Book for the course. It will be an on-going project throughout the quarter. Essentially, a process book is a compiled guide that helps the designer get an overview of his or her project while at the same time allowing a viewer to see the progression of a project from beginning to end. More details can be found here. At the end of each unit, I will collect digital files and/or photos for archival purposes.
Criticism
Giving and receiving criticism is an incredibly important component of any design program. The purpose of critiquing work is to improve the work. Both students (and faculty) will give and receive often. Sometimes this will take the form of full-class critiques, one-on-one meetings, small group crits, or some other form where people are talking about work. Here is more information on how and why we critique.