GD2264The Art Institute of California

Spring 2011

Class Introductions Review of Syllabus, Student

Acknowledgement and Background Knowledge Probe

Setting up your account on the class blog

The Design Process Introduce Assignment #1 – Concept

Generation Through Modification Lab Exercise: Group Brainstorming

Session

As a way to document and showcase work done throughout the quarterAs this is a digital class, your final designs

will be primarily screen-onlyThis will be continual practice in writing out

your thought process As a method of communication and

collaboration between students and the instructorObserve how your classmates work and

learn from themShare interesting and useful links

http://inthedigitalsandbox.com/dmm

Follow along as I walk you through how to use and participate on the blog

During the course, I will ask you to post the progress of your assignments on the class blog

I encourage you to also make additional posts Images, audio and video that you find inspirational

(be sure to link back to the original source) Links to resources and tutorials that you find

helpful Note: Your posts should be SFW (safe for work)

Be sure to stay up-to-date with the blog. If you have any questions or technical

problems, e-mail me or ask in class.

1. Gathering Information2. Research3. Brainstorming4. Conceptualizing5. Experimentation6. Development7. Execution

The following should be discussed with your client prior to starting the project: Who is the target audience? What is the message? What is the scope of the project? What are the technical requirements?

(dimensions, formats, etc) What is the budget? What is the deadline? Examples of work the client is fond of? Branding?

TIP: Use a creative brief or client questionnaire with your client so you have a guide for your discussion and all information is written down for later reference.

Once the client’s needs are understood, conduct additional research of your own:Review the creative brief/client

questionnaire Take note of the design examples provided

Understand the client’s market Take a look at the competition Stay up to date with design trends Figure out what’s new and make it a part of your

stylePeek into others’ minds

Get inspiration from other designers’ work

With research in hand, it is time to start brainstorming: Concept generation

Produce as many ideas as possible Do not get hampered down by overthinking, just

write/sketch/gather Style Layouts Color schemes Images Typography Goals Theme

TIP: Create a mood board with your ideas. It can be a good visual aid for yourself and to show your client the direction your design will take.

At this point, you should have lots of ideas in your head and possibly scattered across scratch paper.

It is time to visualize every aspect of your proposed idea step by step and write out our ideas.

Next, move forward with drawing out (by hand):Thumbnail sketches

Rough out position of elements Does not have to be to scale

Rough layouts Put more detail into design

Once you have a rough layout sketched out, it is time to experiment:When designing, take many different

approaches.Don’t be stuck on one design!Never omit yourself to one style, keep an

open mind.Design multiple compositions and then

refine.

Note: At this stage, you may wish to include the client in the design process.

Through brainstorming, conceptualization and experimentation, you will have established an artillery of skills.

At this stage, you need to decide what skills works best for the design and continue from there. Cater to the scope of the project and

requirements.Be in contact with your client

Show your work in progress (thumbnails and roughs)

Discuss your design choices Make adjustments as necessary

Produce a comprehensive layout (comp) A final draft based on feedback

Once you get approval on your comprehensive layout, it is time to move forward and complete the projectClient Satisfaction

Questions?

Assignment #1

Generate a new idea by taking an existing concept (we will use the concept of “time”), adding a modifier, and transforming the original concept into a new entity.

Time is of the essence Time is money In the nick of Time Time is on my side All the Time in the world Keeping Time

In English, there are hundreds of sayings, phrases and idioms involving time!

Get into groups Discuss and brainstorm different concepts

of Time Write each concept on one note card Modify each concept by changing a word

Change a letter in the word Choose a similar word in meaning Choose a totally random word

Write down the new concept on the same note card

We will join together as a class to discuss the results