Design Basics

Read over pages 14-33 in the Google Book on Design. Some of the pages are missing between those numbers but view the ones that are available. You do not have to read every work but spend only about 10-15 minutes glancing through the pages, images, and captions so that you will get a background of what we will be learning and doing in Design. Take at least one page of rough notes in your CA book and draw a couple diagrams like the examples to help you remember better. You will not have a quiz right now on this material but the better you learn it now, the easier it will come later when we go deeper.

Then complete the following activities (example of completed activities), which should only take you 20-30min (be efficient). When you cut out pictures from magazines, try not to cut out ones that are bigger than your page and may stick out or you have to fold them. Make sure you paste or staple them securely to your page. If you do not have any magazines, ask a friend or they sell them at 7-11 or Family Mart.

Dots

Go to page 19 and complete the activity with the dots in your CA book but use these modified directions.

-Using your pen or pencil, divide one page of your paper into four equal parts. On the top left, strategically place a bold dot on the page, then on the right side, make two bold dots while using the principal of unequal spacing. Then on the bottom left, place a single bold dot but in a different location that will change the dynamics of the appearance compared to the one above it. Then make a two-dot variation on the bottom right.

On the next page, draw six different rectangle shapes and place either one or two bold dots on each one in different locations using unequal spacing. Circle the rectangle that you think has the dot or dots in the best strategic place that looks the best.

Placement

Complete the activity on page 25 but follow these directions that vary slightly from the book. Find three pictures in a magazine, one that has dead-center placement for the horizontal line as well as high low like the three examples of the road on page 25. Cut and paste the three examples like they did on the page but each of the images can be different and not of the same subject. Place dead-center first at the top, then high, and then the low image at the bottom of the page, just like their example. Feel free to cut and trim the image as needed. Label the type of placement for each of the three images.

Centered Element

Read the exercise on page 33. Find an advertisement in a magazine that features a centered element like the top stop sign in the example. Paste it in your CA book. Then ask yourself if you think the designer centered the element for a specific purpose. Explain your thoughts and recommendations to keep it the same or improve the alignment of the ad in 1-2 sentences.

Magazine

Then bring that magazine or another magazine to class next time. Choose one that you think has good advertisements, fashion design, or product design (any language).

Take screenshots of your notes, dots, placement, centered element, and cover of the magazine you will bring to class and post to your posterous and the link to the spreadsheet.