Project

Code:

PJ201

Acronym:

PJ2

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
CNAEF	Design

Instance: 2024/2025 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Design
Course/CS Responsible:	Communication Design

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
DC	59	Plano de estudos de LDC_publicaçao em DR de 24/05/2022	2	-	12	90	324

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

— Deepen and develop the understanding of the roles, objectives, and possibilities of graphic design (to understand, explore, and comprehend the dimensions of the profession, including its forgotten or omitted histories and approaches).

— Understand, explore, and comprehend the formal, disciplinary, historical, ethical, and political implications of the various systems of graphic identity. Be aware that the processes of identity construction precede and go beyond the boundaries of graphic design as a profession. These are processes anchored in social, cultural, political, and historical practices, which are comprehensive, varied, and sometimes antagonistic to each other. They have both dominant and subaltern currents.

— Develop a methodology (a way of working). From the conceptual phase and idea generation to the editing and creative presentation of information, students are encouraged to consider the wholesomeness of the process. This process is not necessarily linear; trial and error should be embraced.

In this regard, students are encouraged to develop their opinions, express them, question them, and pursue a personal approach to graphic design. This process is a journey that must be undertaken in constant dialogue with the community.

Learning outcomes and competences

— Get to know the foundational skills and know when or how to apply them (or not);

— Develop a sense of composition (tension, balance, movement);

— Relationship between text and image (image and content editing; structuring of information; creation of narratives);

— Design graphic elements (text, image, signs) in systems that can be scalable [outline construction processes];

— Relate graphic elements to various spatial, social, cultural, and institutional contexts;

— Typesetting text for visual impact (display sizes) and for readability (reading sizes);

— Work with color;

— Explore and understand an array of media (posters, magazines, newspapers, flyers, books, flags, scarves, stationery);

—Printing techniques: silkscreen, xerography, stencil print, and offset printing;

— Bookbinding techniques: saddle stitching (wire or thread), perfect binding; sewn signatures;

— Learn and practice fundamental computer skills (word processor, vector editor, and image editor);

— Develop a personal approach.

Working method

Presencial

Program

Project 1: Introduction to visual/graphic identity systems (4 to 5 weeks)

Design of a visual identity and development of its formal language. The basic elements of the identity and the contexts of application are chosen from a set of options defined by the instructors. Design of an identity manual using only analog methods for its project and realization.

Project 2: Design of a visual/graphic identity system (7 to 8 weeks)

Design of a graphic identity in contexts chosen and researched by the student. The project and research methods are also decided by the students.

Mandatory literature

Andrew Blauvelt (Editor), Ellen Lupton (Editor); Graphic Design: Now in Production, 2011 (Essays about contemporary graphic design)
David Reinfurt; A *New* Program for Graphic Design, Inventory Press/D.A.P., 2019 (Even if very idiosyncratic, it is also a great overview of graphic design and history of visual communication. It has interesting reflections on design as method in modernist contexts.)
Gerda Breuer (Author, Editor), Julia Meer (Editor); Overlooked, omitted or forgotten Women in Graphic Design 1890—2012, Jovis Verlag Gmbh, 2012 (An attempt to correct some of the omissions, the introduction clearly ex- plains the selection process and its own problematics. Unfortunately, out of print. )
Anja Kaiser (ed.), Rebecca Stephany (ed.); Design of a visual identity and development of its formal language. The basic elements of the identity and the contexts of application are chosen from a set of options defined by the instructors. Design of an identity manual using only analog methods for its p, Spector books, 2021 (New ways to define design problems. A messy collaboration with prolific results)
Eva Gonçalves; A Escola Infinita, Vai Vem Editora, 2023
Susana Carvalho; Counterspace: Classroom Space as a Pedagogic Tool to Share Authority and Empower (Design) Students, MEd Education in Arts thesis, 2019
Robin Kinross; Unjustified Texts: Perspectives on Typography, Hyphen Press, 2002 (Historical overview of some key moments in the history of typography)
Robert Bringhurst; Elementos do estilo tipográfico. ISBN: 85-7503-393-X oferta (This is a manual that follows a specific canon, I find it a bit stiff, but it is a good and valid reference.)
Ruben Pater; The Politics of Design : A (Not So) Global Design Manual for Visual Communication, BIS Publishers, 2018 (Especially the chapters on Typography, Colour and Symbols and Icons)
A. Donis Dondis; La^sintaxis de la imagen. ISBN: 84-252-0609-X
bell hooks; Teaching to Transgress, Routledge, 1994
Richard Hollis; Graphic design. ISBN: 0-500-20270-2 (This is a concise yet good account of Graphic Design history. This is a book to go for context and a quick overview. It is written from a specific perspective, and it has many omissions and problems.)
Paulo Freire; Pedagogia do oprimido
Karl Gerstner; Designing Programmes Programme as Typeface, Typography, Picture, Method, Lars Müller Publishers, 2019
Dr. Martin Lorenz, Clara Weinreich; Flexible Visual Systems, Slanted, 2019
Christopher Wilson; Richard Hollis designs for the Whitechapel: a graphic designer and an art gallery in twentieth-century London, Hyphen Press, 2016
Jost Hochuli; Designing books. ISBN: 0-907259-08-1
Sara De Bondt (ed.), Fraser Muggeridge (ed.); The Form Of The Book Book , Occasional Papers, 2009
Richard Hollis; About Graphic Design, Occasional papers, 2018
Mário Moura; O^design que o design não vê. ISBN: 978-989-8868-24-4
Mário Moura; A^Força da forma. ISBN: 978-989-8868-69-5
Mário Moura; Design em tempos de crise
Emil Ruder; Typographie: A Manual of Design, Niggli Verlag, 2001
Josef Muller-Brockmann; The Graphic Artist and His Design Problems, Niggli Verlag, 2003
Josef Muller-Brockmann; Grid systems in graphic design: A visual communication manual for graphic designers, typographers and three dimensional designers , Niggli Verlag, 1996

Teaching methods and learning activities

Activities:

Practical assignments (individual).

Conversations.

Small lectures/presentations related to the practical assignments. 

Individual and group talks during the process phase of assignments.

Group presentations/discussions.

Workshops.

Exposure: Films and documentaries, articles/books.

The following criteria are used to assess the students’ work:

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	25,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	50,00
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	25,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Elaboração de projeto	100,00
Frequência das aulas	90,00
Trabalho de investigação	39,00
Trabalho laboratorial	95,00
Total:	324,00

Eligibility for exams

Weighted average of the assessment components higher than 10.

Calculation formula of final grade

Each of the two works amounts to 50% of the final grade.

Observations

The course unit has Project 1 as precedent.