English 5375 Online: Mondays 6-8:50 pm Skype Spring 2016 Texas Tech University

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1 document design Professor: Dr. Sean Zdenek Office: 487 English Bldg Office Hours: Mondays 4-6 pm and by appointment Skype: seanzdenek Lync/Phone: Spring 2016 English 5375 Online: Mondays 6-8:50 pm Skype Spring 2016 Texas Tech University Course description This course provides a general introduction to document design theory, with special attention to the traditional print genres of technical and marketing communication (brochures, proposals, flyers, newsletters, catalogs, etc.). It also covers user-centered design, rhetorical theory, cognitive psychology, and visual rhetoric. In this course, we will discuss, evaluate, and test document design theories and concepts in a series of exercises, workshops, and assignments that require you to design, redesign, and evaluate documents in a number of genres. This course is organized as both a graduate seminar and a series of design/feedback workshops. We will divide our Skype time between reading discussions and design workshops. The workshops are intended to give you hands-on experience applying the concepts and principles discussed in the readings. During the workshops, you will be expected to present your designs in progress and offer constructive feedback to your classmates when they share their designs. You will be expected during the workshops to collaborate with classmates, share your work, and evaluate the work of others. By the end of the course, you should be able to 1) identify and discuss a number of principles of print-based design, 2) understand some of the contributions of rhetorical theory, visual rhetoric, graphic design, cognitive psychology, and reading comprehension to the field of document design, and 3) apply document design theory and concepts to the computer-aided design and evaluation of your own professional print documents. Three required books Three required books. Order them from Amazon or another reputable online bookstore. I ve also placed a book order with the campus bookstore because a number of onsite students are enrolled in the course. 1. Williams, Robin The non-designer's design book. Peachpit Press. 4th edition. ISBN: Buy the 4 th edition. 4th/dp/ / 2. Kimball, Miles A. and Ann R. Hawkins Document Design: A Guide for Technical Communicators. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin s. ISBN: Design-Guide-Technical-Communicators/dp/ / 3. Stone, Terry, with Sean Adams and Noreen Morioka Color Design Workbook. Rockport Publishers. ISBN: Graphic/dp/ / If you are able to do so, please purchase print versions in paperback. While Kindle or ebook versions will work in a pinch, I think you ll get more out of a design class if you are able to browse, skim, and study closely the examples of graphic design in all three books. (I have read Color Design Workbook on the Kindle and I wasn t able to engage with the design examples as carefully as I could with the print version.) 1

2 Additional required materials 1. Required software. Because Adobe products like InDesign and Photoshop are prohibitively expensive, we are going to use free alternatives that are widely considered just as good. These programs mimic the interface and functionality of the Adobe products, so you should be able to make a smooth transition to Adobe products in the future. If you already have access to Adobe InDesign and Photoshop, you can use those as alternatives to the software listed below. For your design work, you must use either Adobe Indesign or Scribus. Professional projects are typically designed in InDesign. Please install the following software programs on your computer and make sure they work before class starts. If these programs don t work on your computer, you may not be able to complete the required assignments: a. Scribus, version 1.4: b. GIMP 2 (GNU Image Manipulation Program): 2. Graph notebook (4x4 quadrille ruled). Design experts recommend sketching your layout ideas on paper before moving to the computer. I recommend you purchase a 10.5 x 8 (or larger) bound graph notebook, preferably 4x4 quadrille ruled (i.e. 4 squares per inch). A ruled notebook will be especially helpful for grid-based design. A spiral-bound, 100-sheet graph notebook can be purchased from Walmart for about $3. Or purchase from Amazon for $5.17: Paper-Notebook-squares-pages/dp/ / 3. Colored pencils, colored markers, or colored pens. Buy whatever assortment of colored pencils or pens that you like. The following have been recommended by professional graphic designers but you may not want to make this kind of investment until you ve had a chance to figure out what s best for your needs: a. Tombow Dual Brush Pen Art Markers for example: b. MUJI Gel Ink Ballpoint Pens (0.38 mm) for example: 4. Your course artifacts. Keep an eye out for interesting print artifacts and add them to a physical folder. You will need at least five print artifacts but if you find more than that, by all means add them to your collection. A print artifact can be anything designed to be printed out in hard copy and designed to persuade with both visual and verbal elements (e.g. brochures, flyers, newsletters, junk mail, whatever is posted in the halls of your workplace, etc.). Aim to include professional, commercial, or workplace artifacts that combine words and images. The examples you find can be good or bad examples of design it s up to you. The examples can inspire you or remind you what not to do. I will encourage you to return to your course artifacts throughout the term to ground the readings in real artifacts. All of your course artifacts should be print-based (as opposed to web-based documents). Pdfs are fine as long as they are designed with printing in mind (e.g. an employee handbook posted to the company s internal website or a flyer sent via as an image). Aim to include at least one example of technical communication in your collection of artifacts. In order to share your artifacts during class, you ll need to take a picture of them or scan them. I know this doesn t sound ideal but keep in mind that the course is focused on print design but meets online. Course websites: Blackboard and Google Drive The course syllabus and daily class agenda will be posted to Blackboard: You will upload your completed assignments to Blackboard to be graded as well. If you do not see the Blackboard course after you login, ask the professor to add you. 2

3 I also created a folder on Google Drive ( for sharing your in-progress design work and taking notes. An invitation was sent to each student s TTU address. If you didn t get it or can t access the Google Drive folder, let me know. Skype class: Mondays 6-8:50 pm central We will meet online every Monday night from 6-8:50 pm on Skype starting January 25th. We will not be meeting onsite this semester. I will place a Skype conference call (audio only) to the entire class promptly at 6 pm central. Make sure you add seanzdenek as a Skype contact prior to our first class session. Our time on Skype each Monday night will proceed as follows: 1. Discussion of assigned readings (see the course schedule) 2. Application of the assigned readings to your course artifacts and other design examples 3. Scribus questions and tips 4. Assignment instructions/questions 5. Peer feedback sessions and workshops Grading Your final course grade will be calculated according to the table below, using the standard curve of % = A; % = B; % = C; % = D; % = F. Under no circumstances will grades be rounded up or down. ASSIGNMENT VALUE Two course artifact redesigns 15 Two recruitment designs: Imitatio and fresh 15 Research poster 15 Tower Infographic 20 Design Portfolio 30 Participation: Peer feedback and critique 5 TOTAL 100% Assignments See the course notes posted to Blackboard for complete assignment directions. Here is a short summary of each assignment: Two course artifact redesigns You will choose two of the artifacts in your personal collection of course artifacts. You will analyze and redesign them. Each analysis should be ~500 words (1000 words total) and cite relevant design theory from our course readings. You must cite page numbers and examples from our readings. Each redesign will be done in Scribus or InDesign and exported as pdfs. Deliverables: 1) Two 500-word analyses (one for each redesign), 2) two original artifacts (scanned), and 3) Your two redesigns (Scribus or Indesign and pdf). Two recruitment ads (one imitatio and one fresh) You will design two flyers or ads for our MATC and/or PhD-TCR program. One of your designs must be done in imitatio style. To do this, you will find an effective recruitment document that another college or university has produced. (For example, look in conference programs for examples of ads from other college programs. I will share examples in class.) Then, you will produce a similar document for the TCR graduate program(s) that is inspired by and imitates the style of the original. You are free to tweak your redesign based on feedback from other students. The second design will be a fresh, new design and should be markedly different than your imitatio design. Both recruitment documents will be designed in Scribus or InDesign. Any 3

4 photos you use must be your own original images. Deliverables: 1) The original document (for the imitatio design), 2) Two 500-word analyses (citing relevant pages from our required course readings), 3) Your two designs (InDesign/Scribus and pdfs). Research poster The research poster is a common way of presenting one s research to colleagues at academic conferences. Many conferences hold poster competitions and award prizes for the best research poster. The research poster genre is common in the hard sciences and becoming more popular in the humanities. For this assignment, take one of your graduate-level research papers from another class and design a research poster to accompany it. You should not have designed a research poster for this paper before. Deliverables: 1) The original research paper, 2) A short report (1000 words) that explains your design approach and cites relevant pages from our required readings, 3) Your research poster (submit InDesign/Scribus files and the final pdf version). Tower infographic Research a technical topic, keep track of authoritative sources and data you find online, and design a new tower infographic that reports on this data for a general audience. Footnote sources on your infographic. Deliverables: 1) A short report (1000 words) that explains the research you conducted, and how you designed the infographic according to principles of good design (cite relevant pages from our required readings), 2) An infographic designed in Scribus or InDesign and exported as a pdf. Include original Scribus or InDesign files with your submission. Design portfolio The weekly course notes (uploaded to Blackboard) will be filled with design prompts that will challenge and (hopefully) inspire you. These prompts will grow directly out of our required readings. You will be required to work on your favorite prompts and submit a selection of your best work in the form of a design portfolio. The portfolio will also include short descriptions to contextualize each example in the portfolio. (See the course notes for the exact number of designs you will need in your portfolio.) Deliverable: Design portfolio produced in Scribus or Indesign (submit original Scribus or InDesign files and pdf version). Regular participation through in-class reading discussions and peer feedback Active participation is crucial to the success of our Skype sessions. Be prepared to volunteer and/or sign up to share drafts of your designs in progress for feedback from the class. Be prepared to offer feedback to your classmates when they are sharing their designs in progress. I will keep track of how often you volunteer to share your designs in progress with the class on Skype. A sign-up procedure may be used too. To make it easy to share designs, we will collaborate on Google docs. To share your in-progress designs with the class regularly, export your Scribus or InDesign drafts as pdfs or jpgs. Expected learning outcomes Upon completion of the course, students should be able to: 1. Identify and discuss the principles of print-based design discussed in the readings; 2. Understand some of the contributions of rhetorical theory, visual rhetoric, graphic design, cognitive psychology, and reading comprehension to the field of document design; 3. Become proficient using software for page layout and design; 4. Analyze the document needs of at least one outside organization and propose a document solution; 5. Apply document design theory and concepts to the design and evaluation of new print documents. Methods for assessing the expected learning outcomes Reading assignments on design theory, in-class discussions of readings, lectures on design principles, handson workshops and peer critique sessions, multiple design assignments, including a final portfolio. 4

5 Standard course policies Be prepared for class by doing the assigned reading and writing in advance. Bring the assigned readings to Skype class each week. Submit all required assignments to be eligible for a passing grade. Contact me immediately if you have a question about or problem using the course websites or any course materials. Attendance policies o Be on time for class. Fire up your Skype program a couple minutes before 6 pm central on class days. o Expect to attend every class meeting. Your performance in the course, as well as the overall success of the course, depend upon your regular attendance. o Attendance policy: We only meet once a week. I expect you to attend every Skype session. If you are absent three times, your final course grade will be reduced by 3%. If you are absent more than three times, your final course grade will be reduced by an additional 5%. Four or more absences will warrant a failing grade in the course. I do not excuse absences outside of what is required by university policy (e.g. religious observance). ADA statement: Any student who, because of a disability, may require special arrangements in order to meet the course requirements should contact the instructor within the first two weeks of class to make any necessary arrangements. Students should present appropriate verification from Student Disability Services during the instructor s office hours. Please note instructors are not allowed to provide classroom accommodations to a student until appropriate verification from Student Disability Services has been provided. For additional information, you may contact the Student Disability Services office in 335 West Hall or Participation policy: Expect to participate actively in class discussions. The success of the course depends upon your active engagement with in-class activities. These activities are designed to prepare you to complete the major assignments in the class. Civility and professionalism o Respect the views of others. o Maintain and promote a civil and respectful environment in the online classroom i.e. an environment conducive to learning. Academic Integrity/Plagiarism statement o Do not plagiarize. Your work must be your own. If you borrow words, images, ideas, or designs from another person, you need to make it explicit (through proper citation) that the words/ideas/images/designs in question are not your own. In the case of borrowed images, you may be in violation of copyright law if you use someone else s image (even if you give proper credit). If you use someone else s writing or work as your own, you are in violation of the University s policy on academic integrity. Please keep in mind that the penalty for plagiarism can be severe. See me immediately if you have questions about the University s policy on plagiarism. o All work submitted for this class must be your original, new work not submitted for any other class. Late policy: Submit your work on time. Late work is penalized 10% per day. Assignments more than five days late will not be accepted. Submission requirements: Submit your assignments using Blackboard. 5

6 Skype agenda: Each Monday before class, the Skype agenda will be posted to Blackboard. Review the agenda closely for directions and suggestions for successfully completing the assignments. Contacting the Professor Feel free to discuss course questions and concerns with me during my scheduled office hours, by appointment, via , or Skype. I will do my best to respond to your queries within 24 hours, except during weekends and holidays. Office: English 487 and Skype Office hours: Mondays 4-6 pm central and by appointment. Contact methods o sean.zdenek@ttu.edu o Skype: call or send a text message to seanzdenek. Available live during office hours and by appointment. o Phone: Call at any reasonable hour. This number forwards to my personal cell phone. 6

7 document design Professor: Dr. Sean Zdenek Office: 487 English Bldg Office Hours: Mondays 4-6 pm and by appointment Skype: seanzdenek Lync/Phone: Spring 2016 English 5375 Online: Mondays 6-8:50 pm Skype Spring 2016 Texas Tech University Schedule This schedule is tentative and may need to be revised to accommodate our pace through the course material. If changes need to be made, you will be notified in advance. Reading and other assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day assigned. Bring the required readings to class every day. Course materials: and Google docs. Williams = Williams, Robin The non-designer's design book. Peachpit Press. 4th edition. ISBN: Kimball = Kimball, Miles A. and Ann R. Hawkins Document Design: A Guide for Technical Communicators. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin s. ISBN: Stone = Stone, Terry, with Sean Adams and Noreen Morioka Color Design Workbook. Rockport Publishers. ISBN: Scribus = [1] Jan 25 Topic Readings Due Course introduction and overview [2] Feb 1 Topic Readings Due Foundational principles of design Williams pp Scribus: Quick Start Guide * [3] Feb 8 Topic Readings Due Foundational principles of design Williams pp Scribus: Frames Scribus: Text [4] Feb 15 Topic Readings Due Kimball Ch. 1-2 Document design principles for Stone Ch. 1 Course artifact technical communication Scribus: Images redesigns What is color? Scribus: Styles [5] Feb 22 Topic Readings Due Theories of design Color theory Kimball Ch. 3 Stone Ch. 2 Scribus: Shapes Scribus: Editing Shapes * I ve included a couple Scribus tutorial lessons each week in the readings, but I suggest you work ahead on them in order to learn the software as quickly as possible in advance of the first assignment due date. If necessary, search for additional tutorials on YouTube. Remember: Assignments must be completed with either Scribus or Adobe InDesign. Both programs are very similar. If you know one, you can move easily to the other one later on. One goal of the course is to become proficient in a professional-grade design program. 1

8 [6] Feb 29 Topic Readings Due Kimball 4-5 Stone Ch. 3 The whole document and pages Scribus: Duplicate and Color meanings transform Scribus: Lines, Line Styles [7] Mar 7 Topic Readings Due Typography The rules of color Kimball Ch. 6 Stone Ch. 4 Scribus: Fill Color Scribus: Master Pages Recruitment designs [8] Mar 14 Topic Readings Due Spring break (no class) [9] Mar 21 Topic Readings Due Kimball Ch. 7-8 Stone Ch. 5 Graphics Scribus: Editing and Color systems managing color Scribus: PDF export [10] Mar 28 Topic Readings Due University holiday (no classes) [11] Apr 4 Topic Readings Due Lists, Tables, forms Kimball Ch Project management Research poster Stone Ch. 6 Color talk [12] Apr 11 Topic Readings Due Production Kimball Ch. 11 Color design case studies Stone Ch. 7 [13] Apr 18 Topic Readings Due Workshops and peer critiques [14] Apr 25 Topic Readings Due Workshops and peer critiques Tower infographic [15] May 2 Topic Readings Due Workshops and peer critiques [16] May 9 Topic Readings Due Recap, review Design portfolio Showcasing your portfolio and top (due May 16) designs 2