4388 Directed Study

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Official UCA Blackboard Course

DESCRIPTION

Major/minor course in an art degree program emphasis. Developing additional competence in special areas. May be repeated for credit. Studio. Prerequisites: ART 2140, 6 hours in one studio area, and faculty permission.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

COURSE GOALS: This course will prepare the student to:

  • Creating graphic design project work to build and strengthen the body of students portfolio
  • Focus more vigorously on methodologies and theories in graphic design
  • Develop a scope and knowledge related to graphic design

COURSE OBJECTIVES: As a result of taking this course the student will:

  • The acquisition of knowledge to demonstrate an understanding of methodologies and theories in graphic design
  • The application of knowledge by producing work that demonstrates an understanding of methodologies and theories in graphic design through a semester long focused projects with the main body of work taking place out of the classroom
  • Through personal and professional values students will demonstrate the highest levels of personal integrity and professional ethics
  • Students will demonstrate advanced critical thinking and problem solving competence and adaptability in their approach to problem solving and advance their abilities and familiarity with quantitative and qualitative reasoning
  • Students will demonstrate the written, oral, and multimedia communication skills necessary to communicate effectively in diverse settings through course presentations and discussions

MATERIALS

Design Lab Fees: You will need to pay the Lab fee in the Art Office. The lab fee will discuss as needed.
Texts: Reference material will be suggested, loaned, or requested to purchase depending on the scope and depth of the chosen project.

DIGITAL STORAGE: Recommended: 1 USB drive with a minimum of 16GB of space

JOURNAL/SKETCH BOOK: During the semester you will be required to have a sketchbook and to keep a journal of project process work, research, thumbnail sketching, ideation, writing reflections of observations of real world art and design, art, design concepts and/or topics covered in class. The journal is important. It’s intent is to teach thought, both written and visual, as well as discipline and to be critically aware within your field. You must be prepared to discuss your entries.

MEETINGS

MEETING 1

    • Discussion: discuss project possibilities and course/class meeting schedule
    • Assignment: For next meeting, 3 or more ideas for what you wish to do for the semester, each idea must be expanded on as much as possible, each idea needs to have a semester schedule/plan/process/steps etc.

MEETING 2

    • Discussion: Review project ideas and plans, schedule weekly/biweekly/monthly and virtual meeting plans, this schedule will be flexible as needed.

FOLLOWING MEETINGS

    • Scheduled as determined and based on need

COURSE WORK

ART-4388 is 3 credit hour per semester course. This translates to roughly 6 in class hours. You will be expected to work approximately 12-15 hours outside of the classroom hours each week working on your 4388 process/project. This translates to a total of 18-21 hours PER WEEK you should be devoting to your process/project for this course.

Progress Reporting: During this course you will be expected to submit a Descriptive Essay, a Process Essay, and a Critical Essay that report your progress. Your essay(s) text should contain between 2500 to 3000 words, that include an introduction, main body, and conclusion. You may include imagery as needed

Descriptive Essay: A descriptive essay is a paper which is all about describing or summarizing a topic. This style of essay encourages you to create a written account of a particular experience. In this case your experience of your early phases of the Design Process — including; research, observation, analysis, ideation, and conclusion

Process Essay: A Process Essay describes a procedure. It gives a step-by-step explanation of a process that leads to an expected or planned outcome. The process may either be concrete or abstract. There are two types of process essays – directional process essays (give instructions in steps on how to accomplish a specific task), and informational process essays (explains or analyzes a process).

Critical Essay: A critical essay is a form of writing that analyzes, interprets, and/or evaluates a text. In our case it is the outcome of your project rather than a text. In a critical essay, the author makes a claim about how particular ideas or themes are conveyed/achieved/projected, then supports those claims with evidence from primary and/or secondary sources.

Process Book: You will be required to submit a Process Book that includes your ENTIRE process from ideation to completion. The format, aesthetic, and style is entirely up to you — however a recommendation is to have it relate to your project.

Main Body of Work: The main body of work will be created over the semester. Depending on the “idea” for your project work the “deliverables” will vary. This will be discussed during our meetings. The goal is to have strong portfolio work.

DUE DATES

  • Descriptive Essay: at the end of week 4
  • Process Essay: at the end of week 8
  • Main Body of Work: between week 12 and week 15 (components may be completed before others)
  • Process Book: beginning of Finals Week
  • Critical Essay: beginning of Finals Week

*This site and the pages found herein are Peter Bella's personal teaching materials and content. This is not a uca.edu website and is a resource used as an augmented teaching environment. All content is solely the property and creation of Peter Bella.