Welcome to Type 3
Course Description
Proficient typesetting allows a designer to compose and structure complex passages of content that are visually appealing in order to allow the information to be easily followed. Students combine text and imagery to craft professional layouts and informational documents.
Course Logistics
You can navigate all the semester’s assignments to explore what you’ll be learning. All course content is on this site. It includes theory, lesson instructions, examples and file downloads.
Grading
| Assignment | Type | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Type in Time Poster | Digital & Print | 20% |
| Sell Sheet | Digital & Print | 20% |
| Grimm's Pages | Digital & Print | 20% |
| Magazine Design | Digital & Print | 20% |
| Type Family Pairing | Digital & Presentation | 5% |
| Typographer of the Week | Digital & Presentation | 5% |
| Type Knowledge | Lot's of Quizzes | 10% |
Remember Type 1 and 2 Rules?
In your first and second semesters of Typography, you learned the fundamentals. These rules need to be adhered to for this semester. If you need to be reminded, Butterick’s Practical Typography web site is a good reference. This is a treasure-trove of typographic facts by Google. Also, Monotype has an excellent repository of type terminology.
Classes
Each class will start with three activities. Each of you will present a type family pairing and a typographer of the week. These are short presentations accompanied by the submission of a single-page explainer.
It’s always important to pay attention to in-class presentations and discussions. In this course, we put that attention to the test. There will be weekly micro-quizzes on BrightSpace. They’ll be only a few questions. They’ll refer to topics from the previous week’s conversations. We’ll start at week two.
We’ll review each major assignment as they begin. You’ll usually have the opportunity to practice the particular skill together. We’ll share the results to do peer critiques so we can all benefit.
You’ll have time during class to work on assignments so you can ask questions. Whatever you don’t complete in class will be done as homework.
Milestones
The major projects will have milestones. This means that you’ll have to submit files part-way through the design process. These submissions will be graded. This is done because design is a process, not only the final product.
Due Dates
This course adheres to the program policy for assignment submission deadlines. All deadlines will be posted on BrightSpace. In the rare occasion where a deadline changes, you’ll be notified well in advance. The change will be reflected on BrightSpace. Odds are, if there’s a change, it would likely end up being an extension, not less time.
- Late by less than one hour
- Your assignment will be graded out of half of total points. Full feedback will be provided.
- Late by more than one hour
- You earn a grade of zero. Full feedback will be provided.
If an assignment is submitted before the deadline, but is missing elements to the point where it’s not usable, that assignment will be deemed incomplete. You’ll earn a grade of zero.
You’ll usually be packaging an InDesign document to submit your files. You’ll need to makes sure a PDF is included in the Package process. I’ll expect your files to be built properly, as if this were your Computer Graphics course.
Adobe Fonts Only
Unless stated otherwise, we’ll use only Adobe Fonts for the whole semester. It’s just easier for everyone. They have a sufficient selection for us to work with.
Course Focus
This semester is a continuation of your Winter semester, focusing on increasing typographical finesse. We want to improve our recognition of fine typographical detail. We’ll begin with simple informal grids and grow from there. We’ll end the semester having built more complex modular grids for a publication.
Type selection and pairing is also consume a significant part of our attention. Sound type pairing takes years of practice. That’s where we’ll start today.
Write Your Own Text
During this course you’ll be asked to write content for various assignments. It is forbidden to copy text from the web or any other source. When doing one of these assignments. I suggest make your own notes in bullet list form based on your research. Once you’ve done your research you can re-write the text in your own words. Be sure there isn’t even one sentence that is not your own.
No matter how good a writer you are, it’s always a good idea to have someone else proof-read your text.