Tara Marie Mortensen | Assistant Professor, Visual Communications
Our students are becoming:
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•
Less willing to read
Less patient
More accustomed to consuming visual information
Exposed to countless infographics per day;
the term “infographics” was little known just 10 years ago.
• And let’s face it. Getting students to read the syllabus is
an ongoing battle!
Visualizing information:
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•
•
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More easily answers questions
Draws attentions
Stays in the memory better
Expands memory
Exposes patterns
Visualized data is:
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Easier to understand
Easier to process
Easier to communicate
A tool for the eyes and brain to easily perceive
what lies beyond their natural reach
“The ability to take data—to be able to understand it, to process it, to extract value from it, to
visualize it, to communicate it— that’s going to be a hugely important skill in the next decades…
because now we really do have essentially free and ubiquitous data. So the complimentary
scarce factor is the ability to understand that data and extract value from it.”
Syllabi are full of data - dates, percentages, grades. So why, as professors -- especially as visual-communications professors -- are we not harnessing the power of visualization in the primary document in our courses?
Sources: Albert Cairo and Randy Krum
A few examples.
(please note that these are
not printed in actual size. For
example, for the timeline on
the next page, I typically print
as an
11 x 17 inch foldout.)
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Attenda
n
ce • 50 pts
•
Pinteres 5%
t • 50
pts • 5%
Project 1
: Basic S
hapes • 2
5 pts • 2
Project 2
.5%
: Realism
• 25 pts
Exam 2
200 pts
20%
• 2.5%
Project 3
:
Exam 1
175 pts
17.5%
Project 4
:
Project 7
:
125 pts
125 pts
Retouch
• 12.5%
ing
Project 6
:
75 pts •
7.5%
Logo
• 12.5%
Project 5
: Typogr
ap
75 pts •
Magazin
7.5%
e Cover
hy
Brushes
• 75 pts
• 7.5%
21
Illustrator:
Toolbox, palettes,
preferences,
lines, shapes, fills,
strokes,
selections,
grouping,
arranging.
Group 1 presents
2 4
Research for
visual communication. Critiquing.
AUGUST
26 28
Welcome!
Go over syllabus
Introductions
Assign groups
16 18
Logo techniques.
Critical/clever thinking.
Wordmarks, monograms, and ligatures.
Project 2 due.
Game: The Type
Connection
Project 3 given.
Group 5
presents
Color / Kuler
30 2
7
9
Project 4 due /
Critique
OCTOBER
Thurs - Friday
Oct 23-24
Fall Break
No classes
28 30
4
18 20
No class.
General
Election Day
Group 8
presents
Advanced
Photoshop
techniques
Project 5 due
NOVEMBER
11 13
Group 9
presents
Come to class
having read
chapter2 5 and 6
25 27
Finals
12
Work on final
project
Final Projects due /
Critique
15
Exam 2
(Final exam)
DECEMBER
2 4 6 8
Thurs-Fri
Nov. 26-27
Thanksgiving
Break.
No classes
Work on final
project
Work day / TBA
Web design in
Photoshop, cont.
Come to class
having read
chapter 4
Web design in
Photoshop
Assign and discuss
final project
(Not printed here at actual size!)
6
Work Day
In-class exercise
Group 7 presents
Assign and discuss
project 5
Photoshop,
continued
Come to class having
read chapter 3
In-class exercise
Introduction to
Photoshop
Go over exam
21 23
Exam 1
Exam Review
14 16
Work day
In-class composition exercise
Group 6 presents
Come to class
having read
chapter 2
Discuss contrast,
repetition,
alignment, proximity
Assign and discuss
Project 4
Come to class having
read chapter 2
23 25
Group 4 presents
Assignment 3 due
/ Critique Project 3
Group 3 presents
Getting type and
working with type.
Work on project 3
Come to class having
read chapter 1
SEPTEMBER
9 11
Group 2 presents
Assignment 2
given
Assignment 1 due
Shading for realism,
gradients, blends and
mesh fills.
Assignment 1 given