syllabus history of graphic arts & design.

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TEXT/PACKET: Philip Meggs, A History of Graphic Design is the required text.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: This course will provide you with an overview of the significance and development of both "Graphic Art" and "Graphic Design." In addition to considering the purpose and evaluating the effectiveness of graphic production, the course is also designed to explore the relationship between design production and history. I want to help you achieve what I call a "critical awareness" of design and build a vocabulary to deal with both components of design and "design problems."

NOTE ON STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY: Your success in this course will be directly proportional to your "ownership" of the material. I am here to guide you in your study of this material and in your development of abilities (like written and oral communication). Please take responsibility for your education, if for no other reason than the fact that you're paying for it. When you come to my office to discuss a grade on a test or assignment, bring the notes that you've been taking in class and on the reading assignments. This will help me diagnose potential problems more quickly and ultimately help me to help you to achieve in this course.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS -- **students enrolled for grad credit are expected to produce work of increased breadth and depth on exams, projects and class participation.**

• Midterm 150 points (60 points objective, in-class; 90 points analysis, take-home)
• Project 150 points You'll have several choices for the project, or you can design your own project in consultation with me.
• Final 150 points (60 points objective, in-class; 90 points analysis will be assigned as take-home period before final exam and is due at beginning of exam).

***Your attendance in class (or lack of attendance) may affect your final grade one half step in either direction.*** ***Your active participation in class will be considered extra credit.... but do not "dominate" discussion in an attempt to raise your grade :-)

***Students who feel uncomfortable participating verbally in class may turn in written comments at the end of the class period when discussion is taking place or early the next day.

***You will generally have your assignments/tests returned one week from the date they are turned in*** --There will be a number of small extra credit opportunities tossed out in class from time to time--

POINT SCALE CUTOFFS:

• A 418 pts.
• B 373 pts.
• C 328 pts.
• D 283 pts.
• F < 0-255 pts.

MAKE-UP EXAMINATION POLICY Because the tests involve the showing of slides, please understand that arranging make-up exams is very difficult. Make-up examinations will be given only with excused absences (as per MSU policy). Acceptable documentation must be written (doctor's note, obituary). If you must miss an exam due to your illness or the death of a relative, contact me directly (389-6525) or leave a message for me by telephoning the Art Department office (389-6412) before the exam (or immediately after the exam in emergencies, no later than 24 hours after the exam period). Otherwise you will receive a grade of 0 (zero) for an examination without an excused absence. Make-up examinations (or early-examinations) consist of long essays only (no directed questions, no slides will be shown).

Important dates: (I have opted not to create a "schedule" in order to allow more flexibility for use of class time. I will announce reading assignments in class as we go along. I will provide lists for certain key works as we go along as well. Slides on the slide list will be in a review carousel available in the dept. office.)

• Jan. 20 No Classes; University Holiday
• Feb. 10 MIDTERM EXAM (part will be in-class during the first part of class, part will be take-home passed out at the end of class. We will have lecture/discussion for part of the hour)
• Feb. 12 no class - CAA (you should start your projects today)
• Mar. 10 *PROJECTS DUE*
• Mar. 12 Final analysis assigned.
• Mar. 17 FINAL EXAM

READING GUIDE no. 1: I provide this guide to help you pick out key terms and concepts. It's my hope that you'll be able to find these by yourself after a couple of chapters.

Preface to new edition:

The preface and introduction are always crucial! If you're in the habit of skipping them you're missing a lot of important stuff! In this one, pay attention to possible approaches to graphic design history. How is is the application of traditional art history an inadequate approach? Terms: synchrony, diachrony. What is the "masterpiece" approach? what are positive and negative aspects of this approach? Note that Graphic Design is often a collaborative process. Look at how Meggs links illustration, photography and printmaking. Note his criteria for what he's including and not including. What is the possible pitfall of a stylistic investigation of Graphic Design?

Preface to First Edition: term: Zeitgeist. Note down Megg's definition of Graphic Design. What is the concept of "History as Myth"? What is the concept of "Art for Art's Sake?" Why was the industrial revolution important? What are the "design arts" (I call them "design disciplines") and what links them? Hint: when you're looking for those terms that could be on a test, focus on those ones that are clearly linked to the subject matter in question. For instance, at the end of this page Meggs' uses the word morass. You may not know what it means, but that doesn't make it a "key term" or concept--well maybe it would be a key term to Beavis and Butthead, but I digress.

Acknowledgments: this, believe it or not, you can skip.

Chapter 1: Terms: pictographs, ideographs, petroglyphs... how are they different? What are limitations of tools used during this period? What is purpose of images during this period? How did pictographs evolve? Note on page 6 (top) that "the Paleolithic artist developed a tendency toward simplification and stylization..." etc. Meggs doesn't pose or answer the question "Why?" so I will.... Why do you think this happened? (You should be able to come up with more than one "reasonable" explanation). Why is the invention of writing so darned important anyway? [this is a crucial crucial issue for GD]. Who gets that job? What kind of status do they have? Pay careful attention to the bottom part of page 7--note that suddenly writing is linked to a purpose. This is crucial. Terms: cuneiform, rebus writing, phonograms.

Chapter 2: Note that the cultural/history portion of most of these chapters comes in the first paragraph. Term: hieroglyph. How is it different from cuneiform? How does it function (i.e. alphabetic, syllabic, determinative parts). How can you characterize Egyptian design? What is function, stylistic qualities? How is the direction of the characters important to the concept of design? How does the change from carving to ink applied to papyrus cause change/evolution? Who's doing these works? Terms: hieratic, demotic (you don't have to know these definitions but pay attention to schism between them i.e. a "high" and a "popular" form. On p. 17 look for discussion of illustration -- what are characteristics of illustration? P. 18 how is text/pictures integrated?

Chapter 3: Note Chinese are known for paper, calligraphy and invention of printing. How does calligraphy function (how is it different than cuneiform, hieroglyphs etc.?) Term: logograms. Pay attention to four phases of dev. of calligraphy -- you don't have to know phases but note what happens during the evolution in general. Why do you suppose it evolved to that particular result that is still in use today? Pay attention to p. 22 to concept of tao -- it is an important cultural, spiritual idea that determines both form and function of works. How are uses [of printing/calligraphy/visual communication] expanded in China?

Chapter 4: Know definition of alphabet. How does phonetic alphabet compare to hieroglyphs, for example? What happens as a result of the development of the phonetic alphabet? CRUCIAL CRUCIAL concept. Skim the evolution of the letters themselves, but don't get bogged down in it. Note expanded use of letters/writing under Romans. Then, starting on pp. 37 & 38, make sure to note how "outside" issues (like the relative costs of materials etc.) start to effect production (the invention of the codex, for instance). Can you extend this issue (material cost etc.) to the present day?

Chapter 5: Get cultural/historical context out of first paragraphs. Who's in control? What is the purpose of visual communication (it's too early to use term GD). What is an illuminated manuscript? How does idea of illuminated manuscript somehow hang between fine and commercial art? Note the collaborative effort. P. 44 -- three ways ornament is used. I'm pretty sure they printed fig. 5-6 upside down, if you care! :-) On p. 46 watch for design innovations. What are the reasons they develop these characteristics (like diminuendo etc. although you don't need to memorize that terms definition. What is radically different about Carolingian illumination? Is it important from a design p.o.v. and/or a social, cultural p.o.v.? Pay attention to the section on the Limbourg bros. They will figure on slide review. When you're reading the stuff on other illustrations think of it as just that.... illustrations. Don't get bogged down in the minutiae (the small stuff) of individual examples. Ask the bigger questions of purpose, style, subject, context etc.