87443 VC Project: Typography in Context

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.

UTS: Design, Architecture and Building: Design
Credit points: 6 cp

Subject level:

Undergraduate

Result type: Grade and marks

Requisite(s): 87632 VC Design Studio: The Ethics of Image and Text

Description

This subject expands upon typographic principles introduced in previous subjects. Students are required to undertake or develop: empirical research on reading habits; critical analysis of written texts; an understanding of grid structures and visual hierarchy; a highly refined awareness of typographic detailing leading to the processing and execution of sophisticated typography and print design. Topics covered include legibility, readability, communication-interface and navigation systems in print design. Computer lab practice in relevant software develops the essential skills in synthesis of typography and images required for later subjects.

Subject learning objectives (SLOs)

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

1.	understand the origins and development of letterforms, typefaces, grids and typographic principles
2.	originate and investigate the production of images by hand and technological generation
3.	develop imaginative visuals relevant to the specific demands of the project brief
4.	thoughtfully structure the visual organisation of words and images in a given format
5.	indicate a growing awareness of and sensitivity to the application of visible languages
6.	process visuals through critical reflection, evaluation and progressive digital refinement
7.	indicate attention to typographic detailing and visual refinement showing thought, care and skill.
8.	work with others in a small group
9.	understand design context through relevant research

Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)

This subject also contributes to the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes:

Work cooperatively and professionally as part of a team, initiate partnerships with others, take a leadership role when required, and constructively contribute to peer learning. (C.1)
Create designs that respond to their context in formally or conceptually innovative ways. (I.1)
Advance ideas through an exploratory and iterative design process. (I.2)
Independent development of high level technical and craft skills for the production, presentation and documentation of work. (I.3)
An ability to critique your own work and the work of others with reference to standards drawn from contemporary design practice. (P.1)

Contribution to the development of graduate attributes

The term CAPRI is used for the five Design, Architecture and Building faculty graduate attribute categories where:

C = communication and groupwork

A = attitudes and values

P = practical and professional

R = reseach and critique

I = innovation and creativity

Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs) are linked to these categories using codes (e.g. C-!, A-3, P-4, etc).

Teaching and learning strategies

Weekly lectures and studios

The subject uses design professionals as teachers/mentors/tutors and guest lecturers to ensure that all content and tasks are relevant to current professional practice in a global context.

Students are encouraged to integrate theory and practice and achieve a progressive level of literacy in visual technologies through a process of experiential learning. Theoretical issues are presented and critically analysed in lectures then personally researched through practical investigation. Knowledge and skills gained in this subject support the processing and presentation of design project work.

Students are expected to commit 9–12 hours per week to each 6 credit point subject. This includes the contact hours. The 6–9 hours remaining each week are for the completion of preparatory activities and assessment tasks.
The lectures will orient you to specific visual communication concepts and theories, studio activites and project requirements.

Studio sessions will give you the opportunity to discuss questions about the weekly topic/content with your peers and with an expert studio leader, to collaborate on activities directly relevant to key ideas and to develop your skills as a design practitioner with assistance from your studio leader. Studio sessions will provide you with the opportunity to take ownership of the ideas encountered in preparatory reading, research and the lectures. Your studio leader will facilitate discussion and offer expert insight and direction where needed, but as students you are primarily responsible for the mood of the studio session.

LECTURE AND STUDIO ETIQUETTE Lectures and studio sessions provide important opportunities for you to move out of digital environments. Mobile phone and laptop use can be distracting to those around you. Digital devices can interfere with face-to-face communication. Mobile phones and laptops should not be used in lectures. You will be given explicit information about situations where limited use of these technologies might be appropriate.

PREPARATORY ACTIVITIES Each week before class, you will have set visual design tasks or a range of written and visual texts that relate to the subject. These are included in the weekly outline. Before leaving the studio, you will write an ‘action list’ of tasks you need to complete before the next studio session and assign times in your personal weekly planner to complete these tasks. You may be asked to reflect on how you managed these tasks with your learning group or studio leader in the following studio session.

PEER CRITIQUES Learning to give and receive feedback on visuals is essential to your development as a professional designer. In peer feedback sessions you will ask your group to give you feedback on the ideas and visuals that they repond to. Try to sit back and listen. Try not to prompt your peers with information about your intentions. You want feedback from as many different perspectives as possible. As a group try to work out why some examples are more successful or have more potential than others. Develop a list of qualities (criteria) that contribute to its success and include this in your process journal. From time to time you will be asked to contribute your list of qualities to your class, or for presentation in subsequent lectures.

Content (topics)

The subject will comprise of the following:

lectures: a series of illustrated lectures overviews the development and present discourse surrounding the contemporary practice of typography in the context of technological change;
design studio: individual typographic projects, practical workshops and group research activities are undertaken, discussed and critiqued with learning groups and lecturers practical applications of advanced digital functions aim to develop competence and engender a comprehensive understanding of relevant computer programs as required by the demands of the project briefs;
research: library research by individuals and as members of a learning group.

Assessment

Assessment task 1: Research

Intent:

In pairs, you will be assigned a publication to critically analyse. You will present your research in an 8 minute presentation. Students are assessed in class by tutors based on: the depth and quality of research, professionalism of presentation skills, and their ability to critically address the six topics: readership, print vs digital qualities, visual identity, grid structure, typographic hierarchy, digital presence.

Objective(s):

This task addresses the following subject learning objectives:

1, 8 and 9

This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.):

C.1

Type:

Presentation

Groupwork:

Group, individually assessed

Weight:

10%

Criteria linkages:

Criteria	Weight (%)	SLOs	CILOs
Effective oral and visual communication skills in the research presentation, with clarity of argument and engagement in the subject matter.	34	1	C.1
Capacity to work with others in a small group on the research presentation.	33	8	C.1
Ability to understand design context through relevant research, depth and quality of critical research.	33	9	C.1

SLOs: subject learning objectives
CILOs: course intended learning outcomes

Assessment task 2: Magazine covers

Intent:

You will development a magazine cover design for print that conveys the theme of your magazine.

This task guides you through the process of magazine design. Students progress through an iterative design process: a critical analysis of the texts provided; exploration of the theme through image-making, the development of an original concept/theme/editorial position; an investigation of grid structure and cover layout.

Objective(s):

This task addresses the following subject learning objectives:

2, 3, 4 and 7

This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.):

I.1, I.2 and I.3

Type:

Project

Groupwork:

Individual

Weight:

30%

Criteria linkages:

Criteria	Weight (%)	SLOs	CILOs
Ability to communicate the theme of the issue to a professional standard, as evident in the visual imagery.	30	2	I.1
Sensitivity to craft in the attention to typographic detailing, to the grid, alignment and hierarchy, displaying care and skill (evidence of experimentation and refinement of typography in the cover layout).	30	4	I.3
Appropriately responds to design context as evidenced in the ability to design an original masthead that is readable and appropriate to the audience.	30	7	I.2
Rigour and care in documentation of process; processing of visuals through critical reflection, evaluation and progressive digital refinement (as evident in process journal).	10	3	I.2

SLOs: subject learning objectives
CILOs: course intended learning outcomes

Assessment task 3: Magazine design

Intent:

The aim of this Assessment Task is to design a new publication. The readers of your publication are professional visual communication designers and design enthusiasts. Considering this visually sophisticated audience, your design should pay close attention to typographic detailing and innovative word-image relationships.

First, you will design a grid structure. Then you will layout two feature articles and create a typographic style guide. This project then has three parts:

TYPOGRAPHIC LAYOUT (first article) Layout the supplied article using your grid structure. The article must start on a single recto page, followed by a double-page spread (three pages minimum). This is a purely typographic layout.

LAYOUT WITH IMAGERY (second article) Layout the supplied article. Start by using your grid structure and style guide, but experiment with ways you could break out of your grid or alter your typography to enhance or extend the meaning of the text, as discussed in the lecture series. You may use a minimum of four pages, depending on your design concept. You may use as many or few images as you like, but they must be original images. Using other people’s images is plagiarism and is not permitted under any circumstances.

TYPOGRAPHIC STYLE GUIDE An A4 document detailing the main and supplementary text typefaces – including name, weight, point and leading sizes – as well as rules for pull-quotes, image captioning, running heads/feet and folios. As many pages as you need. (Examples will be discussed in the tutorials). This must show your grid structure and margins.

Objective(s):

This task addresses the following subject learning objectives:

1, 4, 5 and 6

This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.):

I.1, I.2, I.3 and P.1

Type:

Project

Groupwork:

Individual

Weight:

60%

Criteria linkages:

Criteria	Weight (%)	SLOs	CILOs
Sensitivity to craft as evidenced in the ability to develop a sophisticated grid structure for the magazine that allows for layout variations across both articles, as evident in the grid print out and the feature articles.	22	1	I.2
Rigour and care in the presentation of work to a professional standard, and a highly refined awareness of typographic detailing leading to the processing and execution of sophisticated typography and print design.	22	6	P.1
Appropriately responds to design context, displaying evidence of critical analysis of the texts, and the development of an original editorial position (opinion) in the design of the two articles.	23	5	I.2
Rigour and care in developing a typographic style guide appropriate to your magazine, that shows your understanding of typographic conventions, and that other designers can easily follow.	10	1	I.1
Sensitivity to craft in the attention to typographic detailing, alignment and hierarchy, displaying care and skill (evidence of experimentation and refinement of typographic layouts).	23	4	I.3

SLOs: subject learning objectives
CILOs: course intended learning outcomes

Minimum requirements

The DAB attendance policy requires students to attend no less than 80% of formal teaching sessions (lectures and tutorials) for each class they are enrolled in to remain eligible for assessment.

Required texts

Lupton, E (2004). Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors and Students. New York: Princeton Architectural Press
Bringhurst, R 2001. The Elements of Typographic Style. Point Roberts WA USA: Hartley and Marks.

Recommended texts

Lupton, E (2004). Type on Screen: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors and Students. New York: Princeton Architectural Press
Müller-Brockmann, Josef (2001,6th Edition). Grid Systems in Graphic Design : A Visual Communication Manual for Graphic Designers, Typographers and Three Dimensional Designers. Niggi Verlag. Sulgen, Switzerland.
Samara, T ( 2005). Making and Breaking the Grid: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop. Gloucester: Rockport.
Drucker, J & McVarish E (2013) Graphic Design HIstory: A Critical Guide, 2nd Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall
Spiekermann, E (2003). Stop Stealing Sheep and Find Out How Type Works. U.S.: Adobe Press.
H, Kenya (2009). The Discovery of White. Baden, Switzerland: Lars Müller Publishers
Lupton, E (2009). White Space. Essay, 2009. First published in Ambidextrous, Stanford D-School Magazine.