This course will explore the relationship between books and archives in the context of contemporary design practice. The course will be a studio-based investigation of the typologies of designed analog/digital books through the examination and critique of real specimens and the collections that house them. Throughout the semester, we will be asking: What are the formal qualities of well-designed books? How is a book a unit of information, and what is its relationship with systematic forms of organization? What do archives and their systems of organization represent? How do books serve as a repository for design knowledge? How do collections of books (and collections in general) serve as a foundation and/or extension of one's creative practice? Scheduled guest presenters and visits to archives will be planned. Students will be expected to research and curate collections that support their visual making and creative practice. The course will culminate in a designed, independent project.

These courses are special topical electives, often taught in new or experimental subjects, and rotate frequently. The following will be offered in fall 2016.

This course explores how motion graphics can be a potent tool to engage audiences on critical issues, using strategies of design as a form of activism. This course will break down the genres of the medium, how and why they are effective, and how students can communicate and persuade through design, putting a spotlight on the issues they care about. Students will expand upon their motion design skills through projects focused on a variety of content styles and subjects, highlighting both hyperlocal and global issues. Students will also go beyond the design to implementing and testing how their campaigns can effect change in the real world. At the end of the course, students will have an expanded portfolio of motion graphics work they care deeply about, and a better understanding of their power to participate in and influence the world around them in positive ways.

This course aims to teach visualization of ideas through 3D modeling, computer animation, and digital sound production by using the digital realm as an autonomous tool while exploring digital aesthetics. As a medium, the computer has not gotten the respect that it deserves. In most cases, anything computer generated is still considered inferior to anything human-made or even machine-made. This concept can be compared to how photography was once an inferior art form to oil on canvas. As a result, the computer is frequently used to mimic analog tools, and a lot of effort is put into hiding the fact that a computer was used at all. Although these applications are valid and important to teach, this course intends to emphasize the importance of developing a distinct aesthetic within the computer medium. This in combination with craftsmanship, which is just as relevant to digital media as it is to traditional art forms. The course explores viewport aesthetics, hyper-unrealism, deliberate aliasing, 8-bit and pixel art, data-moshing, glitch art, the uncanny valley, vaporwave, algorithmic architecture, machinima and more. Students will create compelling digital time-based art within the boundaries of the digital realm and personal knowledge by exploring the unique qualities of the medium and emphasize them. They will also become familiar with various digital aesthetics by studying, discussing, and applying them to their assignments. The emphasis of the course will concentrate on Cinema 4D, After Effects and Reason, but will also explore, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Resolume, and Processing.

Bridging the gap between programming and physical production of printed matter, or more simply digital with analog, Generative Book Making explores producing books with the aid of code. Software, although malleable, is not immediately thought of as living outside of a computer screen. However, the methodology of programming is often already present in art and design books such as iteration. As an example, catalogues and books that focus on collection are iterative in their structure and content. Additionally, coding is often siloed in introductory classes to develop practical skills. This class encourages using programming tools in addition to more commonly used tools within design to aid in the production of printed matter. In part this course is inspired by Cory Arcangel, who has archived his programmed artwork via a series of zines where all of the source code is printed. This course requires students to have an introductory knowledge of code and typography in order to bridge the two sides.

This course consists of a series of three workshops, which explore contemporary positions in Communication Design, taught by specialists / working professionals from industry. Each workshop is 5 weeks long and examines a specific topic in detail. Topics include (but are not limited to) type in space; digital typography and prototyping; and design systems. Further details of the individual workshops will be posted soon. Students are expected to engage in all three workshops and must be present for the duration of the semester. — Workshop 1: What Did The 2010s Look Like? (Nika Fisher) Workshop 2: Voice Activated: Commands and Interfaces (Lukas Eigler-Harding) Workshop 3: Generative Identity (John Provencher)

This course consists of a series of three workshops, which explore contemporary positions in Communication Design, taught by specialists / working professionals from industry. Each workshop is 5 weeks long and examines a specific topic in detail. Topics include (but are not limited to) type in space; digital typography and prototyping; and design systems. Further details of the individual workshops will be posted soon. Students are expected to engage in all three workshops and must be present for the duration of the semester. — Workshop 1: Speculative Platforms (Annaka Olsen) Workshop 2: Words inside/outside Buildings (Luke Bulman) Workshop 3: Bad Design (Andrew Shurtz).

This course consists of a series of three workshops, which explore contemporary positions in Communication Design, taught by specialists / working professionals from industry. Each workshop is 5 weeks long and examines a specific topic in detail. Topics include (but are not limited to) type in space; digital typography and prototyping; and design systems. Further details of the individual workshops will be posted soon. Students are expected to engage in all three workshops and must be present for the duration of the semester..