GRAPHIC DESIGN UNIT PLANLesson #1 Minimalism and Graphic Design Through History

Lesson #2 Text in Design

Lesson #3 Colour and stenciling

Lesson 1: Minimalism and Graphic Design Through HistoryName: Emma Turner and Sarah OlsenDuration: 60 minutesUnit: Graphic DesignLevel: Art 30

GLO: Composition: Use personal experiences as sources for image making

SLO: The selection and presentation of perceptions, conceptions and experience as visual content for artworks is an important aim of the artist.

Objectives: Students will:

Question the relationship between artistic design and advertising

Identify examples of minimalist of graphic design within advertisements/logos

Analyze the elements of art within a graphic

Illustrate a graphic to represent a subject of their choosing in the minimalist style

Materials: Sketchbook Scissors Magazines Internet

Introduction: 10 minutesSlide presentation (PowerPoint) on the history and progression of graphic design:

Jules CheretLa Loie Fuller1893

Midnight: The Hours of the Rat; Mother and Sleepy Child, Edo period (1615–1868), ca. 1790Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, 1753–1806)

Moulin Rouge La GoulueHenri De Toulouse-Lautrec1891, Lithrograph

-Start with art nouveau advertisements. Moulin Rouge: La Goulue is an advertisement for a popular French club, Moulin Rouge. -This style was the first major artistic stylistic movement where mass-produced graphics played a key role in advertising. Colour printing was relatively newly introduced to Paris in advertising using lithographs. Question: Does artistic style play a role in this advertisement? How big of a role does graphic design play in effective advertising?

Art Nouveau-Inspired by the natural world, with long flowing lines.-The colourful, eye-catching and artistic posters of this time created by European and American graphic artists were being published in various periodical books. This encouraged corporations to invest more into advertising because they realized the value in artistic integrity. Questions: What do you notice about these advertisements?

Art Nouveau was inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, which appeared in Western markets mostly in the form of prints when trading rights were established with Japan in the 1860’s. They were inspired by these prints because of their reference to the natural world and it’s organic form.

Art Deco - Inspired by geometric shapes, glamorous and luxurious lifestyles. Influenced by futuristic ideas. Questions: What difference or similarities do you see between Art Deco and Art Nouveau?

A. M. CASSANDRE (1901-1968)'Étoile du Nord', 1927(Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits Poster)

El Lissitzky Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, 1919

Constructivism- Originated in Russia. Rejected the idea of autonomous art. It favored art for social purpose. This movement had emphasis on graphic and industrial design. It influenced artists at Bauhaus. Questions:

-The Bauhaus was a school in Germany that focused ‘Art into Industry’, stressing the importance of mass production and design.

De Stijl is a Dutch art movement that focuses on a reduction of the essentials of form and colour, they simplified visual compositions to the vertical and horizontal directions and used only primary colours along with black and white.

Minimalism

Minimalism is a contemporary art movement that is inspired by movements such as constructivism, De Stijl, and the Bauhaus. It is defined by the reduction of reducing something to its essentials.

“The idea is not completely without ornamentation, but that all parts, details and joinery are considered as reduced to a stage where no one can remove anything further to improve the design.”-

Constructivism- Originated in Russia. Rejected the idea of autonomous art. It favored art for social purpose. This movement had emphasis on graphic and industrial design. It influenced artists at Bauhaus. Questions:

-The Bauhaus was a school in Germany that focused ‘Art into Industry’, stressing the importance of mass production and design.

De Stijl is a Dutch art movement that focuses on a reduction of the essentials of form and colour, they simplified visual compositions to the vertical and horizontal directions and used only primary colours along with black and white.

Minimalism

Minimalism is a contemporary art movement that is inspired by movements such as constructivism, De Stijl, and the Bauhaus. It is defined by the reduction of reducing something to its essentials.

“The idea is not completely without ornamentation, but that all parts, details and joinery are considered as reduced to a stage where no one can remove anything further to improve the design.”-

Body: 45 minutesStudent Activity: 10 minutesAfter students have been introduced to contemporary graphic design, have them do a quick 5-10 minute search in magazines to find minimalist ad designs. After the time allotted, bring students back into a group and have a discussion on the findings. Use this time to have a guided discussion on the elements of design (what makes a good advertisement/design). Questions: What makes this design minimalist? What do you notice about the space in the image? What do you notice about line in the image? How does the text in the design emphasize the image?Second Activity: 35 minutes After this exercise, have students take what they’ve learned about graphic design elements and minimalism to come up with an image on their own. This image will be based off of the students’ favorite artist, band, book or movie. They will be designing T-Shirts or posters for this particular chosen band, book or movie. Students can research current book, album or poster designs of what they chose on the internet and get inspiration to re-design from there. They are to 1. Brainstorm a list of favorite bands/movies/books and choose one 2. Think about the audience for their design 2. In their sketchbook, come up with 3-5 minimalist symbols/images that they think represent the subject they chose. 3. For next class, come back with 3 ‘refined’ images for the next class.

Closure: 5 minutesHave students quickly share the thumbnails they have come up with in class by volunteer. Have the students discuss what design elements they think are

successfully working in their image. Tell students that for next class they need to have 3 thumbnails refined in their sketchbook done.

Lesson 2: Text in Design Name: Emma Turner and Sarah OlsenDuration: 60 minutesUnit: Graphic DesignLevel: Art 30

GLO: Investigate: Develop and refine drawing skills and styles.

SLO: Explorations of a technical or creative nature may lead individuals into highly personalized work sessions.

Objectives:Students will:

Questioning the role of text withina graphic design/advertisement Describe the relationship betweentext and image Experiment with typography Combine text and image to create acohesive graphic design

Materials: Sketchbooks Fine point felt pens Various drawing materials

Introduction: 10 minutes Slide show/discussion on how typography influences design images.

Coke Lemon

Toyota

Rogaine

-To create effective type on an ad you need to say little and convey a lot. You need to get the readers attention right away. (Discuss how the text and images interact with each other)Questions: What do you notice about the typography in this image? Why is this way of creating letters and words so interesting and effective?

Questions: How does text affect the image design? How does the text interact with the image?-What do you think is important to consider when using text in graphic design and minimalist advertising? (Short, simple, clear, concise, direct)

-Who might use typography in their work?(Comic book artists, illustrators, graffiti artists)

BECK with MGMT poster 2008

Broken Social Scene poster 2008

Body: 40 minutes Student Activity: 20 minutes Students will play/experiment with different fonts in their sketchbook. Have reference resources available for the students to look at. They will copy or create their own. Students will be told to play with line weight, shape, size, and organic and geometric forms.

Activity 2:Choose your favorite thumbnail design from last class and choose a font design that will work well with it. Students will play/experiment with integrating text into image. They will be encouraged to try different placements, sizes, etc. Their homework will be to come to class prepared with a finished graphic based on minimalist design that will be used to make a poster or t-shirt.

Lesson 3: Colour and stenciling Name: Emma Turner and Sarah OlsenDuration: 60 minutesUnit: Graphic DesignLevel: Art 30

GLO: Use personal experiences as sources for image making

- How might the specific font affect the advertisement?

SLO: Colour modifies the experience or idea presented in visual form.

Objectives:Students will:

Assemble a minimalist pallet for their graphic Design a stencil for their graphic Create a print of their graphic

Materials: -Oil pastel, pencil crayon, paint-Sketchbooks-Pencils-Manila paper

Introduction: 10 minutesStart with a slide and discuss the use of colour in these two images. Use these images to evoke a discussion comparing and contrasting the use of colour and how it may or may not reflect the content in the image.

Question: What can you infer about the content in these images based on the use of colour? What do you notice about the colour in minimalist designs in general?Do certain colours convey different messages or emotions? How might this be important in creating a minimalist design?

-Minimalist designs generally have a restricted colour pallet, are flat, compliment each other or analogous colour schemes, they can reflect mood and they achieve unity and balance.

-Show the students previous students’ work to so they know what past successes look like. Show the student both the stencil and the final result so they can visualize the positive and negative space that the stencil creates.

Body: Sketchbook Activity: 20 minutesStudents will experiment with colours in their sketchbooks to create a few different pallets consisting of 2 or 3 colours excluding black and white. Explain to students that they should then choose one colour pallet they will use for their T-Shirt or poster design.

Second Activity: 30 minutes After 20 minutes, introduce the students to the process of making a stencil. Have a book of stencils to show students. Explain the procedure of how to cut out a stencil. Each colour needs a new stencil. The colour needs to be layered from lightest colour to darkest colour. Whatever they choose to cut out will be coloured with ink, and be the positive space in their final print. Students will work on finalizing their designs and cutting out their stencil. Tell students for next lesson they need to have their design finalized and their stencil cut out for printing. They can either print their design on a T-shirt or

Closure: Tell students for next lesson they need to have their design finalized and their stencil cut out for printing. They can either print their design on a T-shirt or on paper.

Assessment: This unit would have one more lesson after this lesson, where they would be printing out their designs and writing up a rationale for their final works.