Project One: Weekly exercises, self-defined content and exploration—this does not mean that anything goes. We will discuss this in detail during studio. More to come.
Project Two: Maintain and upgrade your personal/portfolio website. That is all there is too it. If it were only that simple. Have at it.
Project Three: Information design (Juniors), Information design or catalog (Seniors). Details will be delivered verbally. : )
Project Four will be a semester-long effort (and success). You will choose one of the books listed below and get to reading ASAP. If you are taking the course for the second time, you will choose a book from list
A and if you are taking the course for the first time, you will choose a book from list
B. All but a couple of these books are in paperback and some are in stock locally either at
B&N, Borders, or
Quail Ridge. Please take time to review the titles in detail and choose a subject that will maintain your interest for the duration. I have linked all of them to
Amazon so you can get the details or order online. Please let me know the book you have chosen as soon as you can. Enjoy!
The last seven week of the project will have deliverables each week— you will need to stay focused and plan to maximize your effort with the time you have available. SCALE! Scale.
First week: After completing your book, write a synopsis and outline the key concepts, specialized vocabulary, and particularly relevant quotes. Present this information in a printed form to the studio and discuss your book and general direction/initial ideas for an interactive companion site.
Second week: Consider the goals of your interactive site and define the written and visual language. Work in PS, Ill, or Freehand to compose a minimum of eight key frames. Focus on composition, color, scale, typography, contrasts, and project how these frames will relate to each other. Present these key frames in a tight, print presentation.
additional details will be defined per week—do not work ahead
. . . . .
LIST A :
Alpha & Omega: The Search for the Beginning and End of the Universe by Charles Seife
Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge by Edward O. Wilson
Emotional Design: Why We Love (Or Hate) Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman
The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips... by Henry Petroski
Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us by Rodney Brooks
The Future of Life by Edward O. Wilson
The Human Factor: Revolutionizing the Way People Live With Technology by Kim Vicente
Information: The New Language of Science by Hans Christian Von Baeyer
Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Theory of Networks by Mark Buchanan
Nobrow: The Culture of Marketing, the Marketing of Culture by John Seabrook
Our Own Devices: How Technology Remakes Humanity by Edward Tenner
Remaking the World: Adventures in Engineering by Henry Petroski
Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design by Henry Petroski
The Social Life of Information by John Seely Brown
Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order by Steven Strogat
Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman
Wild Solutions: How Biodiversity is Money in the Bank by Andrew Beattie
LIST B :
The 13th Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus by John Emsley, John Emsley
Absinthe: History in a Bottle by Barnaby Conrad
Bittersweet: The Story of Sugar by Peter Macinnis
Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese
Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky
Consider the Eel: A Natural and Gastronomic History by Richard Schweid
The Devil’s Cloth: A History of Stripes by Michel Pastoureau, Jody Gladding
The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer by Doron Swade
The Frozen Water Trade: A True Story by Gavin Weightman
The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture by Frank R. Wilson
Hip: The History by John Leland
A History of Pi by Petr Beckmann
How to Build a Time Machine by Paul Davies
Hydrogen: The Essential Element by John S. Rigden
[ Colleen ] Jacobson’s Organ: And the Remarkable Nature of Smell by Lyall Watson
Jacquard's Web: How A Hand-Loom Led To The Birth Of The Information Age by James Essinger
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel
Mendeleyev's Dream: The Quest For the Elements by Paul Strathern
Mosquito: A Natural History of Our Most Persistent and Deadly Foe by Andrew Spielman
Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History by Penny M, Ph.D Le Couteur
Never Done: A History of American Housework by Susan Strasser
Newton's Gift: How Sir Isaac Newton Unlocked the System of the World by David Berlinski
Oxygen: The Molecule That Made the World by Nick Lane
The Periodic Kingdom: A Journey into the Land of the Chemical Elements by P. W. Atkins
The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World by Larry Zuckerman
Rubbish!: The Archaeology of Garbage by William L. Rathje, Cullen Murphy
Signor Marconi's Magic Box: The Most Remarkable Invention of the 19th Century... by Gavin Weightman
Snobbery: The American Version by Joseph Epstein
Steam: The Untold Story of America’s First Great Invention by Andrea Sutcliffe
The Seashell on the Mountaintop: A Story of Science, Sainthood, and the Humble Genius Who Discovered a New History of the Earth by Alan Cutler
[ Caroline ] Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization by Iain Gately
The True History of Chocolate by Sophie D. Coe
Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused by Mike Dash
Weimar Culture: The Outsider as Insider by Peter Gay
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife, Matt Zimet
Project Two: Maintain and upgrade your personal/portfolio website. That is all there is too it. If it were only that simple. Have at it.
Project Three: Information design (Juniors), Information design or catalog (Seniors). Details will be delivered verbally. : )
Project Four will be a semester-long effort (and success). You will choose one of the books listed below and get to reading ASAP. If you are taking the course for the second time, you will choose a book from list A and if you are taking the course for the first time, you will choose a book from list B. All but a couple of these books are in paperback and some are in stock locally either at B&N, Borders, or Quail Ridge. Please take time to review the titles in detail and choose a subject that will maintain your interest for the duration. I have linked all of them to Amazon so you can get the details or order online. Please let me know the book you have chosen as soon as you can. Enjoy!
The last seven week of the project will have deliverables each week— you will need to stay focused and plan to maximize your effort with the time you have available. SCALE! Scale.
First week: After completing your book, write a synopsis and outline the key concepts, specialized vocabulary, and particularly relevant quotes. Present this information in a printed form to the studio and discuss your book and general direction/initial ideas for an interactive companion site.
Second week: Consider the goals of your interactive site and define the written and visual language. Work in PS, Ill, or Freehand to compose a minimum of eight key frames. Focus on composition, color, scale, typography, contrasts, and project how these frames will relate to each other. Present these key frames in a tight, print presentation.
additional details will be defined per week—do not work ahead
. . . . .
LIST A :
Alpha & Omega: The Search for the Beginning and End of the Universe by Charles Seife
Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge by Edward O. Wilson
Emotional Design: Why We Love (Or Hate) Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman
The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips... by Henry Petroski
Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us by Rodney Brooks
The Future of Life by Edward O. Wilson
The Human Factor: Revolutionizing the Way People Live With Technology by Kim Vicente
Information: The New Language of Science by Hans Christian Von Baeyer
Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Theory of Networks by Mark Buchanan
Nobrow: The Culture of Marketing, the Marketing of Culture by John Seabrook
Our Own Devices: How Technology Remakes Humanity by Edward Tenner
Remaking the World: Adventures in Engineering by Henry Petroski
Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design by Henry Petroski
The Social Life of Information by John Seely Brown
Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order by Steven Strogat
Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman
Wild Solutions: How Biodiversity is Money in the Bank by Andrew Beattie
LIST B :
The 13th Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus by John Emsley, John Emsley
Absinthe: History in a Bottle by Barnaby Conrad
Bittersweet: The Story of Sugar by Peter Macinnis
Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese
Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky
Consider the Eel: A Natural and Gastronomic History by Richard Schweid
The Devil’s Cloth: A History of Stripes by Michel Pastoureau, Jody Gladding
The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer by Doron Swade
The Frozen Water Trade: A True Story by Gavin Weightman
The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture by Frank R. Wilson
Hip: The History by John Leland
A History of Pi by Petr Beckmann
How to Build a Time Machine by Paul Davies
Hydrogen: The Essential Element by John S. Rigden
[ Colleen ] Jacobson’s Organ: And the Remarkable Nature of Smell by Lyall Watson
Jacquard's Web: How A Hand-Loom Led To The Birth Of The Information Age by James Essinger
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel
Mendeleyev's Dream: The Quest For the Elements by Paul Strathern
Mosquito: A Natural History of Our Most Persistent and Deadly Foe by Andrew Spielman
Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History by Penny M, Ph.D Le Couteur
Never Done: A History of American Housework by Susan Strasser
Newton's Gift: How Sir Isaac Newton Unlocked the System of the World by David Berlinski
Oxygen: The Molecule That Made the World by Nick Lane
The Periodic Kingdom: A Journey into the Land of the Chemical Elements by P. W. Atkins
The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World by Larry Zuckerman
Rubbish!: The Archaeology of Garbage by William L. Rathje, Cullen Murphy
Signor Marconi's Magic Box: The Most Remarkable Invention of the 19th Century... by Gavin Weightman
Snobbery: The American Version by Joseph Epstein
Steam: The Untold Story of America’s First Great Invention by Andrea Sutcliffe
The Seashell on the Mountaintop: A Story of Science, Sainthood, and the Humble Genius Who Discovered a New History of the Earth by Alan Cutler
[ Caroline ] Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization by Iain Gately
The True History of Chocolate by Sophie D. Coe
Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused by Mike Dash
Weimar Culture: The Outsider as Insider by Peter Gay
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife, Matt Zimet