Integration Project: Julie Gawne

Project Overview

The primary objective of this project is the development of a new online course for the Art department, Graphic Design History. Based on department approval. this course could be offered as an Art history elective or alternative. Such a course would be suitable as a choice for students with an emphasis in graphic design (about one-third of all Art majors). This online course will also function as a resource website for students enrolled in all of my design courses. Studenst will be directed to the site to access historical information and images, visual examples, links to design gallery/museum/education sites, and other resources that will assist them in classroom projects.

Project Details

This is a report summarizing activities involved in my PT3 Technology Integration Grant. The on-line course in Graphic Design History was completed on May 2, 2003. It can be viewed at: http://jgawne.pageout.net

This project was initiated in response to a need within the Art Department for a history course in graphic design. This is primarily due to the significant number of current students who have an emphasis in that discipline, and that Art History courses currently offered focus necessarily on fine art, not design. I also have engaged in a significant amount of research in graphic design history, and have a personal interest in creating and teaching an on-line course.

The primary resource for course content is A History of Graphic Design, 3rd edition, by Philip B. Meggs. However a book by Richard Hollis, Graphic Design, a Concise History was also referenced. With these two sources I created a 15-week course with the following outline:

1. What is graphic design?
2. Early Writing Systems
3. Eastern Contributions to Writing and Printing
4. Pictographs and Alphabets
5. Illustrated Manuscripts
6. Printing and Early Publication Design
7. Book Illustration
8. Renaissance Graphic Design
9. 18th Century Graphic Design
10. Industrial Age Typography
11. Photography and Communication
12. Victorian, Art and Crafts and Ukiyo-e
13. Early 20th Century Graphic Design
14. Mid-20th Century Graphic Design
15. Late 20th Century Graphic Design to the present

Each week has several associated web links that students must peruse for historical examples of graphic design. I found searching for web resources more time consuming than expected, but also extremely informative and satisfying. There is an amazing wealth of visual information available, which by far exceeds any resources we have within the Art Department. This is especially true in terms of graphic design. At present our slide library is deficient in this area, however the web link "library" I have amassed has filled this need. Upon implementation of the course I plan to share this information with my colleagues that teach graphic design and computer art. In addition, during the Spring 2003 semester students from my Art 103 and Art 205 courses used some of these web links for a research and design project on Art Deco design.

Students would be expected to summarize the content of at least two web links each week, in addition to completion of another project. A few assignments involve hands-on "graphic designing" which would require access to a scanner or graphic design software. This requirement may be difficult for some students, but I'd like to pursue this methodology. A solution could be to offer hands on projects as an option, not a requirement for some assignments. Student participation in discussion groups - assignment of a topic to discuss and respond via "chat" room - will also be part of the course, however this tool has not yet been tested. Otherwise the primary method of assessment will be satisfactory completion of weekly web link summaries and projects submitted to me via email.

During the Fall 2002 semester I looked at several publishing possibilities, including MSU's Blackboard. During that semester I was also contacted by a McGraw-Hill representative about their new product "PageOut". In comparison to Blackboard I found it extremely easy to use. Interesting features include creation of my own graphics and layout for my site, excellent navigation and support for content uploads, and enormous flexibility in terms of arranging and upgrading of the site. After exploring its capabilities I decided to use PageOut for publishing. If necessary, transfer of the site to Blackboard would be a relatively easy task, as content and web links for the course have been archived for easy transfer and upgrade.

I am currently preparing an Experimental Course Proposal for this course that will be submitted to the Chair of the Art Department this summer, and presented to the department faculty in August.

In summary, the project has been a success because there is now a working on-line course in the History of Graphic Design. In addition students were able to utilize web links I created for research purposes in both Color Foundation and Graphic Design 1 during the Spring 2003 semester. With a successful approval process completed I hope to have the Graphic Design History course approved and implemented for Spring 2004.