SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

CMNS 473-4

PUBLICATION DESIGN & PRINT PRODUCTION

Prerequisite:

75 credit hours. A working knowledge of the Macintosh and its operating system is MANDATORY.

Course Goals:

Publication design concepts and production fundamentals are an essential part of publishing. This course provides a basic understanding for students who expect to either work in these areas or supervise those who do. The course material covers the basic principles of publication design, typography, printing, cost estimating, and computer applications in publishing. It focuses on several publishing formats: books, periodicals (newsletters, magazines, etc.), promotional materials and corporate publishing.

The course will be divided into a 2-hour lecture and a 1-hour lab each week. The lab will take place in the computer publishing lab at Harbour Centre. There are three of the 1-hour labs scheduled.

Lecture: Thursdays, 17:30-19:20, HC 1415.
Labs: Thursdays – all in HC 2960
Lab E1.01,15:30-16:20
Lab. E1.02, 6:30-17:20
Lab. E1.03, 19:30-20:20.
*Please note: There will be no labs the first week (Thursday, January 2).

Assignments are produced on a Macintosh computer using PageMaker (or QuarkXPress). Students design and prepared publishing projects, develop grids for different formats, produce mock-ups, and develop printer specifications. Students also design and mock-up several spreads of a publication (either a book or a magazine) for their final project.

This course is "Portfolio Driven". You can expect to spend from $20 to $60 (or more, depending on what your project is . . .) on developing your portfolio.

There will be a final exam on design theory. It is worth 20% of your mark. You will be tested on the handouts from lectures. The rest of the course is evaluated on project work and a final portfolio.

Required Text:

CMNS 473 Book: A Compilation of Related Handouts and Articles -- this will be sold, at cost, during the first class for $20.00.

PageMaker 6 Courseware:

__ this is sold in the library for approximately $20.00..

Recommended Texts:

Williams, Robin, The Non-Designer's Design Book: Design and Typographic Principles for the Visual Novice. Peachpit Press, Berkeley, CA 1994 ISBN 1-56609-159-4

Course Outline:

1. Thursday January 2:
Introduction: Course Outline
Lecture: Measuring in Graphic Design (points, picas, leading, type sizes . . . ) - exercises
Homework: Do: The Measuring Exercise — bring for next week.

2. Thursday January 9:
Correct: The Measuring Exercise
Lecture: Design Process — From Concept to Print
Assign: Ad Designs
Homework: Design: Thumbnails and a rough of your ads ñ bring for next class.

3. Thursday January 16:
Look At; Thumbnails and a rough of your ad
Lecture: Scanning and File Formats
Lecture: 4 Principles of Design/Clip Art/Ad Design/Creativity Printing Tutorial
Homework: Design: Comp of your ads — bring for next class.

4. Thursday January 23:
Due: Ad Design Projects
Assign: Newsletter/Menu Redesign Project
Lecture: Introduction to Typography

5. Thursday January 30:
Lectures:
How We Read
Typesetting Concerns
The Perfect Paragraph
Homework: Design: Thumbnails and a rough of your newsletter grid, for next class.

6. Thursday February 6:
Thumbnails and a rough of your newsletter.
Lecture: Banner Design
Lecture: Designing Grids — assign grid construction exercises
Homework: Keep working on: Your newsletter or menu design
Design: Thumbnails of your final project — interviews will begin next week.

7. Thursday February 13:
Lecture: Page Elements
Homework: Keep working on: Your newsletter/menu design due next week; Thumbnails of your final project — interviews will continue next week.
Thumbnail Reviews: I will begin meeting with students individually to discuss their final projects.Thursday February 20th—Reading Break

8. Thursday February 27:
Due: Newsletter/Menu design comp
Assign: Final Project
Demo: Special Papers
Lecture: The Multipage Environment
Thumbnail Reviews: I will continue meeting with students individually to discuss their final projects.

9. Thursday March 6:
Lectures: Art Reproduction (halftones, color, etc.)
Homework: Gather elements for your final project — text, photos, etc. Thumbnail Reviews: I will continue meeting with students individually to discuss their final projects.

10. Thursday March 13:
Lecture: Nine Classifications of Type
Thumbnail Reviews: I will continue meeting with students individually to discuss their final projects.
Gather: Elements for your final project —text, photos, etc.

11. Thursday March 20:
Lecture: Resumes, Portfolio Concerns; Printing Estimates; Business Considerations
Finalize: All elements for your final project ñ text, photos, etc. HINT: make sure you have all your thumbnails, roughs and graphics log are in order ñ they are worth almost half of your mark!
Think: About the whole presentation of your portfolio. Go Shopping!

12. Thursday March 27:
5:30-6:30: Tour of Benwell Atkins Printing Company

13: Thursday April 3:
Due: at 5:30 — Final Project design comps
Portfolio Party: 5:30 -- 7:00 at Harbour Centre to show off all your great work.

Final Exam – date/time/room to be announced.Course

Evaluation:

PageMaker Exercises 15% (Due: _________________)
Ad Design 15% (Due: _________________)
Newsletter or Menu Redesign 20% (Due: _________________)
Final Project 20% (Due: _________________)
**Professionalism & Attendance 10%
Final Exam 20%

**Professional Conduct and Participation:

This mark is determined by a number of things. Your. . .
- Attendance - Punctuality
- Participation - Attitude
- Ability to meet deadlines - Ability to follow instructions
- Coolness under pressure - Conduct in lab

For Design Projects:

You will be asked to keep a Graphics Log of all the images you have used in your design solutions, i.e., where you got the image, what resolution you scanned it at, what manipulations you might have visited upon it in Photoshop, etc. You will also be asked to include a black and white printout of your project. This greatly speeds up our marking, and means I won’t have to mark directly on your finished comprehensives.

All assignments are to be handed to me personally in class on the specified due date. They should be in a file folder with your name on it, and contain the marking sheet I have given you. 10% per day will be deducted from late project work.

If you absolutely have to hand in something late, please ensure it has been date-stamped at Extension Credit Programs before putting it in my box. If it's not date-stamped I cannot accept it. (Unless it has been sent by courier!)

Course Attendance & Policy:

Don't miss any good stuff!!! Attendance is a key success factor, so please attend class and be on time. You will be responsible for any announcements/information which is given in any class you missed. Please contact a classmate, not us, for this information. You will be asked to sign in at the beginning of each class . . . it is your responsibility to make sure you do.
CMNS 473 is very detail-driven -- we sweat the small stuff! It's also about the design process and project (time) management. If you are an unorganized or slap-dash type person, you will find this course extremely challenging! Please try to treat us as you would a client. If you have a computer tragedy, fall ill or whatever, and have to miss a deadline, ask yourself how would I handle this if it were a real project with a real client?" A word of warning . . . clients are never very interested in excuses!!! They want solutions, on time! So do instructors!!! That said, let’s have a fun and productive semester!!!!!

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will also follow Policy T10.02 with respect to intellectual Honesty, and academic Discipline (see the current Calendar, General Regulations Section).