SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

CMNS 473-4

Janet Russell Spring 2005

HC Office: TBA; Phone: c/o 604-291-5212 Harbour Centre Eve

Email: greenchain2@telus.net

PUBLICATION DESIGN AND PRINT PRODUCTION

Prerequisite: 75 credit hours.

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

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, PubLab (Room 2960) at Harbour Centre.

Lab times:  E1.01 3:30-4:20pm
 E1.02 4:30-5:20pm
 E1.03 7:30-8:20pm
 E1.04 8:30-9:20pm

* Please note: There will be no labs the first class (January 11th).

Assignments are produced on a Macintosh computer using Adobe InDesign. Students design and prepare 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 material from the custom courseware and lectures. The rest of the course is evaluated on project work and a final portfolio.

Required Texts
CMNS 473 Custom Courseware: A compilation of Related Handouts and Articles — this will be sold, at cost, during the first class for $20.00.

Required text on Adobe InDesign to be announced.

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

Robin Williams, The Non-Designer’s Type Book. Peachpit Press, Berkeley, CA 1998 ISBN 0-201-35367-p

Course Outline;

1. Tuesday Jan. 11: Introduction: Course Outline

Lecture: Measuring in Graphic Design (points, picas, leading, type sizes ...)
Assign: InDesign Exercises

Homework: Do the Measuring Exercises — bring for next class; start working on InDesign Exercises

2. Tuesday Jan. 18 Correct: The Measuring Exercises

Lecture: Design Process, From Concept to Print

Assign: Ad Designs

Homework: Design: Thumbnails and an annotated rough of your ad. Bring for next class.

3. Tuesday Jan. 25: Look At: Thumbnails and roughs of your ad design (these will be checked off and count toward your professionalism & participation mark)
Lecture: Four Principles of Design/Clip Art/Ad Design/Creativity
Homework: Keep working on your ad comp.

4. Tuesday Feb. 1: Due: InDesign Exercises (10%)
Lecture: Introduction to Typography
Homework: Finalize comp of your ads. Bring for next class.

5. Tuesday Feb. 8: Due: Ad Design (15%)
Assign: Newsletter/Menu Re-Design Projects
Lecture: Typesetting Concerns; The Perfect Paragraph

6. Tuesday Feb. 15: Lectures: Banner Design; Designing Grids
Assign: Grid construction exercises

7. Tuesday Feb. 22: Look At: Thumbnails and a rough of your newsletter/menu (these will be checked off and count toward your professionalism & participation mark)
Lecture: Elements of a Page
Homework: Keep working on your newsletter or menu redesign

8. Tuesday Mar. 1: Demo: Special Papers and Special Processes
Lecture: Art Reproduction (halftones, colour, etc.)
Homework: Finalize work on your newsletter/menu redesign. Bring for next class.

9. Tuesday Mar. 8: Due: Newsletter/Menu Redesign Comp (20%)

Assign: Final Project
Lecture: Nine Classifications of Type
Homework: gather elements for your final project

10. Tuesday Mar. 15: Lecture: Logo Design; Stationary Packages
Homework: Keep working on your final project design

11. Tuesday Mar. 22: Lecture: Resumes, Portfolio Concerns, Printing Estimates, Business Considerations

Review of Final Exam

Finalize: All elements for your final project: text, photos, logos etc. HINT: Make sure you have all your thumbnails, roughs, grids and graphics log in order — they are worth almost half your mark!

Think about the whole presentation of your portfolio.

12. Tuesday Mar. 29: Field Trip: Tour of Benwell Atkins Printing Company

13. Tuesday Apr. 5: Due: at 5:30pm Final Project Design Comps (25%)
Portfolio Party: 5:30-7:00pm to show off all your great work.

Thursday Apr. 14: Final Exam (closed-book), 7-10pm, room TBA (20%)

Course Attendance and Policy:

Attendance is a key success factor, so please attend class and be on time. You will be responsible for any announcements/information that 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.

CMNS473 is very detail-driven — we sweat the small stuff! It is also about the design process and project (time) management. If you are a 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!!

Course Evaluation:

InDesign Exercises 10% Due: Tuesday, Feb. 1

Ad Design 15% Due: Tuesday, Feb. 8

Newsletter/Menu Redesign 20% Due: Tuesday, Mar. 8

Final Project 25% Due: Tuesday, Apr. 5

*Professionalism & Participation 10% See Below for details

Final Exam 20% Thursday, Apr. 14, 7-10pm, room TBA

*The Professionalism & Participation mark is determined by a number of things.

• Attendance • Punctuality

• Participation • Conduct in the lab

• Ability to meet deadlines • Ability to follow instructions

• Coolness under pressure

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).

Academic Honesty: Academic cheating of any sort will be dealt with severely. It is your responsibility to know and follow the rules so please make sure you are familiar with SFU’s policies on academic dishonesty and plagiarism. If you are not sure what constitutes academic dishonesty or plagiarism please ask us! Ignorance is not an excuse!!

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. This is like a works cited for your images.

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 colour comprehensives.

All assignments are to be handed in 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 insure it has been date-stamped at the Extension Credit Office before putting it in my box. If it is not date-stamped I cannot accept it. (Unless it has been sent by courier!)