It’s true that this class will be hands-on in every session, and will often have something of a workshop feel. We will have weekly lectures, and those lectures will sometimes spread from the Monday class to Wednesday, but we will spend a good deal of time during our 240 weekly minutes in a creative pursuit. Nevertheless, it is important that we agree upon and maintain certain classroom policies, which I have listed below.
Attendance: Every class is important to your learning and mastering skills and your development as a designer. Your attendance is mandatory. You are here to learn, and I trust you will find a way to join every class session — and hope that you will enjoy the experience. I will not, however, take attendance, and attendance is not part of your grade ... but I will certainly notice if you are not part of the sessions. Your completion of in-class exercises is critical, however, and you will find that missing class will affect your grade in a negative way.
Masks in class: The COVID-19 pandemic is still with us, and we must all continue to take measures to reduce the threat of the virus. Masks are optional on campus this semester, but please feel free to wear one if doing so makes you feel more comfortable. If you are feeling unwell, please do not attend class — and I would request that you get tested for Covid — and please get in touch with me to stay caught up.
Food and drink: You can’t have them. Well, not while class is in session. Eating and drinking during class is disruptive, and can get messy.
Deadlines: Deadlines are critical in this business, and blowing deadlines in the professional world is simply not tolerated. I am, however, aware that university life sometimes places additional pressures on students, and that it is not inconceivable that, once in a great while, a project may have to be handed in late. If this should happen to you, and I hope it doesn’t, I will accept late submissions for the first five calendar days after a deadline. I will take off 10 percent per calendar day, though, so it’s in your interest to be on time. (The final projects, however, due during Finals Week, cannot be turned in late.) If you are having problems meeting a deadline, please let me know ahead of time.
Weekly exercises and tips, however, which form a quarter of your overall grade, can be submitted late without penalty all the way until Finals Week. I don’t recommend that you are late with your work on a regular basis, though, as you will find it difficult to stay on pace in the class without completing our tips and exercises, and turning in work late only adds to what you will find to be an accelerating pace of activity in J465. But the important thing for us in this class is that the work be completed rather than skipped over, so if you do miss a deadline for a tip or exercise, just get that work to me as soon as you can.
Integrity: Almost every piece of graphic design is to some extent a collaborative process, and I encourage you to seek the advice and input of others — classmates, friends, etc. — along the way. You will several times be working in a small team to produce creative work in J465. But whether you are in a team or working alone, all the graphic design material — anything drawn or rendered, any piece of design work — must be 100 percent your own work. You can use photographic images as resources, and I hope you will find influence in many areas, but please understand that stealing is wrong, it will get you fired in the real world and will not be accepted in this class. If you have any questions on this, please see me.
This syllabus: I have mapped out what I hope and believe to be an achievable schedule for this course that will keep everybody working at a steady pace. It’s possible that I may have to amend this syllabus to reflect any shifting realities we may encounter along the way. I ask for your help in this endeavor, and I will be certain to let you know in advance if and when there will be any changes to deadlines or schedule. (And I promise not to move any deadlines up, only back.)
Values + competencies
IU’s Department of Journalism is accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. ACEJMC has articulated a list of core values and competencies which it expects all journalism majors to learn by the time they graduate. Although some of you are not journalism majors, this class does carry a “J” at the front of it, and our learning outcomes are mapped to some of the integral values of journalistic rigor.
In this class, we will particularly emphasize the following:
- demonstrate an understanding of the multicultural history and role of professionals and institutions in shaping communications;
- present images and information effectively and creatively, using appropriate tools and technologies;
- demonstrate an understanding of professional ethical principles and work ethically in pursuit of truth, accuracy, fairness and diversity;
- apply critical thinking skills in conducting research and evaluating information by methods appropriate to the communications professions in which they work;
- critically evaluate their own work and that of others for accuracy and fairness, clarity, appropriate style and grammatical correctness;
- apply tools and technologies appropriate for the communications professions in which they work.
For a complete list, click here and scroll down to “Professional Values and Competencies”.