Junk Mail Poster Design

RECYCLED DESIGN

Paul Rand once said that “Design is the Foundation of all the Arts”.  His words couldn’t be more true, and it’s about time we start looking at some of the great designers of history as inspiration for our own work.  No differently than we’ve looked to painters of the past to inspire our work, we will again be standing on the shoulders of giants. Everything truly is a remix.

In this assignment, students will be required to spend a minimum of 45 minutes looking through the work of the featured artists on the site  Thinking Form.  This website is well designed and features some of the great designers of history.  As the students look through the work of these artists, they are going to be asked to notice patterns, record artist’s names, save images in digital folders, and collect information about what good design looks like.  After the 45 minute session of collecting information, the students will then choose a poster design by one of the featured artists, have it approved by the instructor, and will be required to create their own version of that poster using junk mail and other mixed media.  As students re-create this poster, they are also required to change the context of the original poster to advertise something of personal interest.  This project can be no smaller than 16” x 20”, and has a two-week deadline.

During critique, the students will be required to give an informal report on the artist whose work they studied. A projector will be used to project the original image next to the student work on the wall in the gallery.  The critiqued student will need to explain the context of the original poster design, and discuss how he or she changed the context of the original in the new version.  That student will also have to explain what was learned in the process as a whole.  These works will be evaluated on overall craftsmanship and conceptual quality.
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Project Closure

Once students have finished the assignment, they will be required to create a blog entry that summarizes the process.  In this blog entry, the students must upload the original image that inspired his or her design, along with a high quality image of the finished project.   In addition to these two images, the student must address the following prompts in a well-written paragraph.

1.  What specifically have you learned from this project?   Don't only think in terms of the work you made, but also through the discussions during critique of others in the class.

2.  If this project is assigned in the future, how might it be tweaked to enhance the overall learning experience for all students?

3.  How have your thoughts about design changed through because of this project.

4.  What changes would you make if you had the opportunity to re-work the image you created?