“The whole is more than the sum of its parts” — taken from Gestalt Psychology.

This course will expand your abilities to create systems that solve problems in communication design. Through the projects that will be explored in class, you will be able to solve complex puzzles and develop your solutions into multi-part design systems. Taking into consideration not only the whole (macro view) but also the parts (micro view), both these perspectives will be important for your work.

Together, we will build on the skills and techniques that you have learned in your first year design courses, adding to the typographic rules and graphic structures that are standard. The design fundamentals are a framework that we will utilize as you discover your unique perspective and voice.

The projects we will work on during the semester will be a context for your visual tastes, processes and experimentation that will shape your overall approach to design. Through each project you will be able to gain confidence with your problem-solving skills and innovative approaches to communication. There will be a focus on finding a common language to discuss your work as well as others, and being able to identify the clues that are left behind by the designer in their work.

You may consider: unconventional approaches, risk-taking in your work as well as searching for inspiration from a myriad of sources in design and art history. Systems can be found in many forms in our world, from ecosystems, to architecture, to technology and science. Perhaps you will find these meaningful to use as you consider the logic of your approach.

The course will challenge your thinking, and execution of your work, as well as how you bring a thoughtfulness, cohesion and meaning to the projects. You will have class time to work, as well as participate in lectures, readings and class discussions. There will be examples that come from me as well as presentations from your fellow students to share design that we feel is relevant to the projects at hand. There will be some technical methods demonstrated as well as practical hands on understanding of how to produce your projects. We come to a the class as an space of collaboration where we can all contribute our knowledge in the service of learning.