Undergraduate Assignments

Learning Assignments (25% total)

Typesetting Exercise (5%) - due Jan. 29th, this assignment will provide you with experience setting type in InDesign CS3.
Grid Design Exercise (5%) - due Feb. 5th, this assignment will give you experience using InDesign columns and guides to create a grid for laying out pictures and text.
Brochure (5%) – due Feb. 12th, this three-panel brochure and cover sheet can be on any subject you want.
Poster (5%) - due March 27th, this project will give you experience with larger poster printing projects. Design should promote the Solar Decathlon project here at Iowa State. Project posters will be displayed in the Ross 420 computer classroom.
Report Redesign (5%) – due April 3rd, this report redesign should be 8 pages in length, plus a TOC and Index, and should use the original text of a redesigned publication. Purpose is to gain experience with rapid prototyping, TOCs, and indexes.

Exams (30% total)

First Exam (15%) – scheduled for Feb. 26th, this exam will cover the first six weeks of class material.
Second Exam (15%) – scheduled April 10th, this exam will cover all subjects since the previous exam.

Project Assignments (45% total)

Project Proposal (10%) – due March 25th, this four-page proposal will outline what your final project will entail.
Project Presentations (10%) – scheduled for the last two weeks of class, these presentations will give you practice presenting your ideas to a group.
Final Project (25%) – due during our exam period, the final project entails a six-page report regarding all technical aspects of the project as well as the final deliverables, in both digital and print forms.

Graduate Student Assignments

Graduate students will be responsible for the same assignments as above, plus a research project, described below; percentages for some assignments are different from those above.

Learning Assignments (25% total)

Typesetting Exercise (5%) – due Jan. 29th, this assignment will provide you with experience setting type in InDesign CS3.
Grid Design Exercise (5%) – due Feb. 5th, this assignment will give you experience using InDesign columns and guides to create a grid for laying out pictures and text.
Brochure (5%) – due Feb. 12th, this three-panel brochure and cover sheet can be on any subject you want.
Poster (5%) – due March 27th, this project will give you experience with larger poster printing projects. Design should promote the Solar Decathlon project here at Iowa State. Project posters will be displayed in the Ross 420 computer classroom.
Report Redesign (5%) – due April 3rd, this report redesign should be 8 pages in length, plus a TOC and Index, and should use the original text of a redesigned publication. Purpose is to gain experience with rapid prototyping, TOCs, and indexes.

Exams (20% total)

First Exam (10%) – scheduled for Feb. 26th, this exam will cover the first six weeks of class material.
Second Exam (10%) – scheduled April 10th, this exam will cover all subjects since the previous exam.

Research Assignments (25% total)

Research Proposal/Bibliography (5%) – due Feb. 21st, this three-page proposal and 15-item bibliography can be on a print-related topic that will be the focus of your 15-page research paper. Topics might take one of two possible paths—either an examination of recent print technologies or an ethnographic case study of how a particular business or group of businesses uses print technology. But if you have a different idea, this proposal is your chance to pitch the idea to me.
Research Paper (20%) – due April 22nd.

Project Assignments (30% total)

Project Proposal (5%) – due March 25th, this four-page proposal will outline what your final project will entail.
Project Presentations (5%) – scheduled for the last two weeks of class, these presentations will give you practice presenting your ideas to a group.
Final Project (20%) – due during our exam period, the final project entails a six-page report regarding all technical aspects of the project as well as the final deliverables, in both digital and print forms.