Status: đź”´Â Actively under development
Length: 15 weeks
Time needed: 8–18 hours a week
This 15-week Introduction to Design Fundamentals course provides a comprehensive foundation for college freshmen entering design education. The curriculum balances analog craftsmanship with digital skills, moving systematically from basic observational drawing and visual elements through color theory, typography, composition, and culminating in a self-directed final project. Students develop both technical proficiency and conceptual thinking through structured weekly modules combining readings, video lessons, hands-on exercises, critique sessions, and reflective writing.
The course begins with fundamental perceptual skills—learning to truly see and observe through contour drawing and mark-making—then progresses through the building blocks of visual communication: point, line, shape, value, texture, pattern, and color. You may find some repetition of f2. Visual Thinking: Drawing and Sketching as we revisit some practices, now more solidly in the context of graphic design.
Weeks 5-6 provide deep exploration of color theory through both hands-on paint mixing and perceptual studies inspired by Josef Albers. The middle weeks focus on composition principles, introducing students to balance, hierarchy, spatial relationships, and grid systems that organize effective visual communication.
Typography receives substantial attention across weeks 8-9, covering letterform anatomy, type classification, hierarchy, text formatting, and layout systems. Students learn that typography communicates through both content and form, developing sensitivity to subtle typographic choices. Week 10 synthesizes image and text integration, exploring how visual and verbal elements work together to create meaning beyond either alone. This leads into week 11's focus on design process and creative methodology—research, ideation, iteration, and systematic problem-solving rather than waiting for inspiration.
The final four weeks center on a sustained synthesis project where students apply cumulative learning to a self-directed design challenge. This moves through research and conceptual development (week 12), multiple design iterations with critique feedback (week 13), final refinement and professional production (week 14), and concludes with formal presentations, public exhibition, and comprehensive semester reflection (week 15). Throughout, the course emphasizes observation, constraint as creative catalyst, iteration over perfection, critique culture, and thoughtful making—establishing foundations for continued growth as designers.\
This week you’ll explore the fundamental visual elements that form the vocabulary of all design: point, line, and shape. Every visual composition, whether a poster, website, building, or painting, is constructed from these basic building blocks. You’ll learn to see how lines create shapes, how shapes define space, and how the placement of points creates rhythm and movement. Through both analog and digital exercises, you’ll discover how constraint breeds creativity—working with just black and white, limited shapes, or simple geometric forms pushes you to focus on relationships and composition rather than decoration. This week also introduces the crucial concept of positive and negative space (figure-ground relationships).
Time Commitment: 9-11 hours (3 hours class time, 6-8 hours practice)