CMST311 Advanced Desktop Publishing
Project Descriptions
Learning through doing is the method of this course. In addition to your
conference participation, you are expected to complete your own projects
successfully and also critique the projects of your fellow students.
Some of these projects
use files from the
Adobe InDesign CS2 Revealed textbook. Your
textbook should come with a data disk attached to the back cover. This
disk IS NOT the Adobe InDesign software. It is the collection of data
files for you to be able to complete the textbook exercises. If you do
not have the Adobe InDesign software, you will need to use one of the
UMUC computer labs. |
 Return
to Syllabus |
DUE DATES:
DTP Vocabulary worksheet--(homework)
The DTP Vocabulary worksheet is available as a
Microsoft Word document under our Week Two conference. Submit the finished
vocabulary worksheet as a Microsoft Word attachment in the WebTycho Assignments
area. Some of the terms could have multiple meanings, but all of the terms
should be answered with a focus toward desktop publishing.
Some helpful Web sites
include the following:
DUE
September 19
5% of homework grade
Desktop Publishing error--(homework)
After you have viewed the PowerPoint lecture in our
Week 2 conference, find
a published error to post as an example that slipped through proofreading. This
could be a scanned copy of a print source or a copy of an electronic source.
Provide an explanation in the text of your response before attaching the
example to the DTP Error conference topic.
DUE
September 19
5% of homework grade
Min Pin document--(project)
Follow your Adobe InDesign CS2 Revealed Chapter
2 "Working with Text" to complete the Introducing the Min-Pin flyer. Follow the
flyer directions from page 2-8 through 2-19. Then make the "client" changes as
directed on page 2-35.
When you are finished, proofread your work carefully
and then transfer the file into a PDF. Submit both the original file and the PDF
to the WebTycho Assignments area under Min-Pin.
DUE
September 26
5 percent of
project grade
Logo Samples Evaluation--(homework)
Look through magazines, newspapers, business signs, Web sites, and even
product packaging to find two logos that you will present to the class. You may
present one well-designed logo and one poorly-designed logo, or two
well-designed logos. If you find your logos from paper sources, you will need to
scan them; if you find your logos from electronic sources, you will need to copy
the images.
Prepare this assignment as either a Microsoft Word or
Microsoft Publisher file. Be sure to label the page with your name and the
assignment: Logo Samples Evaluation.
After each logo sample, explain the principles that
you believe were used in designing the logo:
proximity, alignment, repetition, contrast, color, etc. and explain why they are
good design choices or poor design choices.
By the end of Week 6, attach the Word or Publisher
document to the Logo Samples conference topic so others can see what you
have found.
DUE
October 17
5 percent of homework grade
Course Project Proposal--(project)
You are required to complete an individual desktop
publishing project for CMST311. You will be going through the "professional
design process" to complete a desktop publishing product. As you can see from
the project options list below, you have a number of options to choose from, but
the process itself will be the same for each of you.
Project Options
(suggestions only):
- personal or professional brochure
- business form & letterhead package
- full page magazine advertisement & a 2x2 or 2x3 yellow pages ad for
the same company
- product packaging
- for example: a door knob sign & matching coasters for a hotel
- for example: a set of holiday gift boxes
- for example: labels for soup cans or jars & business mailing
labels or business cards
- for example: CD case & t-shirt transfer (or such similar
variation)
- for example: book jacket & poster (or such similar variation)
You have nearly the entire semester to put together
your completed project. You will have assigned due dates to complete the stages
of the design process and as we work through the class, we will be learning the
tools necessary for completing a professional product.
Project Rules
(suggestions):
- Your project cannot be "borrowed" from a previously published item. It
must be your own work.
- Your project must be intended for print format (you
cannot design a PowerPoint presentation or Web project). The project may have dual
media outputs, but it must be designed primarily for the print medium.
- You must submit the electronic version of your project in its original
software format and as a PDF.
- You must complete the steps and stages of the design process as they are
assigned, including the project proposal and commercial printing proposal
form.
If any of these rules are disregarded, you will receive a zero for the
project.
Now is the time to submit your project proposal. You
can fill out the supplied
project
proposal form and click on submit to send me the information. If you are not
at your own computer or at a computer with an e-mail client installed, then you
may have to type your answers and send them as an e-mail attachment.
I will respond with suggestions and/or approval.
DUE
October 17
5 percent of project grade
Personally Designed Logo--(project)
This exercise is meant to get you work with graphics programs. You may use
any software you are comfortable with as long as the finished graphic is saved
as a .gif or a .jpg.
Keep in mind the principles of design as you put this
together. You must use both text and graphics, and if you choose to begin with a
Clip Art image, you must make significant adjustments to the original graphic.
You may not use any copyrighted graphics without explicit permission from the
owner.
Your complete logo should be submitted as a conference
attachment and as a submitted assignment in WebTycho.
DUE October
24
10 percent of
project grade
Course Project--(project)
For the course project assignment, you will be going
through the "professional design process" to complete a desktop publishing
product. As you can see from the project options list below, you have a number
of options to choose from, but the process itself will be the same for each of
you.
Project Options
(suggestions only):
- personal or professional brochure
- business form & letterhead package
- full page magazine advertisement & a 2x2 or 2x3 yellow pages ad for
the same company
- product packaging
- for example: a door knob sign & matching coasters for a hotel
- for example: a set of holiday gift boxes
- for example: labels for soup cans or jars & business mailing
labels or business cards
- for example: CD case & t-shirt transfer (or such similar
variation)
- for example: book jacket & poster (or such similar variation)
You have nearly the entire semester to put together
your completed project. You will have assigned due dates to complete the stages
of the design process and as we work through the class, we will be learning the
tools necessary for completing a professional product.
Project Rules
(suggestions):
- Your project cannot be "borrowed" from a previously published item. It
must be your own work.
- Your project must be intended for print format (you
cannot design a PowerPoint presentation or Web project). The project may have dual
media outputs, but it must be designed primarily for the print medium.
- You must submit the electronic version of your project in its original
software format and as a PDF.
- You must complete the steps and stages of the design process as they are
assigned, including the project proposal and commercial printing proposal
form.
If any of these rules are disregarded, you will receive a zero for the
project.
DUE November
21
20 percent of project grade
Course Project Evaluation--(homework)
You are nearly finished! Now that you have finished
your individual project, you have one last evaluation to complete. You will be
assigned another student's finished project to evaluate based on the concepts
learned in class.
- Introduce the student's project by summarizing what
it is and who its intended audience appears to be.
- Look over the project carefully and determine if the
designer/author made any typographical or language mistakes. Note what the
errors
are or that the finished project is error free.
- Evaluate the overall design of the piece based on
the design concepts of proximity, alignment, repetition, contrast, color, and
white space. Be specific with your explanations by using examples from the
student's project.
This evaluation should not be more than one page
(depending on the amount of errors found, of course).
DUE December
12
10 percent of
homework grade
The End