Please note - Swinburne University of Technology

industry as the major criterion for evaluating the relative
merits of a graduate designer. The standard of this folio has
a significant influence on the graduate's career threshold.
RGlOl Assigned Projects 1
No. of hours per week: twenty hours practical for
two semesters
Prerequisite: nil
Assessment: continuous
Assigned projects refer to a co-ordinated work program with
specific emphasis on an individual creative approach to
solving communication problems principally of a graphic
nature. Students are encouraged to develop their own
personal style through soundly-reasoned, skilfully-executed
assignments and to communicate the solutions in a way
most likely to ensure acceptance and successful implementation.
Group assignments also allow students to
develop a broader understanding and appreciation of other
students' particular abilities.
A sequential program of .applied design and communication
projects is directed at developing a general awareness of
visual aspects of the students' environment and facility for
critical objective analysis.
Specific study areas include:
Design
The object is to equip students with a 'design vocabulary' to
allow creative expression in areas of two and three
dimensions. As the year progresses, design projects
increasingly interact with drawing, photography and design
for print. In this way students develop an appreciation and
competence over a broad range of communication problems.
vpography and Letterform
This subject introduces students to the principles and
practice of typographic design. Studies include calligraphy,
letterform design, the historic derivation of type and the
application of typefaces and letterforms in contemporary
design. Methods of copy preparation and specification and
the preparation of finished artwork for reproduction are also
studied.
Photography
A comprehensive introduction to still-photography as a
creative medium aimed at cultivating visual awareness
through study of controlled lighting, spatial relationships.
form, product and fashion photography, photo-journalism,
photo-reproduction techniques (e.g. developing and printing),
pictorial editing, various colour processes and costing.
Design for print
An introduction to print technology including reproduction
of lettering, typographic and symbol design, illustration, and
all aspects of production with particular emphasis on
experimental wrk in offset lithography and screen printing.
Drawing
Expanding vision through assignments which develop control
of drawing as a discipline for research and invention. Subject
matter includes the figure, perspective, object drawing and
natural forms.
Textbooks
Students are advised not to purchase textbooks or references until
classes commence.
RGI I History of Arts 1
No. of hours per week: three hours for two
semesters
Prerequisites: nil
Assessment: continuous
This subject explores art and design, photography and
popular culture ranging from Neo-Classicism and the
Industrial Revolution through Romanticism, Arts and Crafts,
Post Impressionalism, Art Nouveau and Modernism to finally
Dada and Surrealism and their attacks on the establishment.
As well as studying the work of individual artists and
designers the course looks at themes such as gender and
class, and the impact of political and social theories,
especially those of Marx and Freud.
The cross-over between Western and non-Western cultures
are considered along with the themes of imperialism,
nationalism and utopia in Australian and Japanese Art.
The assignments are designed to develop conceptual and
analytical skills and consist of a combination of written,
visual and oral components with an emphasis being placed
on creativity.
Recommended reading
Rosenblum, R. and Janson, H.W. Art of the Nineteenth cmrufy.
London: Thames and Hudson, 1984
Sparke. P. Design in Context. London: Bloomsbury, 1987
RG12O Introduction to Critical Studies
No. of hours per week: two hours for two
semesters
Prerequisites: nil
Assessment: continuous
Emphasis is placed on exploring contemporary modes of
criticism via film analvsis. Various structural methodoloaies -
are developed throuih reading, lectures and class
discussions. Feature films, shorts and commercials are
screened. Lectures and discussions deal with the application
of criticism to problems of directing and the analysis of film.
Films are discussed in terms of art, technique and historical
context. Students should be prepared to see prescribed films,
undertake prescribed reading and present a critical and
historical analysis of film in essay form.
RG201 Assigned Projects 2
No. of hours per week: twenty hours practical for
two semesters
Prerequisites: RG140 Result of Studies 1
Assessment: continuous
This program constitutes a bridge between the formative
studies of the first year and the closely-applied studies of
third year. The aim of the second year is to bring the
student to a professional standard of competence in the
illustrative, typographic, written and oral presentation of
ideas. in the arranaement of sequential information
embracing publishFng, advertising, sales promotion,
merchandising and public relations, also for non-commercial
areas such as education and community organisations. Study
areas include - design, photography, methods of
production, computer-aided design, typography, history of
arts and psychology. Instead of studying these subjects in
isolation, the aim is to integrate them into composite
communication problems wherever possible.