Professional Practice
I’m teaching the Professional Practice class this term at City College of San Francisco and would like to get some input from my graphic design and digital media production friends and colleagues on how you run your businesses. Please share your input here on the blog. The textbook is the Graphic Artists Guild’s Pricing & Ethical Guidelines handbook and the course is 2 months long (8 sessions). The course starts 9/1/15. Registration ends this Friday, 8/14/15.
The course overview states: “This course will prepare graphic design and production students to skillfully manage freelancing and small business issues such as charging appropriate fees and sales tax, using contracts, understanding copyright and usage regulations.”
What I would like to know is:
– How have you structured business: Freelance/Contractor or Studio/Office?
– Do you submit proposals?
– What are some of the legal issues with which you deal, and how do you deal with them?
– How does Sales Tax factor in; or does it?
– How do you deal with Work-for-Hire situations?
– How do you quote a job: hourly or project? Why?
I would like to get an understanding of real world practices. Please do not feel you have to go into great detail or spend a lot of time.
Please review the course outline here to see the breakdown of content.
Thanking you all in advance for your time.
Thanking Mary Thorsby and Nikki May
Thanking the wonderful content strategist and writer Mary Thorsby and great graphic designer and creative Nikki May for their incredible talk with the Portfolio class today on how to present oneself professionally online and offline.
They covered writing the critical content for the portfolio and resume well and distinctively, and presenting ones best work. In addition, they encouraged students to let the clients and emloyers be “your” best advocates for your work. Really great advice.
Thank you so much Mary Thorsby and Nikki May!
Delivering Concept via Conveyance and Theme
Today’s talk in the Multimedia Content + Form class.
In the visual media world, concept is illustrated through the use of conveyance.
Conveyance is the delivery method of meaning or mood from the thing observed to the observer. Conveyance is relative. Meaning it is dependent upon the our understanding of the cultural learning(s) of the viewer(s). We ask, what does the viewer already know about the concept being conveyed? What assumptions do they make?
Theme is the package enveloping the concept. It is the tone, emotional appeal, the presentation style: bold, cheerful, solemn, humor.
Keeping the above in mind, discuss how conveyance and theme are used in each of the following examples:
All Rights Reserved 2013
Multimedia Content and Form Class Today
Student peer commenting on the final project.
I have begun to integrate a peer commenting exercise in my classes as a valuable tool to help students “get out of their boxes” and expand their perspectives by engaging each other around the projects and work. This exercise is received well and students truly become engaged and begin to develop more confidence in their work.
Hans Rosling’s 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes – The Joy of Stats – BBC Four
This is an incredible talk by Hans Rosling illustrating statistical data on the increase of the human lifespan from 1810 forward. Enjoy. (A teaching colleague, Marcia Beales brought this to my attention.)
Designing for Mobile Devices (via AIGASF)
Designing for Mobile | AIGA SF Interactive Chats
What’s on the Class Blogs Today: Posters: Visual Hierarchy and Rule of Thirds
I had coffee with my friend, Julie Ott, who will pay Multimedia Content and Form, and Multimedia Portfolio Development classes a visit in March, and I saw these two posters in the window of the cafe.
My students are asked to take a look at them, and share their thoughts on how the principles of visual hierarchy and the rule of thirds are being used. Feel free to do the same here.
P.S. Thanking Julie for the shots. Note to self: Don’t forget camera.
David Carson on design + discovery
As I move into another semester of teaching design students, I am continuing to chronicle here design resources and sources of inspiration to share with them and expand my arsenal of great resources. In my research, I have logged a myriad of great Ted Talks given on the subjects of design and creativity.
I’m starting off my new quest in this vain with a 2003 Ted Talk by David Carson on design and discovery, What I like about Carson is the fact that he came into graphic design from a background in sociology and secondary education. (I taught high school government.) For me, having come to the design field without following the traditional training route gave him a clean slate with which to approach his work.
In this talk, he shares his process of discovery and its relationship to design. I will continue to feature talks by great designers as time goes on.
Enjoy!
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