Please note! Course description is confirmed for two academic years, which means that in general, e.g. Learning outcomes, assessment methods and key content stays unchanged. However, via course syllabus, it is possible to specify or change the course execution in each realization of the course, such as how the contact sessions are organized, assessment methods weighted or materials used.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On successful completion of ANY studio course, you will be able to:
- identify your most important individual learning goals
- distinguish important milestones in your working process
- document your working process
- present and defend your creative choices and design decisions
- discuss and debate the work of others, and give constructive feedback
In addition, on successful completion of Studio: Type & Written Language course, you will be able to:
- consider the ways in which systems of writing are, have been and continue to be designed
- articulate the potential need for new typefaces or typographic devices
- understand and analyse how the form of written language functions as a conceptual tool as well as a graphic one
- review and compare how typefaces and other typographic inventions might be published and distributed in contemporary contexts
Credits: 12
Schedule: 02.03.2021 - 07.05.2021
Teacher in charge (valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022): Arja Karhumaa
Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Arja Karhumaa, Tuomas Kortteinen
Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):
CEFR level (applies in this implementation):
Language of instruction and studies (valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022):
Teaching language: English
Languages of study attainment: English
CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD
Content
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
General description for VCD Studios
The studio course is where you dedicate time and space for an investigative communication design project either individually or in a group. The thematics of the course may vary yearly, and activities can range from autonomous projects to experimental collaboration with an organisation, company, or community. Your task is to plan and execute a practice-based design/research project where learning goals are set both by you individually as well as on a common trajectory with your studio group. Background research in both theory and praxis as well as documentation are an important part of the process. Individual feedback sessions, milestone presentations, peer discussions and readings provide structure and support for your work.
The four parallel studio courses share joint lectures as well as work-in-progress clinics out of which you can choose those which provides best support to your concept and execution. The final results of all the studio courses are presented in a joint exhibition/installation.
Studio: Type & Written Language
This course allows you to examine writing and any of its properties outside the ‘meaning’ of a text. This may include, for example, the systematic, performative, political, spiritual, or generative aspects of writing. Departing from an investigation of written language, the course expands the scope of potential design projects from typefaces into entire writing systems, as well as the tools and surfaces used to produce them.
In practical terms, you embark on a practice-based or artistic research project, the outcome of which could be, for example, a new typeface, an imaginary writing system, a self-generating encyclopaedia, or an interactive performance. Individual projects are supported by workshops, lectures and tutorials. Through developing your own project, you strengthen your understanding of the spectrum of typographic convention and invention, and gain precision in using written language as a visual means of expression.
Applies in this implementation:
The first three weeks of the studio will feature a workshop with contact teaching (in person!), during which we will create imaginary writing systems, reverse-engineer the cultures/worlds that created them, and design and fabricate glyphic artefacts from those worlds.
Alongside the workshop, students are expected to develop ideas for their individual projects, which we will work on for the remaining six weeks of the studio, primarily on discord and zoom.
In addition to the individual projects, the studio will feature Practical Interludes — student-led tutorial/discussion/workshop groups — which allow students to analyse, develop and share aspects of their practice in the context of the studio group. Essentially, each student will be given a 90min-180min time slot that they are free to use as they will — in a way that creates space for conversation and dialogue to emerge around topics and themes relevant to them. You are fee to use your Practical Interlude to e.g. run a small workshop, arrange a site visit/activity, or beta-test a tool/program/game you're developing.
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
The assessment is a synthesis of your design process, required milestones submitted on time, and the final outcome of the design project. Successful completion of this requires minimum 80 % attendance.
Applies in this implementation:
Grade evaluation is divided as follows:
Attendance & engagement (25% of grade)
Practical Interlude (25% of grade)
Individual project- documentation (20% of grade)
- presentation(s) (15% of grade)
- final outcome(s) (15% of grade)
- documentation (20% of grade)
Workload
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
12 ECTS = 324 h, of which
- 27 h joint lectures shared by all studios
- 90 h studio teaching
- 39 h working independently OR in joint clinics according to need
- 168 h independent work
Applies in this implementation:
Classes consist of in-person workshops, online lectures & discussions as well as zoom / discord sessions.
DETAILS
Study Material
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
Study materials will be provided in the beginning of the course.
Prerequisites
Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:
Students from outside VCD are accepted at the teachers' discretion. Upon registration, these students are required to send a portfolio to the responsible teachers. The portfolio should be a pdf consisting of maximum of 5 projects and 10 pages, including one page with a brief letter of intent. These should demonstrate previous experience and/or potential in the area of interest relevant to the studio course.
SDG: Sustainable Development Goals
4 Quality Education
- Teacher: Karhumaa Arja