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Kadenze

Introduction to Graphic Design

Maryland Institute College of Art via Kadenze

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Overview

In a series of dynamic conversations, renowned authors and leading faculty at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) Brockett Horne and Ellen Lupton will introduce you to fascinating people and processes that changed the way we communicate.

Where did graphic design come from, and where will it go next? This fast-paced introduction to graphic design history, the first course of our two-part program Graphic Design History and Methods, will change your understanding of everything from fonts and letterforms to posters and brands. Discover how printers revolutionized society when they created open access to information. Explore the visual systems that inform graphic design practice—from handwritten alphabets to online publications. Learn how avant-garde artists, architects, poets, and painters shook the world by reinventing mass media. Pursue the dream of a unified civilization held together by neutral typefaces, international pictograms, and global brands—and see how subcultures rebelled against cultural uniformity by forging their own visual identities. Thinking about history will open your eyes to new ideas and diverse practices.

Test your knowledge with short quizzes, and stretch your own design practice by responding to inspiring creative prompts.



What students are saying:


"Ellen Lupton and Brockett Horne's creative collaboration makes this lecture series both engaging and entertaining (while still being educational, of course). The assignments were well thought out, and lots of fun. Thank you for such a terrific course! :D "


"Good course to get a handle on graphic design. I am a musician but enjoyed taking this course to learn more about how to make album art work and posters for my shows. The two teachers were great to watch together and motivated me to keep learning."

Syllabus

  • Cultural Revolutions
    • This session will discuss the role of design in several Civil Rights movements like women’s right to vote, marriage equality, equality for African Americans, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  • Origins of Text and Graphic Design
    • In this session we'll go over the interconnected history of text (from books to posters) and graphic design With concepts like pictographs, ideographs, phonetic symbols, we’ll see how text plays a significant role in graphic design.
  • Liberated Styles of the Late 1800s
    • This session discusses how designers advocated for reform in design and production methods through newfound modes of expression like handcrafted work, Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, to the object posters of Lucian Bernhard.
  • Avant-Garde: New Representations in Objects and Space
    • In this session we’ll see how graphic designers dissected and utilized techniques from the art movements of Cubism, Futurism and Dada and transform them into cohesive posters and advertisements.
  • Mechanical Abstractions and Photomontage
    • This session discusses the rise of constructivism and how it challenged viewers to interpret more abstract forms in design. Conversely, the figurative images of photomontage also influenced designs to be expressed more precisely.
  • Practicality in Typography
    • This session explores how typefaces adopted geometric forms based on the previous modernist art movements we've mentioned so far.
  • International Styles
    • In this session, we’ll discover how designs were able to communicate across a world languages through universal forms and express more post-modern values.

Taught by

Brockett Horne and Ellen Lupton

Tags

Reviews

4.4 rating, based on 14 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Introduction to Graphic Design

  • Anonymous
    Ellen Lupton and Brockett Horne's creative collaboration makes this lecture series both engaging and entertaining (while still being educational, of course). The assignments were well thought out, and lots of fun. Thank you for such a terrific course! :D
  • Profile image for Laura Son
    Laura Son
    Although there were some technical difficulties, I am happy to say that I enjoy creating the projects in this course, while studying different periods of history related to Graphic Design, such as cubism, dada, art nouveau, art deco, etc. I would like to complain, however, about the peer assessments. Even though I did fill out every box with feedback, it would not allow me to submit it.
  • Anonymous
    This was a a great way for me to start my design career. I always wanted to take these type of courses in Uni, but never had the time in my schedule. Great to learn about MICA and how they teach this subject in America. Also took a class from Cornish at the same time on Kadenze. Both courses were very high quality.
  • Luz Corona
    I really enjoy this class like in every class I have take with kadenze teachers are grate fun easy to follow and the information that we get is all pretty updated if you really want to take the class here you will be pleasantly surprise
  • Anonymous
    An excellent and entertaining historical overview delivered with humor and personality. I must admit to favoritism: I very much enjoyed my several years at MICA as a continuing ed student.
  • Anonymous
    This course has pop ups to make sure you are paying attention, and unfortunately these jammed things up on my device. Secondly, there are too many locked lectures which feels like financial discrimination to me. Otherwise, I enjoyed the instructors and the lectures were professional.
  • Anonymous
    Good course to get a handle on graphic design. I am a musician but enjoyed taking this course to learn more about how to make album art work and posters for my shows. The two teachers were great to watch together and motivated me to keep learning.
  • Laila Rotter Schmidt
    It was absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much for the oportunity to watch these classes. Easy to understand and full of rich exemples.
  • Anonymous
    This is a fantastic course. I really like how the two teachers interact with each other. I am also learning a lot from watching the other students work in the gallery.
  • Anonymous
    positive lecturers! exciting and enjoyable to listen to. tests during the video add excitement to the training. thank you!
  • Anonymous
    The presenters were good; the pace was very fast (often too fast). With the FREE option, I knew at signup that I would only be able to listen to the lectures included in each session, and that I would not be able to access "premium" material. What I didn't realize was that even some the lectures were "premium" material. Basically, with the FREE option, I was able to listen to only half the lecture material in the course. Yes, you get what you pay for, but I think it should be made much clearer at the outset that free users will be seeing only a portion of the lectures that make up the basic structure of the course. It was very disappointing, and I will not be using this website again.
  • Anonymous
    They're very fun together. There's a lot of references and content but they taught in a very accessible way. Thank you for the opportunity :)
  • Anonymous
    The pace of the class itself was wonderful and educational. I would suggest it to anyone interested in learning the history of graphic design.
  • Adrienn Varga
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