⨂ Class overview.
⨂ In a 1500 by 1500 pixel file, using only Illustrator tools and limited to black and white, draw a self-portrait. You can only use your mouse/mousepad (using drawing stylus is forbidden). Avoid making a photorealistic line drawing of yourself through tracing. Instead, try to draw them based on your own aesthetic sensibility and try to incorporate Illustrator effects into the drawing. Aim for unexpected discovery of Illustrator's tools, because the less you know about Illustrator, the better the outcome. After you finish with them, export them as .png or .jpg and then send it to anggarah@vcu.edu.
⨂ Introduce Make-A-Day project. You will be responsible for establishing a daily practice focused on exploring and developing a healthy ritual of making. You will document this daily, generative process on your blog (document them on a new Instagram, Tumblr, or Are.na account), created specifically for this course. Use this as a space to explore and play with making. Use it to interrogate what making can mean. Making can sometimes feel like a whirlwind—try to document your work as you are making and build a catalogue of process for your future self to uncover later. Post the many possible iterations that you are working through—not just the final version. Email me the link to the Instagram/Tumblr/Are.na by the end of today.
⨂ Some examples that somehow tangentially related to this project: Lauren Adolfsen took pictures with people she had never met before; Juan Astasio artificially constructed "smiles" (also known as pareidolia) every day; Hilla Katki photographed herself using a chair in different ways; Ely Kim filmed himself dancing in a different place for 100 days; Jessica Svendsen redesigned a canonical Josef Müller-Brockmann poster according to four criteria: line, circle, movement, and sound.

⨀ For next Thursday, the class will be conducted through Zoom and will be split into 3 groups. You just have to come to your assigned group.
⨀ Identify 5 keywords that will stick with your Make-A-Day project throughout the semester. These keywords are something that you're interested with or are part of you or are simply streams of consciousness that you've been thinking for quite a while. Keywords are important in identifying the main subjects apparent in your work and are critical in determining how relevant a piece of content is to related to your daily experimentation. Keywords should be in their basic form (e.g. singular nouns or infinitive verbs). Be as specific as possible; avoid more general words (e.g. Rather than "fashion", try to find related words that describe the element of fashion that you're interested in: "creases", "folds", or "silhouettes". Rather than "computer", try "harddisk", "printed circuit board", or "90s screensavers"). Be prepared to discuss your keywords to your group.

⨂ The class will be split into 3 small groups. Share your Make-A-Day blogs to your assigned group. Describe each entry and how you did them to your peers. Contrast and compare. What are the interesting approaches/methods/materials that you've encountered? What did you enjoy doing the most? Anything unexpected?
⨂ Introduce Paul Thek's Teaching Notes: 4-Dimensional Design.
⨂ Start working on Thek Responses. Create 5 visual responses to any of the prompts from #1-52 entries in Thek's “Teaching Notes.” One response per prompt. What you do for these first 5 may be used, refined, redone, or discarded in a final, longer series assigned next class. Decide on a visual methodology of documentation that best reveals the qualities within the experimentation that you are interested in. This will vary depending on your works, but here are some means you might consider: xeroxing to highlight shape and contour, scanning (enlarging?) to reveal very precise detail, making a rubbing to emphasize texture, or using a camera if your object is large and/or environmental.
⨂ Things to consider: These are sketches, these are not precious, and follow your impulses.

⨀ Work day in-class. Continue working on the Thek Responses until you have 12 visual responses for different prompt.

⨂ Final presentation of 20 Thek Responses. I'm going to project your works to the class. Be prepared in explaining the rationale behind the visual responses of the prompts that you had chosen.

⨀ Continue making the Make-A-Day project until you have 14 things on your Instagram/Tumblr/Are.na. On Thursday, it'll be a group check-in in which you'll be split into 3 groups. You just have to come to your assigned schedule.

⨂ Perfect binding tutorial with Cassie at Creative Print Bureau (the new name for GOLab).
⨂ Studio time to work on the rest of 12 Thek Responses: 4 Translations of 3 Prompts.
⨂ Show examples of works that have visual consistency.

⨀ I expect by next Thursday you already finished with all the 3 prompts.

⨂ Check-in with your Make-A-Day.
⨂ Show examples of typographical gestures.
⨂ Class exercise, Expressive Typography. Using a maximum of 2 typefaces (you can create your own or using existing typeface), create 2 black and white typographical posters on 8.5" * 11" papers. For the content, we are using the words that you chose for your Make-A-Day project. No illustrations are allowed. However, you can treat your typography as an image. In addition, think about the contrast and harmony of your typeface pairing. Also, even though we're only using two colors, think about using black as white and white as black and also black/white gradients. Can you use drop shadows? Can you use inner/outer glow? Can you use bevel/emboss? How can you think of logic in relation to the visual explorations that you had done so far?

⨂ Check-in with your Make-A-Day.
⨂ In-progress crits for your Expressive Typography project.
⨂ Start to brainstorm what is your container going to be. How are you going to organize your visual exploration? What's the dimension of the material? What's going to be the cover look like? How are you going to bind them? In terms of production, what are the things that you still confused with and what is your plan for the next few weeks?

⨂ Studio time.
⨂ Download Examples, Book Arts in our Canvas under Files. This might be helpful for you to generate ideas on what kind of book forms (cover, size, binding, etc.) that you want to make.
⨂ Watch Irma Boom's The Architecture of The Book. There are a handful of Irma Boom's lectures on YouTube, try to watch/skim a couple of them, she's a legend in bookmaking, you can learn a thing or two from her just by watching her lectures.
⨂ There are a lot of independent publishers that specialize in book arts. Try browsing through their catalogs to get inspirations in regards to experimental book forms. Here are a couple of them: Art Paper Editions, Printed Matter, Valiz, Spector Books, and Sternberg Press
⨂ One-on-one mid-term evaluation.

⨂ Spring break!

⨂ Individual desk critique for your 4-8 design spreads (8-16 pages).
⨂ While waiting for your turn to be critiqued, please do this in-class:
⨠ Watch Anthonny Dunne & Fiona Ruby's Speculative Everything (19:00 - 23:16).
⨠ Write a short statement (300 words) about the concept of your book/container.
⨠ Create a 5 slides Google Slides presentation that consist of: 1. The overall concept of the book/container, 2. Its materiality, 3. Its possible construction (how are you going to bind, what's going to be the front cover/back cover, what's the page dimension, how's the book layout going to be, etc.).
⨠ Share the Google Slides links to my email at Thursday, March 16th 12 noon at the latest.

⨂ Studio time and individual desk critique for how are you going to organize your books/containers.
⨂ While you're waiting for your turn to be critiqued, continue making the content of your books/containers and start to create filler pages (pages that can be created or generated in a quick succession). Are they going to be pages with minimal text in it? Are they going to be rough sketches of the drawing? Are they going to be screencaps of some videos? Try to tie it in to the overall concept of your books/containers.
⨀ For next Thursday, we're going to practice bookbinding (please bring your own stuff and you just have to choose one method to practice).
⨠ If you're going to practice perfect binding, please bring 100 sheets of papers (from printed papers, magazines, old notebooks, etc.; any size, we can homogenize the size using the electronic guillotine) and your own glue brush.
⨠ If you're going to practice coil/spiral binding, please bring 100 sheets of scrap papers as well (again, any size, since we can homogenize the size using the electronic guillotine). The coil/spirals are free for students in the Creative Print Bureau, so you don't have to buy them.
⨠ If you're going to practice sewn binding (there are multiple options that you can choose: coptic stitch, Japanese, crisscross, etc.), please watch Sea Lemon's tutorials before you go to the class. Please bring 20 sheets of scrap papers, sewing threads, sewing needles, an awl (the thing to make holes in the signatures), a ruler, and a knife.

⨂ Guest lecture from Bianca Ibarlucea about book structure/production.
⨂ 24 pages due.

⨂ 100 pages due.
⨂ Only come to the assigned schedule:
⨠ 02:00 PM - 02:20 PM Kristin
⨠ 02:25 PM - 02:45 PM Carlee
⨠ 02:50 PM - 03:10 PM Natalie
⨠ 03:15 PM - 03:35 PM Tristan
⨠ 03:40 PM - 04:00 PM Alyssa
⨠ 04:05 PM - 04:25 PM Christopher
⨠ 04:30 PM - 04:50 PM Connor
⨠ 04:55 PM - 05:10 PM Simera

⨂ 200 pages due.
⨂ Revisit your artist statement about the book/container that you're making. Now, try to rethink what you want to convey with your project. A good artist statement provides a sense of clarity about the project without having to be didactic and overdescriptive.
⨂ Read Laurel Schwulst's "My Website is a shifting house next to a river of knowledge. What could yours be?" This essay specifically talks about what sort of forms that websites could take. Try to think about this and implement why you want to make this book/container in the first place.
⨂ Show examples by Tuan Quoc Pham about poetic sensibility.
⨂ Rewrite your artist statements and we will all read them together on Thursday.
⨂ Studio time.

⨂ By the end of this week, all pages (digitally) are due. Next week I'll have final check-in with you and I expect to see printed materials by next week. Please budget your time accordingly in terms of production time. If you're printing through printing service (Creative Print Bureau, Staples, etc.), you cannot ask them to do the printing the day before critique and expect them to have the print ready the d-day (it's generally considered rude).
⨂ Show examples of documentations of print publication.
⨂ Brainstorm ideas of how your book/container is going to be documented. Try to think a) what sort of physical environment that you're going to document the book/container in (e.g. if your book is talking about water, the backdrop is a pool), b) what kind of details that you want to magnify from your book/container (e.g. if your book has reflective quality, you are showcasing that reflection by tilting the book in certain angle), c) what sort of logistics that you need to document your book (e.g. if you're going to flip the book, are you going to use a tripod to place the camera?).
⨂ Try to finish writing your artist statement by Thursday, I'm going to check-in on Thursday to do the final edit of your artist statement.
⨂ Friendly reminder, our final critique is on May 2nd, but since you have to do the documentation, that means you have to have your book before May 2nd.
⨂ Studio time!

⨂ Final check-in of digital files.
⨂ Studio time!

⨂ Final critique and snacks!

⨁ VCUarts GOlab's print ready guide.
⨁ The Workshop, VCU's makerspace in the library.
⨁ All required readings will be available on this website or Canvas.

The departmental faculty have drafted a revised attendance policy, carefully considering the challenges and realities of holding classes in different spaces and in fractured time frames.

The standard VCU attendance policy states that student absences during the semester are not expected to exceed the number of times the class meets in one week. Our department has adopted a revised policy that addresses larger issues of expected engagement in a course. Consistent engagement is a vital component of successful completion of course objectives. The progression of this course requires all participants to be present and actively engaged in class, both during synchronous on-screen meetings, in person, and with asynchronous activities. Consistency of engagement is vital for successful completion of the course objectives. Each of us carries different circumstances and capacities; we are accountable for our own agency. This is always true, but especially crucial now. We are a community.

Be present for this class; participate consistently in the regular give-and-take of the classroom environment; be willing to share thoughts and experiences, as well as willing to actively listen to the thoughts and experiences of others.

Asynchronous engagement is equally important for your success in this course. If at any point during the semester you are unable to be present, communicate this clearly with me in a timely manner. Think about the manners in which you feel you will be able to be fully present and active with your community—this may differ from how others respond.

This class operates on the principle of charity, respect, and good faith. The responsibility to uphold and bolster these principles falls equally on all members of the class. Active listening is as important as active participation, please be gracious and generous with both. Connecting with peers is encouraged but does not substitute for communicating with the instructor directly. Contact me as soon as possible prior to, or after you miss a class. It is your responsibility to make-up for missing work.