Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Outcomes for this course require working through multiple drafts of several pieces of writing with time to separate the acts of writing and revising; in addition, the reading outcomes require time to read, reread, reflect, respond, interpret, analyze, and evaluate.
Upon completion of the course with a "C" or better, the student will be able to:

1. Select, design, and produce graphics specifically tailored to a number of different audiences that have diverse educational, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds, and various levels of expertise.

2. Select, design, and produce graphics for various media.

3. Design communications that translate or adapt whole or parts of complex technical communications into graphics for print or online applications.

4. Produce technical documents that exhibit good layout and design principles.

Assessment tasks will include the following†

• Complex graphic projects in print and online that meet the needs of specific audiences
• Active participation in class and in small group activities
Peer evaluation may be incorporated in the assessment process. Other assessment tools may include group and individual presentations and a portfolio review.
 

Course themes, concepts, and issues may include:

• Audience analysis, including designing graphics, layout, and design for audiences whose culture, values, customs, experiences, and ways of thinking may differ from those of the writer
• Color and screening
• Communication design for print or online applications that translates or adapts a whole or
• parts of complex technical communications into graphics such as:

        • Flowcharts
        • Decision trees
        • Decision tables
        • Information tables
        • Matrices
        • Gantt charts
        • Modular design
 

• Contracting and working with clients
• Downloading images from the Web
• Ethics in the use of graphics and writing and copyright law
• Exporting a document to another output device for publishing
• Fonts
• Formatting of manuals using desktop publishing
• Graphic and layout design to increase understanding, efficiency, and accuracy of print and online documents that may be translated or accessed by international users
• Graphic design and layout strategies for different media
• Graphic file types
• Headers and footers
• Headings and captions
• Icons and pictographs
• Image manipulation
• Image scanning
• Ink and paper
• Key caps
• Labels and call outs
• Layout and design of newsletters, brochures, business cards, letterhead stationery
• Lists and columns
• Master pages, page numbering, and libraries
• Photograph manipulation
• Professional portfolios and personal marketing
• Review of manual layout techniques and traditional publishing
• Screen shots
• Service bureaus
• Style sheets
• Text boxes
• Tool palettes
• Typography
• White space

Competencies and Skills
Outcome 1:
a. Analyzing audience, including designing graphics, layout, and design for audiences whose culture, values, customs, experiences, and ways of thinking may differ from those of the writer

b. Designing graphics and layouts to increase the readability and accuracy of print and online documents that may be translated or accessed by international users

Outcome 2:
a. Selecting the appropriate graphic given the content, purpose, audience, and media

b. Designing graphics and layouts for different media

Outcome 3:
a. Selecting the appropriate visual display of textual information (graphic) given the content, purpose, audience, and media

b. Creating graphics that translate text into visuals

Outcome 4:
a. Producing well designed layouts and graphics

b. Manipulating images, photographs, and screen shots

c. Creating graphics and layouts for use in print, online, or both