CCT250 Technology and Creative Expression Fall 2020 Lesson #3 Assignment:Professor Elizabeth Littlejohn
Save this as a .pdf and upload under your name on Slate and add your discussion posting, please.
Name:
Lesson 3 Readings:
• McSweeney’s Article page 1-8
Intro to ‘Spreadable Media’ by Henry Jenkins, page 1-23
• Article on Typography (Will help you a lot with postcard assignment)
Questions:
- Discussion posting: What does Howard Rheingold mean when he says “become the authority of the text”? Give an online example of someone who has done this successfully in your response to show as a case study and post it as a URL and a brief description. Please write a response here and post it in the discussion group, too.
Mark: /1
- View McSweeney’s TEDTalk:
https://www.ted.com/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school
Describe the different influences on its typography as described by Dave Eggers, as he founded McSweeney’s to “prove the value of print publishing.” How and why did he choose bring fine typography back into the public sphere through online and print publishing?
Mark: /2
- Look at the typography of McSweeney’s http://www.mcsweeneys.net/and embed an image of an example of its design work that you like. Describe what interests you about this image in relation to its typography.
Mark: /2
- Choose a quote that interests you, and that you could visualize as ‘type as metaphor’. Think of a photograph you could take of ‘physical typography’ that could be used as the background for this postcard, and that would support the quote. Include this quote here, and describe this idea for a photograph.
Mark: /2
IMPORTANT: As we continue with this course, start taking photographs with your cellphone that could illustrate your quote. Using your cellphone is a great way to take visual notes on interesting typography- often I see vintage or hand painted store signs with unique typography, and want to keep them on record.
These photographs can be used in your next quiz response, and for an archive to use for your digital currency as an ongoing visual reference for the class. I use my cellphone as a tool to capture design ideas through photographs, and it is a really powerful way to capture images for design projects and document typography as reference.
- Do a Google image search, and find a photograph for a vintage sign that you like with interesting typography. Describe why you like its typography and embed it in your answer. How can typography add so much to design?
Mark: /3
Example: One of the most famous signs in Toronto is that of the Matador, a legendary late night dance hall from WWII that Canadian singer Leonard Cohen sang about in ‘Closing Time’ about the last dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-0lV5qs1Qw
Background of The Matador: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/a-ruckus-at-closing-time/article18146299/
“Originally built in 1914 as a dance hall for Canadian soldiers billeted for duty overseas during First World War, the Matador is as rich architecturally as it is culturally. A vaulted Alhambra-esque ceiling overhangs a sprung oak floor stomped to a silvery patina by the likes of Stompin’ Tom Connors.”
Sadly, there is a fight not to tear down the Matador, and to save it as a music hall, as the City wants to make it into a parking lot.