Visual Culture and Design

LCC 6311 | Fall 2009 | DiSalvo

Instructor: Carl DiSalvo

Office: Skiles 013
Office Hours: Mondays 9-10am, Wednesdays 4-5pm
Email: carl.disalvo@lcc.gatech.edu
TA: Tanyoung Kim
Email: tanykim@gatech.edu

Class Meetings: Mondays & Wednesdays 10:05 – 11:55am, Skiles 02

Lab: Friday, 11:05 – 11:55am, Skiles 346

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course takes on two related topics: visual culture and visual design. By visual culture we
mean the myriad of “seen” representations and expressions that make-up our environment.
Examples of visual culture include advertising, scientific imagery, voting ballots, graffiti and
software interfaces for work and play. By visual design we mean the intentional construction
of these representations and expressions. That is, visual design is concerned with sculpting
the “seen” and its meaning and effect. In particular, this course focuses on visual culture and
design as it relates to digital media. Through a series of design assignments, readings and
discussions you will jointly develop aesthetic skills and critical perspectives on how visual
representations and expressions in digital media embody and interpret societal beliefs,
customs and practices, and suggest and guide courses of action. In parallel with the design
assignments, there are substantive readings and discussions related to the weekly subjects
and project themes. The readings draw from scholars in visual culture and design studies
and the projects reviewed span historical and contemporary designers and artists in a variety
of media. In addition to two weekly seminars/critiques there is a weekly lab during which you
will develop your technical skills in digital media as applied to the design assignments.

LCC 6311 | Visual Culture and Design | Fall 2009 | DiSalvo 1

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After taking this course you should be able to:
• Create more compelling visual compositions for digital media, informed by a
working knowledge of the basic elements and structures of visual design
• Use the theories and works presented in this course to frame and support
discussions and critiques of contemporary visual culture, particularly objects
of digital media
Put another way, you should be able to “do” and “think about” contemporary visual culture
and design in a more skilled, knowledgeable and critical manner, and this should further your
capabilities as both digital media producers and scholars.

GRADING
The total grade for the class will be based upon the following factors and weights:
30% Project I
30% Project II
40% Project III

ATTENDENCE & PARTICIPATION

Class attendance and participation is mandatory. Participation in class discussion is
imperative because it allows you to explore the texts and themes collaboratively, and in the
process, discover meanings and issues that you probably would not discover on your own.
Participation in class also challenges you to continuously question, refine and articulate your
own ideas and interpretations.
In addition, much of this class is based in critiques, which require full participation and
cannot be replicated outside of class. Critiques are a central aspect of a studio culture.
Extensive teaching and learning occur through critiques: it is through critiques that you will
develop your skills for both making and discussion of the made.

Missing more than 3 classes will result in a loss of 1 letter grade.

REQUIRED TEXTS
You are required to purchase the following books. Other texts will be provided to you either
as print-outs or pdfs. These books are available from a variety of online booksellers and from
the GA Tech bookstore.
Thinking with Type, Lupton
Graphic Design: The New Basics, Lupton

LCC 6311 | Visual Culture and Design | Fall 2009 | DiSalvo 2

COURSE SCHEDULE:
What follows is an outline for the course. As the course progresses, we may adjust this
outline and corresponding dates, but unless specifically stated in class, you should assume
this schedule is current and accurate.

INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN AND DESIGN CULTURE

August 19 Design and Contemporary Visual Culture
“Good Design in The Digital Age”, Buchanan
“From Visual Culture to Design Culture”, Julier
“Arts Little Brother”, Poyner (from Design and Art)
or http://tinyurl.com/qmck58 – optional

VISUALIZATION AND THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF VISUAL DESIGN

August 24 The Basic Elements Visual Design
Primer of Visual Literacy, Basic Elements (Ch3), Dondis
Primer of Visual Literacy, Visual Techniques (Ch6), Dondis

August 26 Visualization I
“Critical Visualization”, Hall
“Data Visualization as New Abstraction and Anti-Sublime”, Manovich
http://www.manovich.net/DOCS/data_art.doc

August 31 TBD
Graphic Design: The New Basics, “Point, Line, Plane”, Lupton
Graphic Design: The New Basics, “Rhythm and Balance”, Lupton
Graphic Design: The New Basics, “Scale”, Lupton
“Color and Information”, Tufte (from Envisioning Information)
Graphic Design: The New Basics, “Color”, Lupton

September 2 TBD

September 7 No Class – Holiday

September 9 Critique

September 14 Visualization II
“Art Against Information”, Whitelaw
http://journal.fibreculture.org/issue11/issue11_whitelaw.html
“The Aesthetics of Information Visualization”, Sack
http://hybrid.ucsc.edu/socialComputingLab/Publications/wsack-
infoaesthetics-illustrated.doc.

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September 16 Critique

September 21 Typography
Thinking with Type, Text (Ch2), Lupton
Thinking with Type, Grid (Ch3), Lupton
Graphic Design: The New Basics, “Hierarchy”, Lupton
Graphic Design: The New Basics, “Grid”, Lupton

September 23 The Image in Visual Design I

“The Rhetoric of the Image”, Barthes
“Iconoclash”, Latour
“An Interview with Barbara Kruger”, Mitchell

September 28 Presentations

September 30 Presentations

October 5 No Class – Fall Semester Break

October 7 The Image in Visual Design II

Graphic Design: The New Basics, “Framing”, Lupton
Graphic Design: The New Basics, “Time and Motion”, Lupton
In class screenings and discussions of:
La Jetée, Marker
Powers of Ten & A Computer Glossary Eames

October 12 Critique

October 14 Design Authorship

“The Designer as Author”, Rock
http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=30&fid=258
“The Death of the Author”, Barthes
“The Artist as Producer”, Benjamin
“What is an Author”, Foucault – optional
http://www.scribd.com/doc/10268982/Foucault-What-is-an-Author

October 19 Critique

October 21 TBD

October 26 Presentations

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October 28 Presentations

November 2 Maps and Mapping I

This American Life, Episode 110 “Mapping”
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=110
Graphic Design: The New Basics, “Layers”, Lupton
Graphic Design: The New Basics, “Transparency”, Lupton

November 4 Maps and Mapping II

“An Introduction to Critical Cartography”, Crampton & Krygier,
http://www.acme-journal.org/vol4/JWCJK.pdf
“Taking a Scientific Approach to Improving Map Representation &
Design” MacEachren (from How Maps Work)

November 9 Critique

November 11 Critique

November 16 Towards Interaction (Criticism)

“Interaction as Aesthetic Event”, Manovich,
http://www.manovich.net/DOCS/TATE_lecture.doc
“Interaction in Information Visualization”, Yi, et al
“Two Selection by Brenda Laurel”, Laurel (from New Media Reader)
“Interaction Criticism and Aesthetics”, Barzdell
available from ACM Digital Library – optional

November 18 Documentation as Design Product

November 23 Critique

November 25 Critique

November 30 TBD

December 02 TBD

LCC 6311 | Visual Culture and Design | Fall 2009 | DiSalvo 5

RESOURCES
Blogs
Design Objects
http://designedobjects.blogspot.com/
DesignObserver
http://www.designobserver.com
BLDG
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/
Core 77
http://www.core77.com
Infosthetics
http://infosthetics.com/
New York Times Visualization Lab
http://vizlab.nytimes.com/
Pasta and Vinegar
http://liftlab.com/think/nova/
Rhizome
http://www.rhizome.org/
Walker Art Center, Design blog
http://blogs.walkerart.org/design/
Walker Art Center, New Media Initiative blog
http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/
We Make Money Not Art
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/

Magazines
Eye
Frieze
Good
ICON
I.D. (the design magazine, not the style magazine)
Interactions
Neural
New Yorker (exemplary essays on media and culture)
New York Times, Arts section & Sunday Magazine
Seed

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