At this writing BBA is not offering remote learning. However, if the situation should change, we will review appropriate guidelines and use the link below

 

To access the Design Zoom class is to use this link: 

Design Class Zoom

 

 

“This course is for students who wish to further their study in the design field. Students create a proposal for a self-designed and self-directed project that shows a significant and sustained meaningful investigation into some aspect of design. These projects may be interdisciplinary (involving other subjects or classes) or a focused exploration of a specific design discipline, skill or design challenge. Alternatively students may work within a more structured environment on projects developed by the teacher.”

 

Learning Outcomes

Students will:

• develop the ability to design, self-direct, and manage their own learning.
• explore a subject they are interested in and gain a greater understanding of it.
• connect critical thinking and research to their art/design studio work.
• connect their art/design studio work to larger societal issues.
• develop specific skills and techniques and conceptual approaches  in pursuit of their stated goals and vision.
• integrate reflection and critique (both group and individual) into their process.

The Project(s)

There are two main components to your study: first is a Visual Culture research project and second is a Studio Based Art/Design project. These two aspects of your study ideally should  inform each other. Although you will be asked to make a plan, it is understood that your projects may evolve over the duration of the course, albeit doing so in a somewhat  logical fashion.

 

Create your proposal for both the Visual Culture Research Project and the Art/Design Studio Project by addressing the prompts in the appropriate sections below. Please submit these in a single google doc and share it with me - please give me editing permission. Once it has been approved, post your proposal on your google site.

 

Your Google Site

All students will create and maintain a Google site that is shared with me. All of the work that you do should be posted on the site. See the workflow page of the BBAdesign website for details on setting up your site.

https://bbadesign.jimdofree.com/workflow/

 

Selecting the subject of your projects:

This is a challenging and essential task. Crafting your project proposals will take some time, effort, and perseverance. It is challenging because someone else is not telling you what you should learn; rather, you are deciding for yourself. The creation of the project proposals will be supported and guided by your teacher.You may propose a single project for the duration of the course, or two smaller ones (one for each half of the semester, or year if a year long class).If you choose to do two smaller projects you may defer the second proposal until the mid term. 

If a project proposal is not presented and approved within the specified period of time (approximately the first two weeks of class), then the possibility exists for the student to be re-assigned to the foundation level art/design class or asked to withdraw from the course.

 

Visual Culture* Research Project

 

This is a writing and research component of your study. You will choose a research topic/question.  This study should ideally enrich and inform the ideas you are exploring in the Visual Art/Design Studio component. You will submit a proposal for your research that will be guided and approved by the teacher. Your project will consist an exploratory essay(s)* (a minimum of 5-6 paragraphs in length), in addition, you will provide an annotated bibliography of a minimum of 5 sources - at least two of which must be books. To create your proposal for this project, please respond to the following prompts:

 

• Describe your research project and your goals for the project and formulate a basic question or topic which you would like to explore. 
• Why do you want to do this project? How does it make sense in relation to your art/design project? 
•  Submit a preliminary annotated bibliography of 5 possible sources  you may use in your project. This will change and evolve over the  course of your project but you need to start somewhere!

* What is Visual Culture”

Visual Culture is the interdisciplinary study of all things visual in a given society (historical and/or contemporary). It is often included in the study of the humanities and social sciences including  such disciplines as sociology, anthropology, media studies and art history.  It includes: traditional forms of “high or official” culture  such painting, sculpture, architecture, theater, dance  and the like, but also of so-called  “low or popular” culture including: popular music and fashion, “outsider” art, consumer products, the visual aspect of sporting events, video and film, advertisements etc. Most importantly, Visual Culture Studies embodies the maxim, “ the eye is never innocent”, and critically examines the relationship between power and culture.

 

“Visual culture [… focuses] on questions of what is made visible, who sees what, how seeing, knowing and power are interrelated.”

 

Eilean Hooper-Greenhill

 

“What we see and the matter in which we see it is not simply natural ability. It is rather intimately linked with the ways that our society has, over time, arranged its forms of knowledge, its strategies of power and its systems of desire.”

 

Chis Jenks

 

 

*What is an exploratory essay?

“... the exploratory essay prefers to probe connections. Exploring links between personal life, cultural patterns, and the natural world, this essay leaves space for readers to reflect on their own experience, and invites them into a conversation..."

(James J. Farrell, The Nature of College. Milkweed, 2010)

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-an-exploratory-essay-1690623

https://www.referencepointsoftware.com/the-primary-structure-for-an-exploratory-essay/

 https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/exploratory_papers/organizing_an_exploratory_essay.html

 Art/Design Studio Project

 

This is the “making” component of the project, dependent on your own personal goals and interests. This may take many forms and  can involve any form or media, as long as it is within the capacity of the school to support it adequately, and is achievable with your level of skill and experience. The work you do in the Studio Project will hopefully be enriched and be given strong direction and focus, from the Visual Culture study. Describe your project proposal by responding to the following prompts:

 

• Provide a brief overview of your project and your goals for your work
• What design discipline, medium(s), technique(s), subject matter would you explore?
• What specific skills would you like to acquire or improve?
• What will you produce as a result of this project?
• Why and how is your work important to you personally AND in terms of its relationship to society?
• Provide a preliminary timeline for your project.

 

 .  WHAT TO DO?!

   Some things you can consider when creating your proposal:

 

• Choose something that truly interests you, but also something that in its scope and scale is doable within the limitations of  your time, resources, and abilities. It is good to challenge yourself by going beyond what you're comfortable with, but within reason!
• Choose a project that is connected to some larger social or cultural issue that you care about such as: the environment, racial or social equality, poverty, human rights, identity etc. How can you help to address, and/or propose solutions to, these challenges by using art or design?
• Explore a specific design discipline. This approach will allow for a general exploration of the possibilities within a specific field of design. 
• Focus on learning a specific piece of software, hardware, skill, or technique that relates to the design field you are interested in. You could focus on one or more. 
• Explore a specific material or materials. What are they capable of, how can they be used in solving design problems, how can they be manipulated to offer new and creative possibilities.
• Students who are planning to apply to art/design college may use their project to further develop and refine their portfolio or to work on specific application assignments.
• Choose to collaborate with other students on an interdisciplinary exploration. For example: Science/math/design, or humanities and design, or one that combines multiple art forms: music, drama, dance, animation, etc. These projects can include students who are not enrolled in the class, with the permission of the instructor.

 

Remember, the purpose of this course is to advance your learning in a way that is meaningful to you! It will be critical to the success of your study that your choices have some kind of general direction, structure and purpose. You will be expected to maintain the direction and progress of your plan towards meeting your goals. Consider selecting something that might be useful in the next step of your education or career.

Documentation of the process of your VISUAL and STUDIO PROJECTS

 

Sketchbook/Journal

In addition to the documentation you will include on your e-portfolio, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you maintain a sketchbook for the duration of this class. This is an important skill and habit to develop and is a place for you to record your thoughts, experiments, and explorations, as you work on your projects. Keeping a running account of your study will help you to keep track of where you have been and where you might be going. It will also be very useful in the completion of your Visual Culture Project and writing your final artist’s statement.

 

Some things to document:

• sketches - visual brainstorming  
• process drawings
• Images of process and finished prototypes (often models but also drawings) 
• any research you have conducted (photographs, notes, links etc.)
• any reflective writing (I encourage you to keep a running record of your thoughts and feelings as you work through your project)

ASSESSMENT OF YOUR VISUAL AND STUDIO PROJECTS

Your projects will be assessed weekly, in the following manner:

 

Goals for the week - graded activity 20%

The expectation is that on or before every MONDAY you will turn in your goals for the week. Your goal or goals should be written out and be reasonable, specific, and clearly stated. They should reflect what you HOPE to accomplish over the course of the week. The number of goals is not as important as setting out a reasonable and engaging plan for the week, and then doing your best to follow your plan.

 

Workflow:

•  Create and post your goals for the week in your e-portfolio.
•  Submit your goals from your e-portfolio into the appropriate assignment  in OnCampus, by copying and pasting the link into the submit text box NOT the submit files box.
• I will check your assignment and communicate with you by writing or in person. My written comments will be in the  comments section where you see your grade. Please read these!

 

Evaluation of Goal(s) for the week:

•  Well thought out, specific, clearly stated and achievable  95/A
•  General, understandable, and achievable   85/B
•   Incomplete, unclear, unrealistic, too vague   75/C
•   No evidence – 40/F

 

 

 

 

Project Progress for the week - project grade 50%

The expectation for everyone is that you will submit any and all work that you have done over the course of the week on FRIDAY by the end of the school day for that week. Document your work for the week in a way that is appropriate to what you have accomplished. Often this will be an image(s), or links with an accompanying descriptions. If you have done some reading or research as part of your work on the Visual Culture project, then some kind of brief summary or annotation of sources of that should be included. A general summary of your efforts for the week is also required. Address these questions:

• Did you meet your goals? Why or why not?
• What challenges did you face?
• What’s next?

 

 

Workflow:

• Create and post your project work for the week in your e-portfolio
• Submit from your e-portfolio into the assignment in OnCampus, by copying and pasting the link into the submit text box NOT the submit files box
• I will check your assignment and communicate with you by writing or in person. My written comments will be in the comments section where you see your grade. Please read these! We will also discuss your work during class meetings with the other members of your class.

 

Evaluation of Project Progress.

• Significant progress is evident, well documented, summarized and submitted on time -  95/A
• Progress is evident, some documentation, submitted on time - 85/B
• Little progress is evident, little or no documentation, not summarized, late - 75/C
• No evidence  - 0/F

 

 

FINAL PRESENTATION OF YOUR WORK

At the end of the term you will make a final presentation of your work which includes, The Studio Project, your final Visual Culture Exploration Essay, and an Artist’s statement. 

Habits of learning - 30% (assessed at the midterm and end of course)

These are the important transferable skills that are applicable to all walks of life and speak to the whole person’s growth and development. 

The BBA Habits of Learning are:

• Preparedness: BBA students complete tasks in a timely manner and with attention to detail.
• Participation: BBA students collaborate and engage with learning and others with respect, care, and curiosity.
• Perseverance: BBA students push through challenges by seeking and using feedback and by taking constructive risks. 
• Self-reflection: BBA students set goals actively self-reflect on their progress, and collect evidence of their learning.