"First Semester Portfolio" Assignment

Mr. Michael Delahunt

Graphic Design 1 & 2
First Semester Portfolio

Deadline: Thursday, December 20th.

On the syllabus handed to you the first day of class was a list of "What you'll need to get / bring," that included:

"Itoya Portfolio [brand and product name] -- a book in which you will bind examples of your work printed on 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper. This will be graded."

Mr. Delahunt has purchased one of these for each graphic design student, and will give one to you.

With this binder, create a portfolio of your work -- a collection of your best work of the first semester. Be very careful to note the specifications listed below for what must be included and where. Be sure to note the date of the deadline by which you must submit your portfolio for a grade.

Assignment: In your Itoya Portfolio (pictured above), create a collection of your best work of the first semester which satisfies all of the following specifications.

Specifications:

1. Your Itoya Portfolio has a backloading bordered cover window and 24 clear plastic sleeves, each of which can display two pages -- each sleeve has a clear front and back side. You will use the first 12 sleeves for first semester work, and save the second 12 sleeves for second semester work.

2. Create one new design: a page which will be the cover of your portfolio. Its design should exemplify what you can do in graphic design, displaying its title Graphic Design Portfolio: First Semester, your full name (first and last), period number, and Pinnacle High School.

3. In the very first of the 24 pages you put into the first 12 sleeves will be a "Contents" page on which you list each of the works displayed on the pages to follow. Order your list of these 23 works in the same order in which you created them. Note each work as having the title of the assignment followed by a sentence in which you further describe what you designed, how, and why.

4. Here are two lists of the titles of assignments you were given during this semester. Include in your portfolio at least ten works from each list:

20 pages of analog produced designs
(hand drawn, with pencil on paper):

Overlapping Shapes
Composition with Shapes
Volumetric Shapes
Optical Illusion
Linear Movement
Linear Arabesques (3 pages)
Positive and Negative Shapes
Color and Symmetrical Balance
Color and Asymmetrical Balance
Onomatopoeia (4 pages)
Word Design
Letter Spacing
Design Ampersands (2 pages)
Alphabet Design

21 pages of digitally produced designs
(computerized, printed on paper):

Design posters to advertise events during Spirit Week at Pinnacle High School (1-2 pages)
Star Gumball Company Advertisements (2 pages)
Invitations to Gender-Specific Events (2 pages)
Halloween Scary Picture
Alter a Photo of a Family Member (3 pages)
Find, learn, and teach a "PhotoShop trick"
Design Three Logos (3 pages)
Design Stationery (7 pages, 3 business cards on one page)
Cover and Contents pages for the Portfolio (2 pages)

5. These lists include more than 40 pages you have designed -- many more than the 25 required to fill your portfolio. In choosing at least ten pages from each list, how should you choose the best 25 pages to include (and which to exclude)?

For the highest grade possible, choose the pieces of work that will most strongly demonstrate how well it has:

satisfied specifications for assignments
used the full range of elements and principles of design
used craftsmanship with both analog and digital media
achieved unique solutions
met high visual standards

You may include both works that have already been graded and work that hasn't. Remove grading report slips from works that have slips stapled onto them. Submit your portfolio to Mr. Delahunt by the end of class on the due date: Thursday, December 20th.

6. What if you've lost or thrown away or damaged some of your work?

Another direction given in the syllabus, and often repeated in class by Mr. Delahunt: Maintain and bring to every class a "Graphic Design notebook" in which you save all of your handouts and every piece of your work of the entire semester.

If you have not saved enough work from which to select pieces for your portfolio, the only recourse you have, if you are going to get a good grade, is to produce some of them again!

Deadline: Thursday, December 20th

Return to Graphic Design Course

ArtLex has thousands of articles about art terms used in art production, art criticism, art history, aesthetics, and art education. I created ArtLex for my students, to help them increase their understanding of art concepts, readings, writings, and conversations. Some of the hyperlinks found on the pages about my elementary art program will take you to ArtLex articles about terms on these pages.

I have taught art at three elementary schools in the Paradise Valley Unified School district (northeastern Phoenix and north Scottsdale) from 1986-. I began publishing information about my classes on the Web in 1995. I taught at Pinnacle High School during the 2001-2002 school year, and posted these lessons that year. I will maintain them as time permits.

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