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Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

Project Visual Communication 2.b

Semester 1 · 97157 · Bachelor in Design and Art - Major in Design · 19CP · IT · EN · DE


The course provides students with knowledge and skills on in the operational aspects approaches of designwork, methods and theories of visual communication for various functional and experimental fields of application with a focus on the role of the digital media.

Lecturers: Christian Upmeier, Gianluca Seta, Pamela Breda

Teaching Hours: 90+60+30
Lab Hours: 0
Mandatory Attendance: not compulsory, but recommended

Course Topics
Brand design encompasses everything from concept and naming to various forms of creative expression, all media and graphic tasks that make up communication design. We therefore hold several workshops on typography, information graphics, posters, animation, concept and idea development, and exhibition design to create a small cultural event. To this end, we devote ourselves to a specific design task and collaborate with an external partner who supports us in terms of content and practical implementation.

Teaching format
Workshops, lectures, seminars, cooperative learning, feedbacks

Educational objectives
Knowledge and understanding have acquired their own project methodology in the field of visual communication, from the phase of planning to the phase of realisation of the project. have acquired the basic practical and theoretical knowledge necessary to realise a project in the field of visual communication. have acquired the basic knowledge to be able to turn a critical eye to their own work and to deal with contemporary complexity. have acquired the basic knowledge necessary for further Master's studies in all components of project culture as well as in theoretical subjects. Applying knowledge and understanding plan, develop and realise a project in the field of visual communication. be able to finalize the creation of an accomplished project in the field of visual communication, thanks to the basic knowledge acquired in the practical, scientific and theoretical fields. recognise the main phenomena of contemporary society, to observe them critically, also from an ethical and social point of view, and to elaborate appropriate solutions at the level of a design proposal/response. make use of the skills acquired during the course of study in the event of continuing studies in a Master's degree programme in the field of visual communication and to develop them further. Making judgements be able to make independent judgements for the purpose of developing their own design skills and in relation to all those decisions that are necessary to bring a project to completion. be able to make independent judgements, both in the critical evaluation of their own work and in their ability to use the right interpretative tools in those design contexts in which they will work and/or continue their studies, also considering ethical and social aspects. Communication skills present an independently realised project in the field of visual communication in the form of an installation, orally as well as in writing in a professional manner. to professionally communicate and substantiate one’s own decisions and justify them from a formal and theoretical point of view. communicate and present your own project at a professional level in another language and correctly in a third language in addition to their own language. Learning skills have learned a work methodology at a professional level - in the sense of being able to identify, develop and realise solutions to complex problems by applying the knowledge acquired in the practical and theoretical fields - in order to start a professional activity and/or continue their studies with a master's degree program. have developed a creative attitude and learned how to enhance it and develop it according to their own inclinations. have acquired basic knowledge in theoretical and practical subjects as well as a study methodology suitable for continuing studies with a master's degree program.

Assessment
— Final Presentation/Colloquium: [VK] 1) The group project performance and its documentation at the GOG, 2) The individual event identity project on the exam date: The 5-minute presentation covers the concept/reasoning and illustrates the design in a ‹client presentation› (PDF). 3) [DM] The presentation and discussion of one's own work: originality, structure, ability of presentation, clarity, autonomy in the design process, teamwork ability, curiosity to discover news, active participation 4) [TLVC] Active participation + final project (curatorial proposal or critical essay on one of the case studies covered) — Documentation: [VK] 1) A ‹client-presentation› (PDF) of the individual event identity design, containing research, strategy and the design (mock-ups, images of prototypes). 2) [VK/DM] Secondly, a complete documentation of texts, data and high-resolution images onto the project server in TEAMS. [DM] Exercises documented in a PDF. — Final project/final project-prototypes: [VK] application of the individual event identity design in the form of an exhibition poster (50 x 70 cm), [DM] Exercises presented in the atelier. N.B. ALL THE STUDENTS ATTENDING THE EXAM AS NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS MUST AGREE UPON THE CONTENTS WITH THE TEACHER.

Evaluation criteria
The final assessment is based on the exercises in all three modules. There is a single project assessment. Across the modules, the assessment is weighted by workload, with credit points (VK 50%, DM 33%, TLVC 27%). — Sufficiency will be awarded if all class assignments are completed and submitted. — Higher marks will be awarded in relation to the student’s ability to work with intention, identify and address problems, and deliver clean, resolved, and high-quality outcomes. — Laude will be awarded to students who demonstrate exceptional and progressively increasing independence in decision-making and critical reflection, whose work is guided by their own curiosity and initiative.

Required readings

- Bourriaud, N. (2002) Relational Aesthetics. Dijon: Les Presses du Réel.

- Rancière, J. (2009) The Emancipated Spectator. London: Verso.

- Smith, T. (2012) Thinking Contemporary Curating. New York: Independent Curators International.

- Bishop, C. (2012) Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship. London: Verso.

Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

Alberto Cairo, L'arte funzionale. Infografica e visualizzazione delle informazioni, Pearson

Robert Bringhurst, Gli elementi dello stile tipografico, Sylvestre Bonnard

Nina Tecklenburg: Performing Stories, 2014

Kai von Eickels: This Side of the Gathering – The Movement of Acting Collectively, 2010

https://eu.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/leganto/public/39UBZ_INST/lists/24513163380001241?auth=SAML&section=24513393840001241 

Im Rahmen des Kurses werden einige ausgewählte Kapitel und Textabschnitte als Lektüre zugewiesen. 

Selected chapters and excerpts will be assigned during the course.



Supplementary readings

Will be handed out during the course.



Further information
The project comprises four weekend workshops with a theatre maker. These will take place on 17–18 October, 7–8 November, 19–20 December and 16–17 January 2027, running all day. They replace the 110 individual study hours in Module VK.


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Sustainable Development Goals
This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the following Sustainable Development Goals.

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Modules

Semester 1 · 97157A · Bachelor in Design and Art - Major in Design · 8CP · DE

Module A — Visual Communication

The course should provide fundamentals, skills, working methods, theories and practices of Visual communication in diverse functional and experimental scopes.

Lecturers: Christian Upmeier

Teaching Hours: 90
Lab Hours: 0

Course Topics
Where are the values of equality taught? Kindergarten and school are the key places where we learn the rules of coexistence in an equal and democratic society. The aim is to help young people identify with gender equality and democracy and to develop a sense of agency that enables them to make joint decisions and act on an equal footing. And how can design contribute to this sense of agency? Through a participatory approach: in the design process – in this case, the creation of an audio play – and in the performance itself, which allows young people to experience new forms of interaction. Design students meet school pupils and young people: the project aims to create a ‘soundwalk’ – an audio piece, a silent theatre production in which the audio narrative and the instructions woven into it, played through headphones, turn the young people into participants in the piece. It is their piece on equality, to which they themselves – and the design students – contribute. Even the choreographed movement within the space conveys a sense of collective action and, with it, a fundamental experience of equality, which is to be further developed within the narrative and reinforced through performance props. In this project, we are developing this collective performance – an audio and participatory play about equality, its values and rules – with and for young people aged 11–14. Accompanied by thematic introductions and in collaboration with a theatre maker, all participants will work together to develop the audio, its content, the performance props, the idea workshops in schools, as well as the branding and documentation of the ‘Soundwalk’ right up to the performance.

Teaching format
Workshops, lectures, cooperative Learning, seminars and feedbacks

Required readings

Nina Tecklenburg: Performing Stories, 2014

Kai von Eickels: This Side of the Gathering – The Movement of Acting Collectively, 2010

https://eu.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/leganto/public/39UBZ_INST/lists/24513163380001241?auth=SAML&section=24513393840001241 

Selected chapters and excerpts will be assigned during the course.



Supplementary readings

Will be announced during the course.



Semester 1 · 97157B · Bachelor in Design and Art - Major in Design · 6CP · IT

Module B — Digital media

The course teaches the fundamentals, skills, working methods, theories and practices of diverse forms of digital publishing and social media marketing.

Lecturers: Gianluca Seta

Teaching Hours: 60
Lab Hours: 0

Semester 1 · 97157C · Bachelor in Design and Art - Major in Design · 5CP · EN

Module C — Theories and languages of visual communication

The integrated theoretical module provides fundamental overview about scientific methods of contemporary semiology and communication theory.

Lecturers: Pamela Breda

Teaching Hours: 30
Lab Hours: 0

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