Courses

Histories of Designed Things introduces Design students to the key debates and transdisciplinary research methods that inform contemporary approaches to the study of historical designed objects. Drawing on research in critical design studies and related disciplines, the course explores the multiple histories of designed objects and the roles they play in our everyday lives. Integrated with FA/DESN 4103 elective.

This course takes as its primary subject of interrogation the interface, defined broadly. Students will be presented with a series of lenses through which they might understand the inherent power and privilege exercised through the design of a given interface. This course is meant to supplement students’ concurrent work to design the interfaces that will define our world to come. Integrated with FA/DESN 4102 3.0.

An advanced investigation into systems intuitive and learned that support human activities via interactive communication and distribution networks. An understanding of these communication/distribution methods working in reciprocal fashion from users to the computer and back, is presented.

This course focuses on the design of a corporate identity system for an organization. The system will involve the design of graphic identifiers, typography, selected applications and supporting documents.

This course focuses on the design of a corporate identity system for an organization. The system will involve the design of graphic identifiers, typography, selected applications and supporting documents.

Examines the evolution of modern design in East Asia, from its early Western influences to its interaction with traditional East Asian cultures and Western modernism. It explores the adaptation, practice, theory, and discourse of design in the region, fostering a transnational and interdisciplinary understanding of design in the globalized era. Integrated with undergraduate course FA/DESN4101 3.0.

Introduces complex long text document typographic systems for page and screen. Using the design of books, magazines, newspapers, ‘zines, or other forms of publication, this course explores how typography behaves across media. Covers grid structures, comprehensive style sheets, and complex compositional structures. Students learn more advanced features of software for typography and build compelling projects working with multi-layered information. Emphasis is on developing a self-directed narrative that communicates and effectively integrates typography using ebooks, tablet or print. Integrated with FA/DESN 4002 3.0.

Introduces complex long text document typographic systems for page and screen. Using the design of books, magazines, newspapers, ‘zines, or other forms of publication, this course explores how typography behaves across media. Covers grid structures, comprehensive style sheets, and complex compositional structures. Students learn more advanced features of software for typography and build compelling projects working with multi-layered information. Emphasis is on developing a self-directed narrative that communicates and effectively integrates typography using ebooks, tablet or print. Integrated with FA/DESN 4002 3.0.

Examines the role of social media in shaping communications from a technical and social perspective. Through a critical lens, students will navigate social media’s evolution and the impact on practices in everyday life. Additionally, this course will examine the role of social media as an entrepreneurial activity in the arts. Integrated with FA/DESN 4123 3.0.

In recent years corporate leaders, government officials, and media pundits have portrayed the western restructured socioeconomic near-future as a ‘digital’ one, forefronting the centrality of digital technology and the digitization of information to the social, economic, and political changes currently sweeping Canada, as well as the rest of the OECD. In this course, we will examine the ways in which race and gender manifest in the discourses, policy decisions and representations of digital technology in Canada.