Overview
This unit will introduce you to fundamental principles and elements of visual design and how these can be applied in digital environments. You will develop an understanding of design as a visual language, become immersed in design thinking, and become proficient in visual communication for digital production. As you develop skills with industry-standard software tools such as Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, you will work individually and collaboratively to create innovative solutions to design problems.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2018
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from "Have Your Say"
Suggestion that the assessment requirements are not sufficiently clear.
Collate the various Workbook and Design Portfolio exercises in to two pdf documents.
- apply fundamental principles and elements of visual design in digital environments
- communicate effectively with others in the process of design and presentation
- develop innovative visual design solutions which combine form and function
- create visual designs using digital technologies and industry-standard software tools
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Practical and Written Assessment - 30% | ||||
| 2 - Practical and Written Assessment - 70% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Practical and Written Assessment - 30% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Practical and Written Assessment - 70% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Adobe Illustrator CC
- Adobe Photoshop CC
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
b.murphy@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Design Elements
Chapter
Hashimoto and Clayton (online text) Chapter 1
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Principles of Design
Chapter
Hashimoto and Clayton (online text) Chapter 2
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Content and Form
Chapter
Hashimoto and Clayton (online text) Chapter 3
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Abstraction - simplification
Chapter
Hashimoto and Clayton (online text) Chapter 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Abstraction: repetition
Chapter
Hashimoto and Clayton (online text) Chapter 5
Events and Submissions/Topic
Submit Assessment Item 1 on Friday
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Abstraction: Line and shape
Chapter
Hashimoto and Clayton (online text) Chapter 6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Abstraction: Type
Chapter
Hashimoto and Clayton (online text) Chapter 7
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Applying abstraction
Chapter
Hashimoto and Clayton (online text) Chapter 8
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Nonobjective Shape
Chapter
Hashimoto and Clayton (online text) Chapter 9
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Value
Chapter
Hashimoto and Clayton (online text) Chapter 10
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Color
Chapter
Hashimoto and Clayton (online text) Chapter 11
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Review
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Submit Assessment Item 2 on Friday
Design Portfolio Due: Week 12 Friday (5 Oct 2018) 11:59 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
On-campus students will have access to a recent version of the Adobe CC suite in the teaching labs. Off campus students will require access to Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. Current CC editions are recommended, but students will be able to complete the course with earlier versions such as CS5 or CS6.
There is a textbook for this course, Visual Design Fundamentals by Hashimoto and Clayton. It is not recommended you purchase a physical copy of the text as it is available online through the CQU Library (here).
You can view the book online. To download a copy of the textbook to your device you may need the Adobe Digital Editions software (found here).
1 Practical and Written Assessment
The first assignment requires you to submit your responses to the Portfolio and Workshop exercises for Week 1 and Week 2.
Assignment submission
- Complete the Portfolio and Workbook exercises from weeks One and Two.
- Create one word file that contains the written components and clear JPG versions of the design projects embedded in it (i.e. use "insert" -> "pictures" in Microsoft Word).
- You only submit the Word file, but you must keep copies of your working .ai files and be ready to provide these to marking staff on request. Failure to do so may lead to deductions.
Week 4 Friday (3 Aug 2018) 11:59 pm AEST
Friday of Week 4
Week 6 Friday (24 Aug 2018)
Friday of Week 6
| Criteria for each practical design component | Marks |
| An exemplary design that represents a thoroughly professional and creative response to the set task | 9 - 10 |
| A sound design that successfully responds to the set task but has an awkward finish or does not demonstrate significant creativity | 7 – 8 |
| A design that meets the requirements of the set task but in a basic manner that does not reflect a sophisticated application of basic design principles | 5 – 6 |
| A generally relevant but inadequate response that disregards some relevant design principles or does not meet all of the set requirements | 3 – 4 |
| Inappropriate response or no submission | 0 - 2 |
| Criteria for each written components | Marks |
| An exemplary response to the set question. Discussion and/or analysis demonstrates very sophisticated understanding and skilful application of design principles and course material | 5 |
| A sound response to the set question. Discussion and/or analysis demonstrates very sound understanding and skilful application of design principles and course material | 3 to 4.5 |
| A basic response to the set question. Discussion and/or analysis demonstrates understanding and application of design principles and course material with little depth or sophistication | 2 to 2.5 |
| An attempt to carry out the required discussion or reflection that does not significantly engage with concepts from the course or is unclear | 1 to 1.5 |
| Inappropriate response or no submission | 0 |
Note: Marks will be deducted if you are unable to supply teaching or marking staff with your working files upon request.
No submission method provided.
- apply fundamental principles and elements of visual design in digital environments
- communicate effectively with others in the process of design and presentation
- develop innovative visual design solutions which combine form and function
- create visual designs using digital technologies and industry-standard software tools
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
2 Practical and Written Assessment
This assignment requires you to submit one Microsoft Word document containing the following sections:
- Portfolio Exercises for assessment: Your choice of four of the Portfolio Exercises from week four onwards. Insert .jpg images of your designs in this section. Title each image.
- Other Portfolio Exercises: The remaining Design Portfolio exercises must be included in this section. Marks will be deducted for any absent exercises or any exercises that have only been carried out in a rudimentary manner.
- Workbook: ALL workbook exercises must be included in this section. Where these exercises require you to produce design work, insert .jpg versions of the designs. Where the exercises ask you to provide hand-sketched work, insert a photograph.
While you are to submit only this one Word document, You must retain copies of all working files (.ai or .psd) and be willing to make these available to markers upon request. Failure to do so may lead to deductions.
Week 12 Friday (5 Oct 2018) 11:59 pm AEST
End of Week 12
Exam Week Monday (15 Oct 2018)
End of Exam Week
| Criteria for each practical design exercise | Marks |
| An exemplary design that represents a thoroughly professional and creative response to the set task | 13 to 15 |
| A sound design that successfully responds to the set task but has an awkward finish or does not demonstrate significant creativity | 10 to 12 |
| A design that meets the requirements of the set task but in a basic manner that does not reflect a sophisticated application of basic design principles | 8 to 11 |
| A generally relevant but inadequate response that disregards some relevant design principles or does not meet all of the set requirements | 4 to 7 |
| Inappropriate response or no submission | 0 to 3 |
| Missing or incomplete portfolio exercise(s) | -1 to -5 |
Further penalties will apply if you are unable to provide a .psd or .ai file to a marker upon request.
| Criteria for completed workbook | Marks |
| Overall, the level of discussion is exemplary and demonstrates an excellent understanding of design principles | 8.5 to 10 |
| The analysis frequently but inconsistently demonstrates an excellent understanding of design principles and an ability to use them in a sophisticated manner to discuss design examples and issues. | 6.5 to 8 |
| Responses consistently represent a sound but not particularly sophisticated understanding of design principles | 5 to 6 |
| Although there is an attempt to respond to the set tasks, there is no significant engagement with relevant concepts from the course material | 2 to 4.5 |
| No submission or submission is difficult to understand or is off-topic. | 1 to 1.5 |
| deductions | |
| Deduction per missing or incomplete exercise | -0.5 to -1 |
No submission method provided.
- apply fundamental principles and elements of visual design in digital environments
- communicate effectively with others in the process of design and presentation
- develop innovative visual design solutions which combine form and function
- create visual designs using digital technologies and industry-standard software tools
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
