GRAPHIC DESIGN UNIT

PLAN
Lesson #1 Minimalism and Graphic Design Through
History
Lesson #2 Text in Design
Lesson #3 Colour and stenciling
Lesson 1: Minimalism and Graphic Design
Through History
Name: Emma Turner and Sarah Olsen
Duration: 60 minutes
Unit: Graphic Design
Level: Art 30

GLO: Composition: Use personal experiences as sources for image

making
SLO: The selection and presentation of perceptions, conceptions and
experience as visual content for artworks is an important aim of the
artist.

Objectives:
Students will:
Question the relationship between artistic design and
advertising
Identify examples of minimalist of graphic design within
advertisements/logos
Analyze the elements of art within a graphic

Illustrate a graphic to represent a subject of their choosing

in the minimalist style

Materials:
Sketchbook
Scissors
Magazines
Internet

Introduction: 10 minutes
Slide presentation (PowerPoint) on the history and progression of
graphic design:
 -Start with art nouveau advertisements. Moulin
Rouge: La Goulue is an advertisement for a popular
French club, Moulin Rouge.
-This style was the first major artistic stylistic
movement where mass-produced graphics played a
key role in advertising. Colour printing was relatively
newly introduced to Paris in advertising using
lithographs.
Question: Does artistic style play a role in this
advertisement? How big of a role does graphic
design play in effective advertising?
Art Nouveau
-Inspired by the natural world, with long
Moulin Rouge La flowing lines.
Goulue -The colourful, eye-catching and artistic
Henri De Toulouse- posters of this time created by European and
Lautrec American graphic artists were being published
1891, Lithrograph
in various periodical books. This encouraged
corporations to invest more into advertising
because they realized the value in artistic
integrity.
Questions: What do you notice about these
advertisements?

Art Nouveau was inspired by Japanese

woodblock prints, which appeared in Western
markets mostly in the form of prints when
Jules Cheret trading rights were established with Japan in
La Loie Fuller the 1860s. They were inspired by these prints
1893 because of their reference to the natural world
and its organic form.

Midnight: The Hours of
the Rat; Mother and Sleepy
Child, Edo period (16151868), ca.
1790
Art Deco
- Inspired by geometric shapes, glamorous
and luxurious lifestyles. Influenced by
futuristic ideas.
Questions:
What difference or similarities do you see
between Art Deco and Art Nouveau?
Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, 1753
1806)
A. M. CASSANDRE (1901-1968)
'toile du Nord', 1927
(Compagnie Internationale des
Wagons-Lits Poster)
El Lissitzky
Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge,
1919
Constructivism
- Originated in Russia. Rejected the idea
of autonomous art. It favored art for social
purpose. This movement had emphasis
on graphic and industrial design. It
influenced artists at Bauhaus.
Questions:
-The Bauhaus was a school in Germany
that focused Art into Industry, stressing
the importance of mass production and
design.
De Stijl is a Dutch art movement that
focuses on a reduction of the essentials of
form and colour, they simplified visual
compositions to the vertical and
horizontal directions and used only
primary colours along with black and
white.
Minimalism
Minimalism is a contemporary art
movement that is inspired by movements
such as constructivism, De Stijl, and the
Bauhaus. It is defined by the reduction of
reducing something to its essentials.
The idea is not completely without
ornamentation, but that all parts, details
and joinery are considered as reduced to
a stage where no one can remove
anything further to improve the design.
-
Nave is a collection of artwork that
documents the renaissance of classic
modernism from the 1940s to 1960s in
contemporary graphic design. These
designers find inspiration from stylistic
elements reminiscent of classic graphic
design such as silkscreen printing,
classical typography, hand lettering,
woodcutting and folk art.
Questions: Where do we see
advertising? What do designers need to
Question: How do these images
symbolically represent the band/movie
displayed?
Body: 45 minutes
Student Activity: 10 minutes
After students have been introduced to contemporary graphic design,
have them do a quick 5-10 minute search in magazines to find
minimalist ad designs. After the time allotted, bring students back into
a group and have a discussion on the findings. Use this time to have a
guided discussion on the elements of design (what makes a good
advertisement/design).
Questions: What makes this design minimalist? What do you notice
about the space in the image? What do you notice about line in the
image? How does the text in the design emphasize the image?
Second Activity: 35 minutes
After this exercise, have students take what theyve learned about
graphic design elements and minimalism to come up with an image on
their own. This image will be based off of the students favorite artist,
band, book or movie. They will be designing T-Shirts or posters for this
particular chosen band, book or movie. Students can research current
book, album or poster designs of what they chose on the internet and
get inspiration to re-design from there. They are to 1. Brainstorm a list
of favorite bands/movies/books and choose one 2. Think about the
audience for their design 2. In their sketchbook, come up with 3-5
minimalist symbols/images that they think represent the subject they
chose. 3. For next class, come back with 3 refined images for the next
class.
Closure: 5 minutes
Have students quickly share the thumbnails they have come up with in
class by volunteer. Have the students discuss what design elements
they think are successfully working in their image. Tell students that for
next class they need to have 3 thumbnails refined in their sketchbook
done.

Lesson 2: Text in Design

Name: Emma Turner and Sarah Olsen
Duration: 60 minutes
Unit: Graphic Design
Level: Art 30

GLO: Investigate: Develop and refine drawing skills and styles.

SLO: Explorations of a technical or creative nature may lead
individuals into highly personalized work sessions.

Objectives:
Students will:
Questioning the role of text within
a graphic design/advertisement
Describe the relationship between
text and image
Experiment with typography
Combine text and image to create a
cohesive graphic design

Materials:
Sketchbooks
Fine point felt pens
Various drawing materials

Introduction: 10 minutes
Slide show/discussion on how typography influences design images.
 -To create effective type on an ad you
need to say little and convey a lot. You
need to get the readers attention right
away. (Discuss how the text and images
interact with each other)
Questions: What do you notice about
the typography in this image? Why is
this way of creating letters and words so
interesting and effective?

Coke Lemon

Questions: How does text affect the

image design? How does the text
interact with the image?
-What do you think is important to
consider when using text in graphic
design and minimalist advertising?
(Short, simple, clear, concise, direct)
Toyota

Rogaine

-Who might use typography in their

work?
(Comic book artists, illustrators, graffiti
artists)
BECK with MGMT poster 2008
- How might the specific font affect the
advertisement?

Broken Social Scene poster 2008

Body: 40 minutes
Student Activity: 20 minutes
Students will play/experiment with different fonts in their sketchbook.
Have reference resources available for the students to look at. They
will copy or create their own. Students will be told to play with line
weight, shape, size, and organic and geometric forms.

Activity 2:
Choose your favorite thumbnail design from last class and choose a
font design that will work well with it. Students will play/experiment
with integrating text into image. They will be encouraged to try
different placements, sizes, etc. Their homework will be to come to
class prepared with a finished graphic based on minimalist design that
will be used to make a poster or t-shirt.

Lesson 3: Colour and stenciling

Name: Emma Turner and Sarah Olsen
Duration: 60 minutes
Unit: Graphic Design
Level: Art 30

GLO: Use personal experiences as sources for image making

SLO: Colour modifies the experience or idea presented in visual
form.

Objectives:
Students will:
Assemble a minimalist pallet for their graphic
Design a stencil for their graphic
Create a print of their graphic

Materials:
-Oil pastel, pencil crayon, paint
-Sketchbooks
-Pencils
-Manila paper

Introduction: 10 minutes
Start with a slide and discuss the use of colour in these two images.
Use these images to evoke a discussion comparing and contrasting the
use of colour and how it may or may not reflect the content in the
image.

Question: What can you infer about the

content in these images based on the use of
colour? What do you notice about the colour in
minimalist designs in general?
Do certain colours convey different messages
or emotions? How might this be important in
creating a minimalist design?

-Minimalist designs generally have a restricted

colour pallet, are flat, compliment each other
or analogous colour schemes, they can reflect
mood and they achieve unity and balance.

-Show the students previous students work to

so they know what past successes look like.
Show the student both the stencil and the
final result so they can visualize the positive
and negative space that the stencil creates.
Body:
Sketchbook Activity: 20 minutes
Students will experiment with colours in their sketchbooks to create a
few different pallets consisting of 2 or 3 colours excluding black and
white. Explain to students that they should then choose one colour
pallet they will use for their T-Shirt or poster design.

Second Activity: 30 minutes

After 20 minutes, introduce the students to the process of making a
stencil. Have a book of stencils to show students. Explain the
procedure of how to cut out a stencil. Each colour needs a new stencil.
The colour needs to be layered from lightest colour to darkest colour.
Whatever they choose to cut out will be coloured with ink, and be the
positive space in their final print. Students will work on finalizing their
designs and cutting out their stencil.
Tell students for next lesson they need to have their design finalized
and their stencil cut out for printing. They can either print their design
on a T-shirt or
Closure:
Tell students for next lesson they need to have their design finalized
and their stencil cut out for printing. They can either print their design
on a T-shirt or on paper.

Assessment: This unit would have one more lesson after this lesson,
where they would be printing out their designs and writing up a
rationale for their final works.