California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)  
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Project. Motion Type

Purpose. Introduction to expressive typography in a time-based environment for third-year students.

Assignment. Design a typographic motion piece using a song phrase as content. Use After Effects to create the work.

Part 1. Make expressive typographic composition of your single phrase to fit on a page 14.2 X 8.8 inches (36.1 X 22.3 centimeters) (1024 x 768 pixels).

Part 2. Your typographic composition will now become a keyframe in your motion piece.

Design what happens before or after or both. Use color and motion. No other elements. Sound is encouraged. Because of time, don’t go overboard. Short. Sweet. Beautiful. And apply everything you know about good typography. Anything from 10 seconds or more is fine, but there must be a beginning, climax, and resolution.

Begin by storyboarding 3 different options.

Part 3. Rough cut.

Part 4. Final movie

Format. 14.2 X 8.8 inches (36.1 X 22.3 centimeters) (1024 pixels x 768 pixels)

Time. 10 weeks, 16 lessons a week
 
   
Louise Sandhaus is a design educator and practitioner. She is the former Director of the Graphic Design Program at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and is currently full-time faculty. Her design office, LSD, frequently partners with Durfee|Regn Architects to realize complex interpretive exhibitions. Their clients include Target, the Los County Museum of Art, International Center for Photography, and the UCLA Hammer Museum among others. Louise’s work and writing have appeared in numerous publications including Step, PRINT, Eye, Metropolis, and Émigré, and PRINT. She has organized notable design education conferences including Co-Organizing AIGA Schools of Thoughts I, II, and III.
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Gail Swanlund's work has been exhibited internationally, most recently in Brno, Czech Republic; by the Mois du Graphisme d’Échirolles, “California Dream;” and at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the exhibition, “Belles Lettres” http://www.sfmoma.org. She has been recognized by the ACD, AIGA, and TDC; her work is published in numerous design anthologies. Swanlund cut her teeth writing for the experimental and influential typography journal Émigré http://www.emigre.com, and currently writes for various design publications. Jon Sueda and Swanlund are co-founders of the design studio Stripe, based in Los Angeles. Swanlund is co-director and faculty in the design program at CalArts.

www.calarts.edu

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