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Visual Composition (COM1005)

This course is the mandatory prerequisite course for all Com Tech courses that follow in this new curriculum it is the
course to rule all courses! You must pass this course or you cannot do any further Com Tech work and will
be referred to your admin team.
Why study Visual Composition first? Well, hae you taken two pictures of the same basic scene or !roupin! and then
wondered why one looks so much better than the other? "o some ads or isuals or photos or moie scenes isually
#ar you or appeal to your eye and a!ain, you wonder why that is? Chances are that the ones that isually appeal to
you hae followed the basic principles of desi!n well, and they hae also used the elements of desi!n effectiely.
This course$s ob#ectie is for you to learn about these so that you can consistently apply them well in your own
assi!nments throu!hout your time with Com Tech.
Assignment 1 Notes/!enti"#/$escri%e &lements o" $esign Assignment'
%efore startin!, look at a couple of goo! e(amples of this assi!nment completed by past stu!ents. Then, usin!
&oo!le or another search en!ine of your choice or the su!!ested links below, create a 'ower'oint presentation in
which you define(describe the followin! &lements o" $esign in point form )ma* of one sentence each+,
-. .ine
/. .i!ht
0. 1hape )/"+ s.2orm )0"+
3. Te*ture
4. 'erspectie )"epth+
5. Tone ( Value
6. Colour
7. "irection )motion+
8. 9ass )isual wei!ht+
)ere are some suggeste! *e%sites "or in"ormation+ %ut #ou can also use #our o*n nternet researc,ing
s-ills+ or #ou can .isit t,e /o*er/oints t,at Mr0 1outs-# an! create!0
http,((www.#ohnloett.com(test.htm
http,((en.wikipedia.or!(wiki("esi!n:elements:and:principles
http,((www.canleyale.hs.education.nsw.!o.au(Winnin!;/<websites(art(eod.htm
http,((www.princetonol.com(!roups(iad(files(elements/.htm
=nce you hae a definition for each, usin! ima!es off the >nternet or that you find in the CommTech archie or media
samples folder, find one stron! e*ample that demonstrates each of the preiously listed 8 elements. >n a 'ower'oint
presentation, include the 8 ima!es )- per slide+, and for each, label the principle and then describe why it is an
e*cellent e*ample of that element. ?ach slide will contain,
Title
"efinition
?*ample
%rief e*planation of why that e*ample fits
.ink your completed 'ower'oint to your 1tudent @ecord.
Assignment 2 Notes/!enti"#/$escri%e /rinciples o" $esign Assignment'
%efore startin!, look at a couple of goo! e(amples of this assi!nment completed by past stu!ents. Then, usin!
&oo!le or another search en!ine of your choice or the su!!ested links below, create a 'ower'oint presentation in
which you define(describe the followin! /rinciples o" $esign in point form,
-. Aarmony
/. Variety
0. Contrast
3. @epetition )rhythm(pattern+
4. %alance
5. ?mphasis
6. 'roportion )scale+
7. 'ro*imity
8. 1pace )positie and ne!atie+
-<. Bnity
=nce you hae a definition for each, usin! ima!es off the >nternet or that you find in the CommTech archie or media
samples folder, find one stron! e*ample that demonstrates each of the preiously listed -< elements. >n a
'ower'oint presentation, include the -< ima!es )- per slide+, and for each, label the principle and then describe why
it is an e*cellent e*ample of that element. ?ach slide will contain,
Title
"efinition
?*ample
%rief e*planation of why that e*ample fits
$on3t "orget t,at #ou can use #our o*n nternet researc,ing s-ills+ or #ou can .isit t,e /o*er/oints t,at
Mr0 1outs-# an! create!0
.ink your completed 'ower'oint to your 1tudent @ecord.
Assignment 4 /5M 6est to $escri%e &lements an! /rinciples o" $esign'
=pen the lin-e! assignment 0 Bsin! te*tbo*es and arrows )aailable in the Word >C1?@T tab+, for each of the 0
included photo!raphs, label and describe as many elements and principles of desi!n as you can see. This is one
actiity where more definitely is more. Dar!oniEe me to death with all the terms that you think are een done to a little
de!ree in each e*ample.
1ae the document into your C=9-<<4 folder, and hyperlink your completed document to your 1tudent @ecord.
Assignment 7 6#pograp,# $e"initions/6erminolog# mage Assignment'
Bsin! the lin-e! template or a document of your own creation, demonstrate these typo!raphy terms in one
document as you possibly can make fit. You can use Word )>C1?@T arrows and te*tbo*es, etc. with your terms and
definitions+, 'hotoshop or another processin! tool to create this document, and link the finaliEed work document or
.#p! file to your 1tudent @ecord.
You must include the followin! list, and by each, include a 4$ish word definition.
-. Capline
/. Topline
0. %aseline
3. %eardline
4. 9eanline )aka 9idline+
5. Fernin!
6. 1erif
7. Terminal
8. 1ans serif
-<. Gscender
--. "escender
-/. %owl
-0. 1tem
-3. Counter
-4. attention !rabbin! te*ts s readable te*ts
-5. Whitespace
G ery helpful link for most of these terms is at $igital 5e% Maga8ine 0 )We found this link by !oo!lin! Topline
definition and !oo!le su!!ested topline definition typo!raphy, which we selected. The first link they !ae us was
perfectH+ Glso, you can these possi%le samples as your inspiration. >t shows the definitions in conte*t, but isn$t
done like your assi!nment. 1ome student su!!ested links are lin- 1 and lin- 2 0
.ink your completed assi!nment to the correct name in your 1tudent @ecord. .ink your completed assi!nment to the
correct name in your 1tudent @ecord.
Assignment 5 Cop#rig,t Assignment
Throu!hout this CommTech pro!ram, you will be usin! or tempted to use many items that are not of your own
creation as part of creatin! somethin! new. ?*amples are that you mi!ht want to include a contemporary son! as
back!round music to your ideo, or you mi!ht wish to 'hotoshop a picture you find on the >nternet to include with
another photo!raph that you took yourself as an amal!amation. You mi!ht want to upload your assi!nments to an
>nternet website for others to iew, but you hae included pictures of other students.
Aow much can you le!ally do without restriction, and what proper actions do you need to take in order to be able to
actually do these thin!s if they are ille!al without takin! steps like usin! model release forms, hain! people si!n
2=>' release forms, includin! biblio!raphies, etc.?
Bsin! &oo!le or another search en!ine of your choice, find out what your copyri!ht restrictions are with re!ards to
usin! materials that are not of your own creation.
a+ "escribe how you are restricted in re!ards to your use of,
9usic
>ma!es
'hoto!raphs
'hoto!raphs taken of students in an Glberta school(classroom
1ound effects
1ellin! some of your work that includes photos of others
=ther?
b+ Glso, as importantly, discoer what actions you can take to ensure that you CGC use these sorts of materials and
include them in your work. @ealiEe that in most cases there is an appropriate action that you as a photo!rapher
or ideo!rapher or editor can take that makes usin! these materials or performin! these tasks perfectly le!al.
What are those actions for each media form?
9usic
>ma!es
'hoto!raphs
'hoto!raphs taken of students in an Glberta school(classroom
1ound effects
1ellin! some of your work that includes photos of others
=ther?
1tudents su!!est t,is lin- for help with this assi!nment, and our librarian su!!ests t,is lin- for help as well.
Assignment 9 Self Refection Assessment Part 1 Only
'rior to startin! the actual work in the ne*t two pro#ects and after skimmin! the assi!nments criteria and lookin! at the
marks breakdown and the timeline in the 1tudent @ecord, complete questions -I3 of the linked 1elf @eflection
assessment.
Assignments 9 an! : /resentation o" /ro;ects 1 an! 2 in <eparate /o*er/oints
You are now familiar with the idea that the elements o" !esign are certain isual thin!s that we can include in our
!raphic desi!n work, and that we can apply the principles o" !esign to these elements and use te(t e""ecti.el# to
create isuals that are appealin! and perform a purpose.
.ook at the two linked templates for completin! the writeIup for your pro#ects, but =C.Y '>CF =C? 2=@9GT,
6emplate 1 is if you prefer to #ust use a Word document that lists the elements and principles, and Bsin!
what you hae learned from the notes that you hae made and the e*amples that you hae found, you will
now continue into your ne*t courses. Bsin! the ne*t / pro#ects from your ne*t / courses, you will #ustify your
use of the rules of composition in the creation of these pro#ects.
6emplate 2 is for isuals, like photo!raphy or !raphic e*amples, where you can insert the picture into a
Word document, and then you can do a 'W>9 of it, describin! all of the elements and principles that you
used.
.ink both the final ideo(photo(!raphic that you described, plus the 'W>9 or description for it for this course to the
Comm Tech - Courses sheet of your 1tudent @ecord.
Assignment = Criti>ues
Gfter the ne*t couple of courses are complete and you hae finished your pro#ects in each and done assi!nments that
describe your usa!e of the JrulesK of desi!n, critique a minimum of one other person$s 'ower'oints after hain!
iewed his(her completed isual assi!nments and descriptions of the steps completed and the reasons for the
choices made in the deelopment of the compositions.
Then, complete the lin-e! criti>ues, describin! in detail the successes and shortcomin!s that you see in your
presentations and his(her assi!nments.
1ae the critique into your folder and link it to your 1tudent @ecord.
Assignment ? <el" @e"lection Assessment Ainal
Complete the linked sel" re"lection assessment+ describin! in detail the successes and shortcomin!s that you see in
your presentations and his(her assi!nments.
1ae the assessment into your folder and link it to your 1tudent @ecord.

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