AJOVT4
- Summer 2022
- Tuesday, 9:45–16:30; Room 104; online via Zoom and Slack
- Group 1: 9:45–11:15, 11:30–13:00
- Group 2: 13:15–14:45, 15:00–16:30
- Class Workspace: Slack — Where Work Happens™
- Office Hours: Friday, ≈ 13:00–16:00 or by appointment
- Lecturer: Justin Gagne
- Email:
gagnej@vskk.cz - Work: Boston, MA based; remote via Prague
Applied English for Graphic and Media Designers (English for Designers) is a professional development course on written and oral English communication and career skills essential to design and media related practice.
Writing, speaking, and presenting for:
- Design: Storytelling, case studies, and presentations
- Business: CV (curriculum vitae) and motivational content
- UX: Words and messaging for interfaces and experiences
- Technical Content: Documentation and tutorials
- Accessibility: A mix of technical writing with the added markup, syntax, and structure
- Social Media: Shareable, accessible content for humans and robots
- Academic Content: Criticism and feedback; thesis abstract and outline
- Blog Posts: A mix of all forms of writing
Everyone starts with a high pass. Come to class, do the work, care about the work, and you’ll do great.
| Grade | Percentage | Description |
|---|---|---|
| A (High Pass) | 90%–100% | Exemplary, outstanding work |
| P (Pass) | 70%–89% | Satisfactory, acceptable work |
| F (Fail) | < 70% | Unsatisfactory, unacceptable work |
| Task | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Participation and attendance | 25% |
| Assignments | 25% |
| Final presentations | 50% |
Too long; didn’t read: Please, keep me in the loop, communicate, and let me know when and if you need to be absent.
Come to class; it’s once a week. When you can’t, it happens (I may need to miss a class, too), then please, contact me ahead of time (or later) via Slack or email.
| Absences | Grade | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Three (3) | Pass (75%) | Maximum absences allowed; that’s missing ¼ of the course |
| > Three (3) | Fail | A failing grade due to absences; let’s talk before this happens |
| Illness/emergency | TBD | Contact and schedule for missed and/or extra credit classwork |
Students must submit original work in this course; refer to the school policy on plagiarism.
Optional, but recommended. (We’ll discuss books.)
Helpful communication and career skills reference; in particular, Units 1–4 and Vocabulary sections.
-
English for Designers by Danica Brečková, Epos, 2005, ISBN-13: 9788080576530
- Unit 1: The Designer’s Profession
- Unit 2: Drawing and Visualizing
- Unit 3: Becoming a Professional Designer
- Unit 4: Products and Their Presentation
- English/Slovak, Slovak/English Vocabulary
- Writing is Designing: Words and the User Experience by Michael J. Metts & Andy Welfle, Rosenfeld Media, January 2020, ISBN-10: 1933820667, Digital ISBN-10: 1933820608
- Writing for Designers by Scott Kubie, A Book Apart, 2018, ISBN-13: 9781937557799
- Writing for the Design Mind by Natalia Ilyin, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019, ISBN-13: 9781350034976
- The Elements of Style by William Strunk
- Chicago Manual of Style Online (online, paid; free 30-day trial subscription)
- The Associated Press Stylebook Online
- Print edition (spiral-bound): AP Stylebook, 55th Edition, Associated Press, 2020, ISBN-13: 9780917360695
The following chart shows some of the major differences in punctuation style between The Associated Press Stylebook (2018 edition) and The Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition).
- Demystifying Public Speaking by Lara Hogan, A Book Apart, 2016, ISBN-13: 978-1-937557-52-2
- Brutally Honest: No Bullshit Strategies To Evolve Your Creative Business by Emily Ruth Cohen, Bookseller’s Daughter, 2018, ISBN-13: 9781732194403
- Getting Real by 37signals (Basecamp), 2016, ISBN-13: 9780578012810 (Free, online and for download)
- More books from Basecamp (Paid)
- Taking Your Talent to the Web by Jeffrey Zeldman, 2001 (Free, for download)
Tools for making writing and designing more accessible; pick your flavor.
- For focused writing, Markdown is your best friend
- Markdown: Basics by John Gruber
- Markdown: Basic Syntax
- HackMD
- Get everyone on the same page with Markdown
- Markdown Editor
- Atom (GitHub/Microsoft)
- BBEdit (Mac only; made in Massachusetts)
- Brackets (Adobe)
- VS Code (Microsoft)
- WebStorm (🍻 Na zdraví!)
- Grazie (Pre-installed proofreading plugin)
Helpful course related links.
- Professional Writing in the Health Disciplines (Don’t let the title confuse you)
- The Elements of Style by William Strunk
- The Punctuation Guide
- Punctuation Pet Peeve: 5 Ways to Misuse a Comma
- Typography Deconstructed
- A comprehensive guide to the anatomy of type
- HTML Arrows
- A delightful reference for HTML Symbols, Entities and ASCII Character Codes
- Shady Characters
- HTML Reference
- HTML Element Index
- HTML Vocabulary (Visual guide)
- CSS Reference
- CSS Vocabulary (Explained)
- CSS Vocabulary (Visual guide)
10 weeks, each Tuesday.
- Week 1, February 15
- Week 2, February 22
- Week 3, March 1
- Week 4, March 8
- Week 5, March 15
- Week 6, March 22
- Week 7, March 29
- Week 8, April 5
- Week 9, April 12
- Week 10, April 19, last class
- Week 11, April 26, optional makeup class
Note: Preliminary, work in progress, schedule details are subject to change.
- TK
- TK
- Workshop:
- PAR method: Review and exercise
- Homework:
- Clarity First: Thesis writing prompts
- Homework:
- Layout Second: Visual presentation of Clarity First content
- Workshop:
- Academic Abstract Outline Wizard: Motivation/Problem/Opportunity and Thesis statement development
- Homework:
- Layout Second: Visual presentation of Clarity First content
- Thesis Digest: Put it all together
- Homework:
- Layout Second: Visual presentation of Clarity First content
- Thesis Digest: Put it all together
- Discussion:
- Final (Thesis-Related), choose a format for content (can be combined):
- Watch (Free to public before March 31):
- Discussion:
- Homework:
- Discussion:
- Workshop:
- Last class and final presentations
- Homework:
- Year Review
- Update home page
- Optional makeup class for final presentations (and attendance)