Purpose: Graduate unemployment is widely reported not only in Ghana but also across the globe. The purpose of this study is to examine the relevance of the HND Commercial Art Programme, Graphic Design (CAPGD) option, to the graphic art industry and to determine the work readiness of graduates of HND CAPGD at the world of work.…

Every graphic design course has a unit of instruction that focuses on logo design. It is an interesting exercise to have students relate why they recognize certain trademarks or symbols. In this article, the author describes an assignment that examines logos. For this assignment, students were asked to make a visual inventory of at least five…

At Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, a portfolio review and an artistic evaluation workshop indicate the student's potential for success in the applied arts field. The procedure may limit attrition significantly. (SK)

In this article, the author discusses how to teach students to think creatively. In the author's search for a way to teach students that there are multiple approaches to visual problems, she found inspiration from advertising. The author asserts students first need permission to explore their latent ideas, and second, they need the tools to…

An organization that has led the way in opening new frontiers in using advanced technology to create innovative commercials is Charlex, a New York-based company in business since 1977. Charlex has produced music videos, and also commercials for Diet Pepsi, Cherry Coke, Crest Toothpaste, and White Mountain Cooler. It has used a wide range of…

Prompted by an awareness of nostalgic trends during the 1960s and 1970s in movies, television programing, fashion, interior design, and architecture, a study compared such trends in graphic design in both magazine articles and magazine advertisements. Specifically, it noted the frequency of occurrence of nostalgia in the two graphic design areas…

Advertisers and other mass media communicators are interested in the potential cognitive and affective effects of various graphic designs, specifically relating to the recall of information and the attitude toward information presented. This study deals with the respondent's recall of information contained within an advertisement as well as the…

Signs are such a commonplace sight in our everyday lives, that we can easily miss the artistic beauty and graphic harmony of the symbols used. Thoughtfully well designed and planned signs communicate with a simplicity and directness that signmakers and designers have adhered to for ages. Even contemporary signs still reflect their timelessness…

Teachers involved in the Visual Communication Education project attended a summer program in 1966 at which the following edited lectures were made by resource people who represented diverse points of view: (1) "The Design and Technical Foundations of Visual Communication" by Kenneth G. Scheid examines supply and deman, technological…

All the steps in making a television commercial, from conception to writing through production, are laid out, and many examples of real commercials illustrate the process. The book is directed toward those who want to write successful commercials. Subjects include the use of research in constructing and evaluating commercials, budgeting, choosing…

Roberto Clemente High School in Chicago has an interdisciplinary communications program involving seven subject areas: Graphic Design, Graphic Arts, Photography, Photocomposition, TV Radio/Film, Communications in Spanish, and Latin American Literature. The instructors in these classes form a team. This article is part of a theme issue on career…

Finds that the secondary-school textbook vision of society is homogenized and sanitized to reduce the risk of controversy. Reveals three domains of control that influence textbook visual content: industrial (how the image world of a textbook is created); commercial (marketing pressures); and social (interest groups that influence the visual…

Suggests that text and information design are rooted in the visual aesthetics of modernism as articulated by the Bauhaus. Explores four key ideas affecting visual design: unity of text and form; emphasis on economy and simplicity; search for a universal, objective style; and faith in individual and collective intuition. (KEH)

This introductory, secondary level course in advertising design provides a vocational orientation to art education. The concern of the course is the eventual use of commercial art--to persuade consumers to buy goods and services. Objectives of the course include competencies in the technical aspects of commercial art and an awareness of consumer…

The use of quantitative graphics in newspapers requires achieving a balance between being accurate and getting the attention of the reader. The statistical representations in newspapers are drawn by graphic designers whose key technique is fusion--the striking combination of two visual images. This technique often results in visual puns,…