Semester: 6
ECTS: 3
Lectures: 15
Practice sessions: 15
Independent work: 60
Module Code: 24-07-568-E
Semester: 6
ECTS: 3
Lectures: 15
Practice sessions: 15
Independent work: 60
Module Code: 24-07-568-E

Module title:


Socially Responsible Visual Communications Design

Lecturers and associates:



Module overview:


The objective of this module is to enable students:

• To define key concepts, movements and schools of thought in theory and praxis of socially responsible art, design and visual communications in history, and especially in the 20th century and contemporary era
• To critically assess the various artistic projects that deal with social problems (inequality, minority rights, ecological disasters, distribution of wealth, censorship, corruption etc.) in contemporary art and design
• To create a project in the field of design of visual communications, that will address a chosen social issue and evaluate the social impact of the project

This module teaches students of the many possibilities that contemporary design offers to creators in addressing the various issues of the todays world. It prepares students for the contemporary art scene and projects they will be a part of, which are today often valuated on the grounds of sensitivity to the social issues. It teaches them to think critically of their community and to employ their skills in the activities that can bring visible change and also engage the members of the community in reflecting the problems and looking for their solutions. The model will evaluate the existing forms of commercial and artistic visual communications (from 20th century and contemporary period) and students will employ their critical thinking in trying to find the ways to improve the current trends.

Students who choose this module will develop skills to plan and conduct a project that can be visible by the wider audience, and to direct the audiences attention to some contemporary social problem. The acquired knowledge will help them to use their skills in visual communications design into shaping a message they deem socially important, and therefore impact the community in a way they seem relevant. Moreover, the module enables students to create a project plan that can be used for different purposes. It will help them to understand the methods and steps of conceptualising and conducting an art project (research, shaping of the message, monitoring public reactions) which will contribute to the overall skillset for their future employment and/or concourses they will be applying to in their careers.


Literature:


Essential reading:

1. Guy Debord (first edition, La société du spectacle, Buchet-Chastel, 1967), The Society of Spectacle, transl. Fredy Perlman, Black and Red, 1970.

Recommended reading:

1. Howard S. Becker (first edition 1982), Art Worlds, University of California press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London
2. Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky (first edition 1988), Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, first edition Pantheon Books
3. Hal Foster (2002), Design and Crime (And Other Diatribes), Verso
4. Mark Fisher (2009), Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? Zero Books
5. Marc James Léger (ed., 2014) The Idea of Avant Garde And What It Means Today, Manchester University Press

Further reading:

1. Hans Belting, Andrea Buddensieg, Peter Weibel (editors, 2013), The Global Contemporary and the Rise of New Art Worlds, The MIT Press, Boston