Class Design

The Design course unit introduces fundamental design principles and concepts through their research, understanding and application in the creation of printed publications. Theoretical content is explored as a project tool, enabling students to understand its function and materialise it in design objects that express it and make it perceptible. Printed publications thus constitute the territory for experimentation and materialisation of acquired knowledge, articulating content, organisation and visual expression. The principles studied are not limited to the editorial field, but have a transversal dimension that enables their subsequent application to different contexts and project themes, throughout the programme and across various areas of communication design.

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The syllabus articulates fundamental principles with project practice through a progression of complexity. Each theme is both an object of research and the subject of a printed publication, materialising the knowledge acquired and enabling its transfer to other contexts of communication design. 1. Colour wheel and colour relationships Study of the colour wheel and forms of representation. Primary, secondary and tertiary colours; chromatic relationships, complementarity, organisation and representation. 2. Chromatic contrasts according to Johannes Itten Study and experimentation of contrasts: hue, light-dark, warm-cool, complementary, simultaneous, quality and quantity. Exploration of the affective and emotional dimensions of colour. 3. Aesthetic variations based on geometric structures Exploration of Bruno Munari's experiments with geometric structures of points. Organisation and relationships within the grid and possibilities for aesthetic variation on the same geometric grid.

The teaching methodology articulates theoretical research and project practice, making the knowledge studied the subject of each printed publication. Students investigate and understand principles and concepts, interpreting, experimenting with and communicating them through the construction of editorial objects. The process develops through a progression of complexity, starting with chromatic relationships, advancing to the affective and emotional dimensions of colour, and culminating in the investigation of aesthetic variations on the same geometric grid. Experimentation, the development of solutions and their analysis enable students to understand how theoretical knowledge guides project decisions. From the first year onwards, the methodology establishes a conscious relationship between knowing, experimenting and designing, valuing knowledge as an operative instrument of practice.

Albers, J. (2013). Interaction of color (50th anniversary ed.). Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-17935-4. Itten, J. (1970). The elements of color. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-471-28929-6. Munari, B. (2017). Design e comunicazione visiva: Contributo a una metodologia didattica. Laterza. ISBN 978-88-581-2878-7. Munari, B. (2017). Da cosa nasce cosa: Appunti per una metodologia progettuale. Laterza. ISBN 978-88-581-2877-0. Müller-Brockmann, J. (1981). Grid systems in graphic design: A visual communication manual for graphic designers, typographers and exhibition designers. Niggli. ISBN 978-3-7212-0145-1.