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AD217

Intro to Advertisign and Digital Design (A&DD)

Fall

Professor

C.J. Yeh
Co-chair, Advertising & Digital Design Curriculum
Founder and Executive Creative Director, Cynda Media Lab [➚]

Course Description

This course introduces students to the concepts, methodologies, and creative processes of advertising and digital design. Students are presented with brand communication challenges and learn to work in the new creative team of art directors, copywriters, and experienced designers.

A&DD Website
NewCreatives.info [➚]

A&DD Instagram
NewCreatives.info [➚]

Grade Breakdown and Evaluation

  • Professionalism, Teamwork, and Class Participation: 40%

  • Project 1 / Mini Presentations and Reviews: 15%

  • Project 1 / Midterm Presentation: 15%

  • Project 2 / Mini Presentations and Reviews: 15%

  • Project 2 / Final Presentation 15%
    (A: 91% or above, B: 90% – 71%, C: 70% – 61%, D: 60% – 51%, F: 50% or below)
    * You will work in teams in this class, but you will be graded as an individual

Section Info
Section 104 / Tue 2:10 - 5:00 PM / Class Drive [➚]
Section 103 / Wed 3:10 - 6:00 PM / Class Drive [➚]
Section 15A / Thurs 6:30 - 9:20 PM / Class Drive [➚]

Office Hours
Schedule a meeting with CJ via Calendly [➚]

Midterm Project: Brand Storytelling
Working as part of a creative team, you will develop an innovative brand campaign that communicates the brand’s purpose and its value propositions in a way that is both engaging and memorable.

Final Project: Digital Product Design (Intro to UX/UI)
Each student team will develop one digital product concept to solve a consumer problem. Key screens and task flow will be developed to communicate the interaction and demonstrate its possible impact.

WEEKLY OUTLINE
* Weekly outline is subject to change according to the pedagogical needs.

WEEK 1
Tue 08/27 | Wed 08/28 | Thur 08/29

  • Introduction of the course and syllabus

  • Lecture/Discussion: What is Advertising & Digital Design?

  • Lecture/Discussion: What is a Creative Brief?

  • Project #1: Brand Storytelling
    Deliverables:
    - Static Media (billboard, transit, or outdoor poster campaign)
    - Long-form time-based media (TV or web video)
    - Branded Content Design (digital platforms and social media)

  • In-Class Workshop:
    - Team forming, decide a team name, and select a team captain
    - There are 6 brief options for the teams to pick from. No more than 2 teams can work on the same brief. Click here to see your creative brief options
    - Collaborative learning framework: Create your team Slack team channel, Miro board [➚], G drive team folder, and subfolders for each team member
    - Start initial research and analyze the competitive landscape

  • Lecture/Discussion: Desk Research Fundamentals

  • In-Class Workshop/Homework:
    - Complete desk research
    - Complete competitive landscape analysis
    - Prepare a 5-minute mini-presentation: Cover, Team Intro (one thing that all team members have in common), Brand Fundamentals, Recent Brand Campaigns, and Competitor Analysis (point of difference and recent campaign comparisons). This is not your entire research, this is a summary of your key research findings. No more than 10 slides in total.

    * The best presentation will win extra credits and the first team badge of the semester 🙂

WEEK 2
Tue 09/03 | Wed 09/04 | Thur 09/05

  • 5-Minute Mini Presentation: Summary of key research Findings

  • In-class Workshop:
    - Lecture/Discussion: The Principles of Branding
    - Lecture/Discussion: Brand Archetypes
    - Lecture/Discussion: Persona and POV

  • In-class Workshop / Homework Assignment:
    - Brand archetype
    - Personas
    - POV statements
    - Create one midterm project progress deck and share your brand archetype, personas, and POV statements to CJ at least 24 hours before the class

WEEK 3
Tue 09/10 | Wed 09/11 | Thur 09/12

  • In-class Workshop / Homework Assignment:
    – How Might We Questions + 100 MPH Creative Challenge
    – 3-Minute Mini Presentation: The Big Ideas Are 🥁🥁🥁

  • Lecture/Discussion: Writing the Idea

  • In-class Workshop / Homework Assignment:
    – Proposed taglines
    – Discuss with the professor and select one to move forward as a team
    – Print campaign thumbnail sketches (minimum 3 per team member)
    – Add your proposed tagline and thumbnail sketches to your midterm project progress deck

WEEK 4
Tue 09/17 | Wed 09/18 | Thur 09/19

  • Discussion: What is Art Direction?

  • Lecture: Typography: The Voice of the Brand

  • Lecture: Color: The Feeling of the Brand

  • Team Review: Tagline and Print Campaign Sketches

  • In-class Workshop
    – Moodboard development
    – Art direction design starts

  • Homework Assignment:
    – Complete art direction proposals
    – Print out art direction and a proof of concept poster
    – Update your midterm project progress deck

WEEK 5
Tue 09/24 | Wed 09/25 | Thur 09/26

  • A&DD BFA Program Introduction

  • Team Review: Art direction proposals and proof of concept poster (print out on 11×17 paper and post on pinup boards at the beginning of the session)

  • Lecture/Discussion: Communicating Your Brand Story

  • In-class Workshop / Homework Assignment:
    – 360 campaign concepts and sketches
    – Update your midterm project progress deck

WEEK 6
Tue 10/01 | Wed 10/02 | Thur 10/10*

  • Team Review: 360 campaign concepts and sketches

  • In-class Workshop / Homework Assignment:
    – 360 campaign design
    – Midterm presentation preparation

WEEK 7
Tue 10/08 | Wed 10/09 | Thur 10/17

  • Mid-term Presentation: Brand Storytelling

  • Team forming for final project. Slack your team info to CJ

  • NO HOMEWORK 🥳🥳🥳

WEEK 8
Tue 10/15 | Wed 10/16 | Thur 10/24

  • Lecture/Discussion: What Is Experience Design?

  • Final project: Digital Product Design (Intro to UX/UI)

  • Design Thinking Exercise: The Wallet Project

  • Deliverables:
    - Product Description
    - MVP Features
    - Key Screens (minimum 6)

  • In-class Workshop / Homework:
    – Desk research for final project
    – Define an under-served community that you like to help
    – Put your research findings and problem statements into your final project progress deck and share that with CJ via Slack

WEEK 9
Tue 10/22 | Wed 10/23 | Thur 10/31

  • Guest Speakers

  • Lecture/Discussion: Empathy Interview Techniques

  • Workshop: Empathy Interview Questions and Planning

  • Homework:
    – Empathy Interviews (minimum 2 per team member)

WEEK 10
Tue 10/29 | Wed 10/30 | Thur 11/07

  • Lecture/Discussion: The Rise of Purpose-Driven Brands

  • Lecture/Discussion: Affinity Mapping

  • In-class Workshops: Affinity Map

  • Lecture/Discussion: JTBD

  • In-class Workshops: JTBD Statements

  • In-class Workshops: Ideation Workshop

  • Lecture/Discussion: Minimum Viable Product (MVP) & Competitor Analysis

  • Homework:
    - Competitor analysis
    - Interview 2 to 3 people and get feedback on your feature ideas
    - Draft your MVP worksheet
    - Update your final project deck and add JTBD statements, competitor analysis, and MVP worksheet

WEEK 11
Tue 11/05 | Wed 11/06 | Thur 11/14

  • Lecture/Discussion: Wireframe and Sketches

  • Lecture/Discussion: Task flow

  • Team review: MVP Worksheet

  • In-class Workshop
    – Task flow and sketches

  • Lecture/Discussion: User Testing / Paper Prototyping

  • In-class Workshop / Homework:
    - Complete wireframe sketches
    - User feedback (minimum three per feature)
    - Revise wireframe sketches based on feedback
    - Research and find potential brands for your product concepts
    - Update your final project progress deck

WEEK 12
Tue 11/12 | Wed 11/13 | Thur 11/21

  • Lecture/Discussion: Big IdeaL

  • Lecture/Discussion: Digital Wireframe

  • In-class Workshop:
    - Define Big IdeaL for your chosen brand
    - Digital Wire First Drafts
    - User feedback (minimum three per feature)
    - Revise digital wireframe based on feedback
    - Update your final project progress deck

WEEK 13
Tue 11/19 | Wed 11/20 | Thur 12/05*

  • Guest Speakers

  • Lecture/Discussion: UI Design Fundamentals

  • Team review

  • In-class Workshop/Homework:
    - UI design moodboard
    - UI design begins
    - Update your final project progress deck

WEEK 14
Tue 11/26 | Wed 11/27 | Thur 12/12

  • Team review

  • In-class Workshop/Homework:
    - UI design
    - Final presentation prep

WEEK 15
Tue 12/03 | Wed 12/04 | Thur 12/19

  • Final Presentations

Creative Technology & Design (CT&D) Attendance Policy

Attendance is not optional. If you are going to miss a class, you must contact me via email ASAP. Due to the quantity of material covered in the course, I will not be able to spend class time explaining missed assignments or redo lectures. If a class is missed, it is your responsibility to get information regarding missed assignments and lectures from one of your classmates.

  1. Students are required to attend all classes, be on time, and remain for the entire class.

  2. Students who miss three classes for classes meeting once a week or four classes for classes meeting twice a week will receive a grade of “F.”

  3. The student who arrives 10 minutes after the start of the class will be considered late.

  4. Two late occurrences = one absence

  5. A student who arrives over 30 minutes late or not returning from the break will be considered absent from the class.

  6. Working on projects for another class or using digital devices for socializing (texting, social media…etc.) or gaming during class time will be recorded as an absence.

  7. An excused absence is still recorded as an absence. The difference is an excused absence won’t impact your grade for professionalism and class participation.

Additional Course Information:
Department Policy on Plagiarism

Plagiarism and other forms of academic deception are unacceptable. Each instance of plagiarism is distinct. A plagiarism violation is an automatic justification for an “F” on that assignment and/or an “F” for the course. A student found in violation of FIT’s Code of Conduct and deemed to receive an “F” for a course may not withdraw from the course prior to final grade assignments.

Use of AI tools

It is permissible to utilize AI tools in your creative process. However, you must identify which AI tool is being used at each stage of the process. You are required to fact-check AI output and avoid stereotyping and bias in your work. Finally, you are responsible for ensuring that the final creation is unique, ownable, and without any copyright issues.

Fact-checking AI output

AI tools are not infallible. They often generate incorrect or misleading information. It is your responsibility to fact-check any AI output before using it in your work. This includes checking the source of the information, evaluating the quality of the information, and considering the context in which the information was generated.

Avoiding stereotyping and bias

AI tools can be trained on data that contains stereotypes and biases. This can lead to AI output that is also biased. It is your responsibility to avoid the potential for bias in AI output. You should also be mindful of your own biases when using AI tools and take steps to mitigate them.

Ensuring the uniqueness and ownership of your work

You are responsible for ensuring that the final creation of your work is unique and ownable. This means that you must not plagiarize the work of others, including submitting works done solely by AI tools without meaningful improvement and input from you.

Penalty for violation

Violation of this policy may result in a grade reduction or suspension from the class.