DL Lesson: Real-world Design Briefs

Distance Learning Lesson Plan for High School Art

You have 3 options for this art project.

Option 1: Design a city on a bridge
Option 2: Design gods and monsters for a Hollywood blockbuster
Option 3: Design windows for high-end fashion brands

All options resemble creative briefs that professional designers get from clients. All options involve research, design, and writing.

I'll have checkpoints for Days 1, 2, and 4. The finished slideshow is due on Day 6.





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OPTION 1: CITY-ON-A-BRIDGE Architectural concept

You're an architect.

Metropolis is a densely populated city with a wide river cutting through its center. Property is so expensive that real estate developers want to build on top of the Metropolis River. They asked every architect in town to propose a concept, and they'll hire whomever submits the coolest idea.

You'll propose a building-on-a-bridge. It should include apartment units, shops, restaurants, and at least 2 community gardens. Riverboats must be able to pass underneath.

(BTW Your perspective won't be perfect; just do your best. Sketchup (in-browser app = no download necessary) can help you work through ideas, and it’s fun to play with so long as you keep your model simple.)

You'll give your client the following assets as a 5-slide slideshow:

1. A mood board showing the architect or style you chose
2. A rough thumbnail sketch of your concept
3. Illustration #1 is a wide view of the whole building-on-a-bridge, either from above or from the shore. (3+ hours)
4. Illustration #2 is what a visitor might see standing on the bridge. Show gardens on one side and storefronts on the other. (3+ hours)
5. A one-paragraph write-up describing (1) what cool features of your city make it so appealing, and (2) what inspired your concept.

Day 1: Do some architectural research on Pinterest. Choose a style
(good examples: Islamic style, Chinese style, 19th-cen Victorian colonial style, Mexican adobe style, Maori style, Egyptian style, Mayan style)
(bad examples: modern style, minimalist style, Zaha Hadid style. Modernism is cool, but it's not for this project.)

Make a mood board and submit it. Then, start on a sketchup model. (by the way, see this insane video of someone taking sketchup to next level. Just to show you what's possible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po7m-8qlm64)

Day 2: Make a thumbnail sketch (or take a screenshot of your sketchup model) for illustration 1 AND 2.

Day 3-4: Illustration #1 will take several hours. Hint: If you're stuggling with perspective, you can make what's called an isometric drawing. That means you disregard perspective--you just make all x-axis lines parellel, all z-axis lines parellel, and all y-axis lines parellel. Simple.

Day 5-6: For Illustration #2, I posted a free book on perspective to help you with 1pp and 2pp. You'll probably use 1pp like we did in class, but adventurous students might try 2pp.
--Compile everything into a powerpoint or keynote, and add a page at the end with your one-paragraph write-up (details above).

OPTION 2: GODS & MONSTERS concept for Hollywood

Pretend that director Guillermo del Toro just got the green light to make a movie adaptation of the Babylonian Creation Myth. Then he hired you as a concept artist.



Background: The Babylonian Creation Myth, called "Enuma Elish," was probably the oldest myth we know today. (2750 years ago, Babylonians carved the story into 7 giant clay tablets with a stylus. The tablets were recently excavated in an underground library in Iraq.) This myth tells about gods and monsters battling and heaven and earth arising from the bloodshed.



Create these assets for Mr. del Toro as a 5-slide slideshow:

1. Illustration #1:  your designs for 2 characters: either Apsu & Tiamat   --or--   Marduk & Tiamat. (2+ hours)
2. A rough thumbnail sketch for Illustration #2
3. A slide of photo refs for Illustration #2. Include photo-refs for the foreground, middleground, and background. Also include inspiration for time-of-day, colors, setting, and mood.
4. Illustration #2: an action scene (aka a keyframe) from the Enuma Elish. This keyframe should establish the film's setting and mood. (4+ hours)
5. A one-paragraph write-up (1) justifying why the patterns, colors, symbols, and accessories you chose are appropriate for your characters, and (2) what’s happening in Illustration #2. 

Day 1: read a summary of the myth and take notes on Apsu, Marduk, and Tiamat. Based on your notes, make thumbnail doodles for the bodies and costumes of your characters for Illustration #1. (For example, Tiamat’s costume will incorporate symbols of salt water, serpents, and watery chaos).
--Note that Guillermo del Toro wants fresh, never-before-seen designs, not what he can find on Google.
--You're welcome to use the male/female templates if you want.

Day 2: Make thumbnails and gather refs for Illustraion #2. Think about foreground, middleground, and background. (thumbs eventually become slide 2 and photo refs become slide 3) 

Day 3: Complete Illustration #1 (becomes slide 1)

Day 4-6: Illustration #2 is slide 4. It will take several hours. You may work digitally or traditionally. Think about foreground, middle ground, and background. Limited palette is best.
--Compile your powerpoint or keynote as if you're presenting it to your director. Add a page at the end with your one-paragraph write-up (details above).

OPTION 3: VISUAL MERCHANDISING concepts for fashion brands:

You’re an artistic hybrid: an architect plus graphic designer.

8 new stores will open this summer in Macau’s poshest mall. For 2 of them, you’ll design fall 2020 window displays.

Choose ONLY 2 clients:
--Fossil
--Dior
--Vinyard Vines
--Columbia
--m0851
--Dolce & Gabbana
--Louis Vuitton
--Breitling

You’ve picked 2 clients? Good!

They expect you to design window displays that (1) embody the distinct personality of their brand, (2) surprise and delight people walking through the mall, and (3) look expensive.

You'll make the following assets as a 6-slide slideshow:

1. A mood board with images/words describing your brands' personalities (See page 1 of the template).
2. A sketch for each of your brands' window displays.
3. A slide of photo refs for whatever you aim to include in your window displays.
4. Your window display illustration for Brand A (see page 4 of the template)
5. Your window display illustration for Brand B (See page 5 of the template)

Day 1: Go to your brands’ websites and look at the clothes they’re making. Look at their recent fashion shows too. 

--Note: please don't look at your brand's window displays yet, as this will cause more confusion than clarity. Window display designers are famously TERRIBLE at staying on-brand in real life. Half of Dolce&Gabbana's windows look no different from Hugo Boss or Tiffany's windows because (1) the visual merchandising designers must think up dozens of original window designs, so they're too burnt out to consider on-brand vs. off-brand, and (2) interesting on-brand window designs sometimes get rejected in favor of cheap-to-build window designs.)

--Make a moodboard for each, with words + images describing the two brands’ personalities (Only rule is you can't show actual ads/ clothes/ models from your brands). Is Dior minimalist? Black&white, pastel, or bold-colored? Futuristic or old-fashioned? Geometric or curvilinear? Busy or plain? Rebellious or conformist? Rude or Polite? Impressionist brushstrokes or sliderule and pencil? French Chateau or urban penthouse? Jeep Wrangler or Audi? And so on . . . Think of adjectives that would differentiate Dior's brand from Michael Kors and Louis Vuitton.

Day 2: Now feel free to look at some window displays online to get a sense. Make thumbnail sketches of your 2 window designs. (these will become slide 2)

Day 3-4: Illustrate the concept for Brand A. Work traditionally or digitally, (and format your designs based on pages 4 of the template). Some windows use mannequins and some don't--you may choose.



Day 5-6: Illustrate your concept for Brand B, again using the template. Compile your slideshow when finished.

Good luck!