feel free to use this to directly guide your making for this course or as a jumping-off point for your own ideas and projects. also please add your own questions to the comments as you think of them.
from course learning outcomes
what is semiotics and its associated terms?
what is the relevance of semiotics to graphic design?
what is rhetoric and its associated terms?
what is the relevance of rhetoric to graphic design?
what are the modes of persuasion and their associated terms?
what is the relevance of the modes of persuasion to graphic design?
what is communication theory and its related terms?
what is the relevance of communication theory to graphic design?
how might we leverage our knowledge of semiotics / rhetoric / modes of persuasion / communication theory through [a] graphic design project[s] about [insert your social issue here]?
how can i make my research on these subjects visual? verbal?
how do i demonstrate “critical analysis” about these subjects?
intermediate-level / more specific questions
what does the existing visual landscape of my social issue look like, with respect to semiotics / rhetoric / modes of persuasion / communication theory?
what are ways to clearly organize, display, and provide critical commentary on the above theories and content?
within semiotics, how might signs have multiple meanings?
how might rhetoric be used typographically [words made visual], rather than in straightforward writing or imagery?
how can a graphic design artifact simultaneously leverage multiple modes of persuasion? to what end / what’s the point?
how might we select and use statistical information through logos to result in an emotional response regarding our social issues?
can the historical communication models account for today’s methods of communication? if not, what would a contemporary model of communication look like?
advanced-level questions
how do we communicate with people or things in unofficial or informal languages [beyond english, spanish, etc]?
- what are these languages?
- are they namable?
- what qualifies them as languages?
- what are their syntactic [grammar] and their semantic [meaning] qualities?
if there are other theories about communication that are not covered in this course, what are they and what is their relevance to graphic design?
in what ways are languages visual?
in what ways can not-so-visual languages be made more visual?
what historical languages have relevance to contemporary communication and how/why?