Execution
Final projects are the Super Bowls of an academic course. They require the challengers to muster everything they’ve got. They test not only knowledge and its application, but also a student’s passion and desire. Due to the nature of our craft design finals can be far more taxing than most. Unlike a multiple-choice test, design projects do not offer a finite answer or a simple formula but rather a countless number of possibilities driven by an infinite number of variables. Design finals result in not only memorization and problem-solving but finely crafted execution.
It is in the execution where the meat hits the grinder. Execution is where you’ll find the student’s wisdom, creativity, and blood, sweat and tears. Infinite variables can create an infinite number of failures, from the slip of snap blade to an error in pagination, each one possibly requiring a reset. Each reset requiring a little more desire to fuel the next attempt and each attempt further developing skills and strengthening the student’s resolve. All in a feedback loop of growth and determination.
The importance of execution cannot be overstated. Execution can strengthen a poor concept or diminish a strong one. This can be seen in many other artforms as well. Take for example cinema; a weak script can be strengthened by an actor’s perfect performance or a director’s flawless vision. In many ways this makes execution the most important line on the rubric and the most important quality I attempt to instill in the classroom.
One of the ways I do this is through craft. In the digital age it is incredibly easy to find a photoshop mockup for just about anything. And though these mockups can serve a purpose such as allowing one to focus on concept or to design for an impossible format (like a food truck) they eliminate the need for craft, and thus remove the feedback loop I mentioned above. By requiring handcrafted mockups and encouraging alternative methods such as foil stamping, die-cutting, laser engraving, etc. I am able to further the feedback loop by creating more problems and more variables but that are all driven by the student’s imagination for their own project’s possibilities.
Annual Reports
There are few challenges in design that can test a student as well as a publication, specifically an annual report. For design it is a test of linear progression, composition, typography, information graphics, photography, and more. For execution it is a multipage crucible. Each cover and page is a minefield of variables.
Below are some of the finely crafted examples from this year’s “Super Bowl.”
For more information on this project, or any previous project feel free to contact me for details.
