Blog Guidelines: 201

  • Be descriptive but concise: 300-500 words is a good goal unless specific prompt guidelines state otherwise
  • Describe what you see using vocabulary and concepts from your reading
  • Find/make your own visual example (don’t use one from class reading).
  • Include the image you describe. You will have to upload your image(s) to the media library. Make sure it is 72dpi, about 1500 pixels in the longer dimension, saved for the web as a jpeg. Credit your source (see below).
  • Check the 201 Blog and other relevant categories when you post.

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Crediting Your Source

After you write a brief caption for your image, make sure you credit the designer/artist and the source: Who made it? Why did they make it? Where did you find it reproduced? Provide publisher and page number for printed material or web link for online sources. See examples below for how to credit different types of sources.

If you created the image yourself, you should still give it a descriptive caption and say something like: “Photo by Kristin Becker, August 2018” or “Designed by Kristin Becker, August 2018”.

Print Source:

Marian Bantjes's essay "A Critique" uses the concept of modularity to communicate her thoughts about the design of the Roman alphabet. Since Bantjes is a typographer, this could be considered an alternative self-portrait. (Marian Banjes, I Wonder, Monticelli Press, 2010, pgs 134-135)

Marian Bantjes’s essay “A Critique” uses the concept of modularity to communicate her thoughts about the design of the Roman alphabet. Since Bantjes is a typographer, this could be considered an alternative self-portrait. (Marian Bantjes, I Wonder, Monticelli Press, 2010, pgs 134-135)

Web Source:

In this poster design for his own lecture, graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister had the text carved directly into his skin by an intern. Since his intention was to "visualize the pain" of working on design projects, it could be considered a form of alternative self-portrait. (Stefan Sagmeister, Lecture poster for AIGA Detroit, 1999)

In this poster design for his own lecture, graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister had the text carved directly into his skin by an intern. Since his intention was to “visualize the pain” of working on design projects, it could be considered a form of alternative self-portrait. (Stefan Sagmeister, Lecture poster for AIGA Detroit, 1999)