Collaborative Design Analysis Activity

Designed for PWR 2 students, this activity asks them to draw on design principles from Robin Williams and Timothy Samara in a collaborative activity that moves them outside the classroom.

Author: Erik Ellis

Activity Brief Description: For this activity, students work in small groups to take photographs of what they consider the best-designed and worst-designed examples of flyers, posters, etc. in the vicinity of their classroom, then returning to the classroom to analyze them in relation to Robin Williams' "four basic principles" and Timothy Samara's "Twenty Rules for Making Good Design" (provided as handouts). At the end of the activity, students present their findings to the class.

Course: PWR 2

Activity Length & Schedule: Probably 45-50 minutes; works early in the quarter when students are just starting to consider design principles prior to making their own slides and visual artifacts

Activity Goals:

Apply design principles from Wiliams and Samara to existing visual artifacts
Assess best practices in design
Develop informal presentation skills

Activity Details: See handouts. (Accessible only to PWR instructors - Canvas log-in required)

Additional Notes: This version of the activity has students post to a class blog, but that feature could easily be revised for a section that doesn't use that type of digital infrastructure.

This activity was originally shared at the 2013 September Sessions.