Day 1 of Classes

In order to decide which units we would like to complete whilst we study here at ASP Katowice, we needed to begin to go to our first classes. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, we can choose between both the Graphic Art and Graphic Design units to make up a full study programme.

Editorial Graphics (Graphic Art)

The day started with Editorial Graphics of the Graphic Art study programme. The class started nearly an hour later than the time stated on the timetable, the tutors arrived earlier than this but spent quite a long time having a discussion whilst sat in a separate room next to the classroom. When we went into the room, we explained who we were and one of the tutors gave us an introduction into the type of work produced in the class.

Editorial Graphics is focused on using Adobe InDesign to create books, posters and leaflets. Being proficient in using the digital programme is a must as well as having a good knowledge of layouts, composition and typography. Projects include recreating a given book using InDesign to change layouts and creating a graphic identity of an event in the form of 2 posters. Event posters include creating editorial design for festivals, one poster would feature a main image with title text and the second poster would feature a programme of events. Both of these are large tasks that would be expected to be completed over the 4 months of the summer semester. We were also given the name of an important book on the reading list, 'The Elements of Typographic Style' by Robert Bringhurst. I found a PDF of the book online so intend to have a read to improve my knowledge of typography.

Editorial Graphics example work

A1 festival poster designs

My first impression was that the class seemed to be very formal, we were all sat around an 'L' shaped table. The tutors were sat one side and the students the other. The critique workshop was delivered in Polish, we were welcome to look at the book design work the other students had produced but couldn't join in with the discussion. We believe it was about layouts and typography as example books were being pointed at and passed around the students. It was a little stressful not to be able to understand what was being said but obviously I expected this and it was useful that the tutors were able to speak to us in English before and after the discussion.

Drawing (Graphic Design)

We then found the studio for the Drawing unit of the Graphic Design study programme. We had a brief chat with two of the tutors, a man and a woman who were very friendly and enthusiastic about their subject area. The woman described the room as an 'art, poster and rock 'n' roll studio'.
We asked about the topics taught and the main focus is Poster Design, this is a key part of Polish art education. We were shown example work and books, as well as being asked to create 3 poster design ideas for our favourite British films.

This studio felt a lot more relaxed than Editorial Graphics. The room was larger and they encourage students to be free and experiment widely with both hand drawing and digital drawing. They like the posters that are produced by students to be artistic rather than design based as they really appreciate art. This unit excites me alot. I like being able to experiment with different mediums and haven't created many posters before so I'm sure it would be enticing and enjoyable. I hope we are able to choose this unit, we will find out once we have talked to Agnieszka from the International Office.

Artwork displayed along the wall next to the staircase

To summarise, I am most interested in the Drawing unit so far and am going to create some thumbnail ideas for possible film posters. The classes are on Wednesdays and Thursdays, they are quite free to drop in and out off but I hope to make the most of the time we have to study at this uni.