Teaching for Creative Authenticity

Troy University — College of Arts and Humanities | Troy, AL, USA​

​Graphic Design Principles & Practices (ART 3308)

In-Person · Taught: Spring 2025

This course explores the principles of graphic design from concept development to final execution. Students learn how to combine visual hierarchy, composition, and storytelling using industry-standard tools and professional workflows. The class emphasizes the use of Adobe InDesign, and both analog experimentation and digital refinement, guiding students from foundational exercises to self-authored publications. 

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Projects included: Digital InDesign Zine, Self-Portrait Book, Spring Break Time Capsule Zine, and Our Dear Data – Visualizing Daily Life.

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Digital InDesign Zine Project

Students create a multi-page digital zine in Adobe InDesign, applying Gestalt principles, typographic hierarchy, and grid systems.
Each stage builds professional fluency—from document setup and grid construction to layout design and typographic cohesion—culminating in a fully realized publication that demonstrates their grasp of structure and visual rhythm.

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Spring Break Time Capsule Zine Project

Students document a week of their lives through visual storytelling.
Working from process books to thumbnail storyboards, they design and produce physical zines that function as contemporary “time capsules,” combining photography, typography, and layout sequencing to capture lived experience.

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Our Dear Data – Visualizing Daily Life Project

Inspired by the data-drawing correspondence of Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec (Dear Data), students collect and visualize personal data over ten iterations.
Through postcards, process books, and final digital or printed publications, they translate patterns from daily routines into information-based artwork.
This semester-long project cultivates reflection, systems thinking, and the art of storytelling through visualized data.

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Got Art? Creative Challenge Project 

Students research artists and designers through the lens of color theory, selecting one to emulate. They then step into that artist’s creative mindset—learning how to interpret and translate an existing visual language from digital to analog, transforming it into their own composition.

This project underscores the distinction between imitation and interpretation, helping students internalize the value, timing, and context of informed emulation in professional creative practice.

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Supplementary Exercises

Weekly creative prompts such as “What Is Your Creative Voice?”, “A Page About Me,” and the CCFA Alumni Magazine Cover Design assignment encourage reflection, typographic exploration, and professional engagement. Students also complete short-form digital exercises to build software fluency and file-management discipline.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Troy University