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Subject

The Arts (1996)

Description

Students will create a billboard design (on the computer) to promote and increase awareness of a social problem.

Website(s)

The Ad Council

Materials and Resources

Thumbnail Sketch Page
Billboard Project Outline

Objectives

Students will:

develop an awareness of social issues facing our world.

become aware of nonprofit organizations and their meaning to the public good.

use Photoshop and Illustrator to create an effective design for a public billboard.

create powerful visual communication using the elements and principles of design.

Materials

computer with Internet access
digital camera
scanner
Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator
SMART Board

Procedure

1. Display images of effective public service advertisements through history from books and the Internet.
2. Ask students what makes these pieces effective. Keep a running graphic organizer by utilizing a SMART Board or plain old large pad and paper. Note the design elements and principles that are utilized.
3. Students conduct research of public service issues that are of interest to them.
4. Students identify a topic and submit it for approval.
   
   • First submission: public issue, legitimate contact information, meaningful slogan or phrase
   • Second submission: 4 thumbnail sketches of design idea
   • Third submission: 1 rough draft of chosen sketch with notation of design principles the student intends to utilize.
5. Main Activity:
   Students will collect photos and images to use through research on the Internet. Students will also have the opportunity to borrow a digital camera and create their own images. Images from books and magazines are preferred over Internet images because of better quality. (No copy written images will be permitted without written permission, unless changed in a significant manner as to be unrecognizable from the original.) Fabrics, papers, drawings and random objects may also be scanned for use. Students may complete the entire project without using photographic images and use their own drawings, (hand or digital), instead.
6. Students will manipulate images and text to create a design for a billboard or web page in Photoshop. It will be sized in correct proportion to most conventional billboards (8’ x 16’ or 1:2).
7. Critique and discussion of the final products shall close the activity.

Assessment

The project may be assessed using the attached self-assessment chart. This chart may be completed by student and teacher or, may be used for peer critique and assessment as well.

EffectiveDesignAssessment.doc

Duration

5-10 days

Author

Adrienne Markel, Enlarged City School District of Middletown

Related Academic Standards

National Coalition for Core Arts Standards

NAS.VA.Cr1.1.4.a Brainstorm multiple approaches to a creative art or design problem.

NAS.VA.Cr1.1.I.a Use multiple approaches to begin creative endeavors.

NAS.VA.Cr3.1.I.a Apply relevant criteria from traditional and contemporary cultural contexts to examine, reflect on, and plan revisions for works of art and design in progress.

New York State

ARTS.VA.C.1.1.GE.A (GE) Students create a collection of art work, in a variety of mediums, based on instructional assignments and individual and collective experiences to explore perceptions, ideas, and viewpoints.

ARTS.VA.C.1.1.GE.B (GE) Students create art works in which they use and evaluate different kinds of mediums, subjects, themes, symbols, metaphors, and images.

ARTS.VA.C.1.1.GE.C (GE) Students demonstrate an increasing level of competence in using the elements and principles of art to create art works for public exhibition.