ART 418 · Charleston Southern University · Fall 2026

The whole term

Every meeting with what it reads, what it owes and what it argues. The term chart is still the way to find the next session; this is the way to see all of them against each other.

28 meetings Mon and Wed, 1:30 to 2:50 PM CSU LB 104 9 readings, 1 held here

The term chart The syllabus

The work

  1. 15% Gate 1: research and direction due Sep 30 The research behind the venture, the moodboards, and the brand themes it could live in. Presented to the room.
  2. 25% Gate 2: the brand due Oct 14 The brand itself, built. The midterm showcase, and the largest presentation of the term.
  3. 20% Gate 3: the system, specified due Nov 11 The brand rewritten as a system: the rules, tokens and instructions a machine can operate without you in the room.
  4. 20% Gate 4: the system, running due Dec 2 The brand actually operated by AI against the spec, demonstrated live, with what it got right and what it got wrong.
  5. 10% Presentations Every gate is presented. Marked across the four, not one at a time.
  6. 10% Participation Seminar discussion, critique, and use of the work sessions.
  7. 100% The whole grade

Part I · The Brand

One venture, researched and then built. Two gates: the research and the directions it could live in, then the brand itself at the midterm.

  1. Mon Aug 24 01 · Lecture

    Kickoff and Introductions

    Introductions, and the semester walked through end to end: what the course is, how it runs, and what it will ask.

    Set

  2. Wed Aug 26 02 · Lecture

    Process and Practice

    What a design process is, and what a practice is, taken as an overview before either is put to work. The Emigre piece goes out today for Monday.

    Reading

    Set

  3. Mon Aug 31 03 · Lecture

    Design Practice in the Age of New Mediums

    What the medium keeps doing to the work, read through the Emigre piece: that was then, this is now, and the question of what is next. The semester project is announced today, in full and exactly as it will run.

    Reading

    Set

  4. Wed Sep 2 04 · Workshop

    Discovery: Design Research

    How a practice learns a subject before it designs anything. The rest of the session, and the long weekend, is theirs to research what they want to take on for the semester.

    Reading

    • Hall, Just Enough Research selections, to be chosen
    • Brown, Practical Design Discovery selections, to be chosen

    Set

  5. Mon Sep 7

    No class — Labor Day

  6. Wed Sep 9 05 · Seminar

    Should designers design?

    The discourse around the folding of roles, walked through: Soleio and the designers who ship, set against Monteiro writing not long ago, and how fast the ground is shifting.

    Reading

    Set

  7. Mon Sep 14 06 · Lecture

    Brand: Business Frameworks

    Brass tacks: brand infrastructure, brand platforms, house of brands, and the technical parts of the whole thing.

    Reading

    • Neumeier, The Brand Gap selections, to be chosen
    • Davis, Creative Strategy and the Business of Design selections, to be chosen

  8. Wed Sep 16 07 · Workshop

    Business Data

    The practices, worked in the room, and then hands on real data: students play with it and make something that reads. Infographics.

    Due

    Set

  9. Mon Sep 21 08 · Lecture

    Brand: Storytelling Frameworks

    Definition, and the frameworks a brand tells itself and its audience through.

  10. Wed Sep 23 09 · Workshop

    Frameworks in practice, and studio

    A short practical talk on putting the frameworks to work, and then the rest of the session on their own projects.

    Due

    Set

  11. Mon Sep 28 10 · Lecture

  12. Wed Sep 30 11 · Critique

    Gate 1: research and direction

    Due

    Set

  13. Mon Oct 5 12 · Lecture

  14. Wed Oct 7 13 · Workshop

    Due

    Set

  15. Mon Oct 12

    No class — Fall Break

  16. Wed Oct 14 14 · Critique

    Gate 2: the brand, presented

    Due

Part II · The System

The same brand systemised with and for AI: written as a spec a machine can operate, then actually operated by one. Two gates: specified, then running.

  1. Mon Oct 19 15 · Lecture

  2. Wed Oct 21 16 · Workshop

  3. Mon Oct 26 17 · Lecture

  4. Wed Oct 28 18 · Workshop

  5. Mon Nov 2 19 · Lecture

  6. Wed Nov 4 20 · Workshop

  7. Mon Nov 9 21 · Lecture

  8. Wed Nov 11 22 · Critique

    Gate 3: the system, specified

    Due

  9. Mon Nov 16 23 · Lecture

  10. Wed Nov 18 24 · Workshop

  11. Mon Nov 23 25 · Lecture

  12. Wed Nov 25

    No class — Thanksgiving

  13. Mon Nov 30 26 · Lecture

  14. Wed Dec 2 27 · Critique

    Gate 4: the system, running

    Due

  15. Mon Dec 7 28 · Lecture

The exam window

  1. Dec 8 to 14 Final

    The defense

    The whole engagement defended: what the brand claims, what the system automates, and where the machine still needs you.

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