Developing my Lesson Plan: *TYPOGRAPHY* ("MAKE YOUR MARK!")To be honest, I wasn't very familiar with the term *typography* (which is the style, arrangement, or appearance of type) until I began brainstorming for my individual lesson plan. Also, our team was heading towards the direction of a *printmaking* theme, so even though I do not have much experience in this medium, I am willing to learn. When working within a group, many a times one must compromise. Also, I firmly believe that all teachers should be dedicated and take on a life-long comittment to become constant researchers...
So I was "stuck" for awhile. I realized that I kept asking myself, "What would the students want to learn?" and "How can the students relate to this concept?" "How can I form a connection from the outside world to something that the students can relate to and find interesting*...This reminds me of this one time I observed an art educator who was teaching a group of 6th graders two point perspective. #1) The students couldn't relate #2) They simply didn't get it!!! Therefore, the majority of her class was un-interested and un-motivated.
It has taken alot of thought and reflection (and self-correction) BUT I believe ideas are beginning to become concrete. I begin with an *enduring*understanding*: "We are all designers of typography." "Our world is filled with hundreds of examples of typography." It is important to understand that in a modern (digital) world, we are bombarded by type. Each type is unique in its own right...and while type usually refers to "digital" there is an artistic and expressive element to typography and that is the *message* that the letters convey. Generally speaking, in a digital age, type is generated on the computer. Respectively, people (i.e. graphic designers) work hard at studying and creating these letterforms. BUT the the main concept I want the students to wrap their heads around is that any appearance of font (digitally or manually created) conveys a powerful message because of its style. How can the way you stylize and arrange your font express a message?...And what message are you trying to express? "If you were a fontographer, how would you create a relief signature stamp that expresses a unique quality about yourself, about your identity or perhaps personality?" I want the students to take into consideration: How they space the letters, the size of the letters, and the orientation of the letters. My goals are to have students demonstrate sensitivity to typography and gain an appreciation for the beauty of typography and the power of the message that the style, arrangement, and appearance of the font conveys.
"For we are not sent into this world to do any thing into which we cannot put our hearts."
-John Ruskin The Seven Lamps of Architecture, 1849.
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