Fleming College

Knowing how to present your ideas and concepts clearly and effectively is an essential part of any design practice. Design, defined as a tool for problem solving, will be treated as the entry point for a series of lectures, discussions and assignments. This course will provide an overview of methods of communication, as well as conceptualizing (sketching, journaling), developing and presenting your work and ideas clearly and effectively. A focus on specific contemporary issues will contextualize the tools, methods and formats being discussed. Through a series of exercises both oral and written, students will also learn to present their work using visual tools, presentation software, infographics, mock-ups, prototypes and demonstrations. Additionally, they will learn how to construct a written essay with footnotes and bibliographic information.

Part of being able to communicate your design concepts effectively and efficiently is the ability of the designer to understand and use the right design terminology. In this course, students will learn about the basic design elements of line, colour, shape, texture, space and form, as well as, the basic design principles of design-unity, balance, hierarchy, scale, contrast and movement, amongst others in order to enhance usability, influence perception, increase appeal, and make better design decisions. The students will also begin to articulate their own design principles through a personal manifesto.

Design research was originally constituted as primarily research into the process of design; developing from work in design methods, but the concept has been expanded to include research embedded within the process of design, including work concerned with the context of designing and research-based design practice. The concept retains a sense of generality, aimed at understanding and improving design processes and practices quite broadly, rather than developing domain-specific knowledge within any professional field of design. Students will begin to understand what research is and what methodologies are, so that they can begin to develop their own as the program progresses to completion. They will also develop an understanding of their own personal psychology through the study of their own dreams and the collective unconscious.

Students will explore the thinking behind contemporary visual and design culture from the Industrial Revolution to present day. In the 21st century, as in the latter part of the 20th century, commerce and culture are ever more closely entwined. We will look at the paradigm shifts that occurred in order to discover the reality beneath the ultra-seductive surfaces (think commodity fetish and objects of desire and design) and explore the thinking and critical insights into the changing dialogue between production, advertising and design. The course will offer alternative ways of engaging with design, and will appeal to students interested in design, design production, design history, advertising, cultural studies, media studies, and the visual arts.

A foundation experience for both the production potter and the ceramic artist, this course will provide students with an introduction to the basic operations and maintenance of a ceramic studio, including basic tools and equipment. Construction of clay forms using hand building and throwing techniques will build a sound understanding of the basic characteristics and working properties of clay. Health and safety issues are an integral part of all aspects of this course and will be addressed regularly with particular focus on the considered ergonomics for a ceramic artist.

This course introduces students to the ways in which material surfaces can be created by processes such as weaving, felting, knitting, interlacing and papermaking. Using traditional yarns and fibres, as well as non-conventional materials, students will experiment with the nature and behaviours of these materials as well as the method of assembly. Consideration will be given to the processes which will support the development of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional surfaces.

Focusing on a critical inquiry of the role that things and objects play in everyday life, students will learn to situate themselves as subjects of study, conduits for the flow of materials, and critical apparatuses for the study of the material world. Through a carefully guided series of lectures, lab assignments, collective discussions and playful exercises, students will develop an intricate, nuanced, and personal understanding of material culture studies, and how they may be applied to the study and practice of design. Students in this course will learn to discuss and employ exploratory and playful methods of interrogating contemporary material culture. Students will be given the opportunity to assemble a custom toolkit of research methods, which will be applied through four interdisciplinary projects. A series of class readings and lectures will position important texts in the research and study of material culture, and familiarize the student with a range of discourses that draw from Design, Anthropology, Philosophy, Psychology, and History.

This is a hands-on, fast-paced, follow-along course where students will be introduced to the essentials of Adobe Creative Suites; in particular Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. This course acts as an introduction to these software packages and encourages students to further their studies and skills through the LinkedIn Learning (formerly lynda.com) educational resource tool available to each student enrolled at the school.

This course is an introduction to the study of Indigenous (First Nations, Metis, and Inuit) peoples in Canada. Students will explore the complex historical and contemporary relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. The course will also guide students to begin to understand the diversity and depth of Indigenous societies, worldviews, and knowledge through a multi-disciplinary lens.

This course is designed to meet the demands of owning, organizing and maintaining a successful design business including project and resource management. In this course, students will learn the psychology of how best to win clients, but, more importantly, how to retain and sustain them. In the current competitive design market, it is not enough to simply have a killer portfolio. You have to understand the client and designer relationship, how to penetrate your client's identity and reflect it back to them, how to schedule regular meetings and presentations in order to gain trust and to keep the client in the design process. As well, you have to understand about fee structures & how to estimate your time, how to quote a job, how/when to invoice your client, etc., and the ins and outs of income tax.

This is guided studio time for the students to take what they have learned in their courses and apply it within their own studio practice. Working with different materials and their own design concepts, students will be encouraged to create their own processes and methodologies while documenting them through film, video, photography, collage, journals, blogs or whatever works for them. Faculty will act in an advisory capacity and students will be marked on the quality of their process documentation at regular intervals throughout the second semester culminating in a final design thesis presentation.

This course is an introduction to the fundamental techniques of glassblowing. Students will learn to gather, shape and blow hot glass. Through technical exercises, assignments, practice and exploration students will learn to form glass using heat, gravity, centrifugal force and tools to consistently repeat a series of specific forms. Selected forms will range from functional to non-functional vessels as blown or solid worked objects. Students will also be introduced to the proper use of the equipment and safety procedures in the hot glass studio.

This course is an introduction to the basic processes exploiting the malleability of metals used in jewellery arts. Students will have the opportunity to explore the wealth of options available in creating objects with volume and form. Through technical exercises and personal exploration, students will be able to form metal through a series of different techniques. Design principles will be integrated into course activity in order to help students explore the problems of form and function. Starting with (copper) sheet or square stock, they will use the techniques introduced in the course to build on and enhance objects of their own design.

In this course, students will be introduced to the critical discourse surrounding contemporary material culture. It has become an important aspect of design education because it offers designers new perspectives on how their practice affects society and the environment. Discussions about material culture have offered critiques of consumerism, throw-away, and fetish culture. New approaches to materiality can be seen through ideas such as Cradle to Cradle (regenerative) design and Appropriate Technology - small-scale, labor-intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sound, and locally controlled - for developing, non-industrialized societies. In this course, we will offer endless examples of how art and design education teaches flexible thinking, risk-taking and creative problem solving that is needed to solve today's most complex and pressing challenges - from healthcare to urban revitalization to global warming. Students will not only learn how to work with each other, but also with people in their community and the scientific community to expand their minds and to think differently.

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning). Until the Digital Age, typography was a specialized occupation. Digitization opened up typography to new generations of visual designers. Through this course, the students will learn the basics of typography and then attempt to design their own typeface using Illustrator, Type Tools and/or Fontographer or explore moving type in the form of motion graphics using Flash and other software. The thoughtful skill of combining type and image is the designer's greatest communication tool.

This course is designed specifically to introduce students to the key concepts and software tools used in professional 3D modeling, rapid prototyping, and fabrication. Topics include 3D sculpting, CAD Modeling with NURBS, polygon mesh modeling, deformation, and subdivision surfaces. Students will gain an understanding of basic and intermediate 3D modeling operations and how to use them to recreate real-world forms. Students will then apply their new skills to getting their designs off the computer and into the world using a combination of 3D printing (using the Ultimaker 2), papercraft, laser-cutting (using the ULS Laser Cutter/Engraver) and other machines available to them in the Centre for Making.

All graduates of diploma programs require general education credits. These courses allow you to explore issues of societal concern by looking at the history, theory and contemporary applications of those issues.

Your program has designated some required general education courses. In addition, you have the opportunity to choose from a list of electives each semester.

Many of these courses and some other general education courses are also available through evening classes, by distance education, or on-line. See our Part-Time Studies Calendar for these opportunities.

You may already possess general education equivalencies from other colleges or universities. Please see the General Education Co-ordinators at the Peterborough and Lindsay locations for possible exemptions.