WEEK ZERO
September 17
Assignment: Define the words professional and practice
Reading: excerpt from Working, by Studs Terkel
WEEK ONE Professional + Practice
September 19
Welcome and Introduction to course
Seminar: what is a professional, what is practice?
Assignment: Goals
Assignment: Who do you admire?
WEEK TWO RISD Career Center, Resume + CV
September 26
Guest Speaker: Karen Harris, RISD career services
topics: RISD’s resources, discovering opportunities, crafting a resume
Discussion: Goals
Assignment: Unformatted Resume, Draft Biography, Portrait
Assignment: Benchmarking Resumes and Bios
WEEK THREE Identity
October 3
Lecture: Identity
Demonstration: Layout with Adobe InDesign
Demonstration: Photo Retouching with Adobe Photoshop
Review: Resume and bio
Assignment: Formatted Resume and Business Card
Assignment: Photo Retouching Exercise
WEEK FOUR Setting up shop, quoting
October 10
Field Trip: TBA
Assignment: Quoting a project
Assignment: Revise Resume and Business Card
WEEK FIVE A Multi-disciplinary Career, Porposals
October 17
Guest Speaker: Tanya Aguiñiga
topics: working with museums, galleries, retail, the media
Review: Resume, Business Card, and Quotes
Assignment: Proposal
WEEK FIVE Running a Small Business – consulting and manufacturing
October 24
Field Trip: TBA
Assignment: Cover Letter
WEEK SIX Licensing, Intro to Web
October 31
Guest Speaker: TBA
Topics: licensing, royalties, networking, trade shows
Lecture: Creating a web site and Understanding Content Management Options
Demonstration: Hosting, Domains, Content Management Systems
Assignment: Site map
Assignment: Set up Hosting, Register Domain, Install Content Management System
Assignment: Wireframes and Comps for website
WEEK SEVEN Legal Issues for the creative professional
November 7
Guest Speaker: RISD general counsel
topics: contracts, patents and copyright, corporate structures
Discussion: The Printed Portfolio
Lecture: Grid Systems
Assignment: Portfolio Grid
Assignment: Populate website with content
WEEK EIGHT The Media
November 14
Guest Speaker: TBA
Lecture: Press Release
Assignment: Press Release and Tear Sheet
WEEK NINE Design Competitions, Graduate Education
November 21
Guest Seaker: TBA
Lecture: Design Competitions, Commissions
Workshop: Troubleshooting websites
WEEK TEN Financial Health
November 28
Guest Speaker: TBA
topics: accounting, tax law, investing, saving
Lecture: Negotiations, Salary Expectations, Long Term Financial Health
Workshop: Portfolio and Website
WEEK ELEVEN Final Review
December 5
Final Review: Promotional Materials
Guest Critic: TBA
this is a tentative schedule for the semester. It will be updated and changed as required.
