Books and graphic design

lclib2140  2023-2024  Louvain-la-Neuve

Books and graphic design
5.00 credits
15.0 h
Q2
Teacher(s)
Laghouati Sofiane;
Language
French
Prerequisites
None
Main themes
The course offers a historical overview analysing both the technical and the aesthetic changes in the book and its design.
This involves observing and understanding what constitutes the elements  of the 'book' and describing the entirety of methods and materials, notably graphics, that transform it into a commercial product and a cultural and symbolic object of value. 
 
Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

1
Acquire a graphic culture that makes it possible to understand as easily as possible developments in the book in a global media market in which this medium is and has been at one and the same time an object of culture and art, of communication, but also of consumption.
Raise awareness in future publishers, booksellers and librarians of the economic, cultural, political and even philosophical issues of the text/image/format relationship, not only of the book, but also of other media (newspapers, magazines, internet) with which it is in dialogue and in competition.
This is a matter of:
- understanding the future of the book medium so as to be in a position to understand a publishing and creative market that is increasingly protean (various speakers from the book trade will visit to give an account of their experiences in the field);
- understand the main high points in the history of the book, both as a form and as a format for information, so as to be able to consider all its possibilities, avatars and epigones.
- understand developments in graphic design, its history, its current status in its encounter with the book.
 
 
Content
8 classes + meetings with book trade and publishing professionals + visit to the rare book collection of the Musée royal de Mariemont + follow-ups of student work
 
 
General introduction (2 hours): the text/image/format relationship
Emergence of the book : what revolution(s)? (4 hours)
Images in the book (15th/18th centuries) (2 hours)
Illustration and graphic design in the 19th century (2 hours)
From Art Nouveau to the new graphic arts (2 hours)
Graphic postmodernism: what beginnings for what ends? (2 hours)
Guidance + follow up of the progress of students' work (2 hours)
 
Teaching methods
Formal lectures / students will be encouraged to contribute, converse and enrich the teaching content 
Evaluation methods
The context is a role-play: 'As the person responsible for an editorial project, the student must promote a single work or a collection with a view to its impending release.
He/she will be allowed between 10,000 and 15,000 characters (including spaces) and 10 images to carry out the work.
He/she will create the promotional tools for a contemporary work/collection (2010 to the present day) in which the relationship text/image/format is notably evident.
He/she will emphasise the roles of the different actors (author, illustrator, graphic designer, publisher) and the significance of the object created.
This production may take the form of a notebook, a blog, a web site, or a brochure (taking great care with the relevance of the choice of format)...
He she will make sure of:
  • the page layout and the choice of illustrations and graphic design
  • the presentation of the work and its author, placing it in its historical context and highlighting its originality.
 
Other information
Several published works will be presented to the students at the beginning of each session
Bibliography
Plusieurs ouvrages seront présentés aux étudiants en début de chaque séance
Faculty or entity
ELAL


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Learning outcomes
Master [120] in Information and Communication Science and Technology

Master [120] in Translation

Master [120] in French and Romance Languages and Literatures : General