About the course
This course enables students to pursue a project independently in an area that is not available in the course offerings. The subject should be chosen in consultation with a faculty advisor who will act as the student’s supervisor. A description of the project and its specific goals should be clearly articulated in the written prospectus.
Independent Studies can be for 1, 2, or 3 credits depending on the scope of the work proposed. All proposals must be thoroughly vetted and often require multiple revisions. If you are interested in proposing an independent study you should begin outreach to a professor with at least three months’ advance notice. Last-minute requests cannot be accommodated.
Short proposal
Submit a short proposal when you contact a professor to indicate your interest in pursuing an Independent Study. The short proposal should be a paragraph-length description of your intended project, including a project title, research and production methodology, and intended project outcomes. Choose a project that will engage you for a semester. Make sure that your spelling and grammar are correct.
The samples below are to give you an idea of what is expected for your short proposal. Formulate your own independent study, do not just copy these.
ART 5000 Independent Study: Children’s book
For this independent study, I will write and illustrate a children’s story. The book will be presented as a finished hardbound book, printed at Blurb or a similar service provider. This project will challenge my skills with Adobe programs, and present a challenge in creativity, story writing, illustration and design. I have previous experience with storyboard animation with hand drawn graphics.
ART 5000 Independent Study: Branding
I would like to utilize and further develop the skills I’ve learned in my classes including ART 3055 (Branding Strategies) to build a brand for my own business. I design tee shirts. The purpose of this project is to do research, design a symbol and logotype for my company and apply them to the necessary business applications. I will also design a website for my company. My goal for this project is to enable my company to gain more visibility.
ART 5000 Independent Study: Product Development, Identity, and Launch
This semester, I would like to create the branding of a product. This product will be a shampoo line marketed to Asian women. The project will begin with market research of the variety of shampoos available in the United States. Through several stages, a logo will be designed to represent the product. I will then create package designs for the line. The project will end with an ad campaign of the product. My goal for this project is create and market a product from start to finish. This will give me experience with not only to design a product but to also market the product to a targeted audience. This project will add a fully realized project to my portfolio featuring skills in both design concepts and applied marketing theories.
ART 5000 Independent Study: Advanced Publication Magazine Design
For this Independent Study, I would like to redesign a magazine I first designed in ART3050. Using the skills developed in that class, and improving on them, I will expand my magazine into a 20-24 page printed product. This will be printed and bound at school or at an outside service bureau. The purpose of this project is to research current trends in magazine design, explore typography to better understand what best communicates to the demographic of the magazine, and to find or create images that enhance the magazine’s subject.
Full proposals
If your initial proposal is approved, you will then work with your professor to create a full proposal. Think of your proposal as a class syllabus (see other syllabi from your classes to get an idea of how to write it, or Google it!).
Your full proposal should include:
Your name, email address, semester, and Proposal Title. Also include the name of the Professor with whom you are working.
1. Introduction.
Project description: What is your project? Why you choose this specific topic for your Independent Study? What audiences do you want to reach?
2. Research component.
How will you conduct your research?
3. Design component.
This should be a detailed description about the form/ format of your project (e.g. a design website, a 20-page research paper, a design portfolio, a printed magazine, a book project, advertising, font design, info graphics, computer software, etc.). Why did you choose this specific form/format?
4. Conclusion
Your goals for this project.
5. Resources and bibliography.
Provide a preliminary list of the information sources you intend to use (at least 3 resources, and must include printed material not only websites.) This should be written in correct bibliographic style.
A weekly schedule will also be required as part of the proposal (the course runs for 14 weeks, you will meet once a week with the professor and other students). Your schedule must take into account all of the phases of design creation: research, concept development, design drafts, revision and modifications, prototyping, execution, and analysis.