“Desktop Publishing: An Online Distance Learning Course” by Hornak

This online educational course in Desktop Publishing: The Basics of Design delivers course content to distance learners as a partial fulfillment of the MFA in Computer Graphics Design at Rochester Institute of Technology. The course is divided into three sections: Elements of Graphic Design, Principles of Graphic Design, and Typography. Elements of Graphic Design covers the use of color, line, shape, size, space, texture, and value. Principles of Graphic Design covers balance, contrast, emphasis, rhythm, and unity. The third section covers serif, sans-serif, display, and script typefaces, and parts of a letterform. Each section contains lecture material, as well as three printed examples and a small animation to visually illustrate the topic.

The course is designed to be completed in a 10-week academic quarter. Although much of remote learning is self-paced, a syllabus was created to provide project due dates. There are no tests, but there are four assignments. Three of the four assignments are developmental exercises arranged to correspond with the lecture material and are to be completed in two weeks.