🗓️ Before Class: Teacher Prep
- Gather/set out: Printed/projected examples for the movement, Drawing/collage paper, Pencils, scissors, glue, markers.
- Pull up today's slide deck (see 🖥️ Slide Deck below) so it's ready to project.
- Heads-up -- Why history, in a design class: Every principle we use today -- grids, minimalism, bold color, expressive type -- was invented by someone responding to their own moment in history. Knowing where a technique came from helps you use it on purpose instead of by accident.
🧑🏫 Substitute Teacher Guide
A scripted, step-by-step runsheet for today's class -- hand this to anyone covering the room who doesn't know the daily routine.
- Day 1: 📋 Open Substitute Guide
- Day 2: 📋 Open Substitute Guide
Why history, in a design class
Every principle we use today -- grids, minimalism, bold color, expressive type -- was invented by someone responding to their own moment in history. Knowing where a technique came from helps you use it on purpose instead of by accident.
🎯 Essential Question
- How did 1950s Swiss designers standardize the grid systems and typefaces we still use today?
📈 Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson (2 Days), students will be able to:
- Explain what a grid system is and why it creates consistency across a design.
- Identify Helvetica (designed 1957) as a defining typeface of the International Typographic Style.
- Lay out a simple composition using a grid, sans-serif type, and strong alignment.
📐 Standards Alignment
CDOS (Career Development & Occupational Studies)
- CDOS 2 — Integrated Learning -- students will demonstrate how academic knowledge and skills are applied in the workplace and other settings.
- CDOS 3a — Universal Foundation Skills -- basic literacy, communication, and problem-solving skills required for a career.
ACP (Adobe Certified Professional) Photoshop Exam Objectives
- ACP 1.1 — Identify the purpose, audience, and audience needs for preparing images.
- ACP 1.5 — Demonstrate knowledge of basic design principles and best practices employed in the design industry.
🎓 Study this for the ACP exam: Domain 1: Working in the Design Industry
📚 Key Vocabulary
- International Typographic Style (Swiss Style)
- A design movement from 1950s Switzerland emphasizing grids, sans-serif type, and objective clarity.
- Grid System
- An underlying structure of columns and rows that keeps layout elements aligned and consistent.
- Helvetica
- A widely-used sans-serif typeface (1957) closely associated with the Swiss Style, still common today.
🧰 Materials & Tools
- Printed/projected examples for the movement
- Drawing/collage paper
- Pencils, scissors, glue, markers
🧠 Do Now (Warm-Up)
Where have you seen a strict grid used in a design today (an app, a magazine, a subway map)? Why might that be a good choice there?
📋 Main Workshop / Lesson Sequence
This lesson spans 2 Days. Suggested pacing:
| Day | Focus | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | History & Analysis | Do Now (5 min). Mini-lesson (15 min): the movement's historical context and visual traits. Guided analysis (10 min): as a class, annotate one real example together, identifying specific techniques. Independent analysis (15 min): annotate 2 more real examples on your own, identifying specific techniques. |
| Day 2 | Applied Studio | Do Now (5 min): name 2 visual traits of yesterday's movement. Studio time (30 min): create a small paper (or digital, if already introduced) composition deliberately imitating the movement's style. Written connection (10 min): write 2-3 sentences connecting a technique from that era to something you could use in your own client work. |
✅ Assessment & Exit Ticket
Annotated examples + studio piece scored with a rubric: accurate identification of the movement's traits, and a genuine, specific connection made to modern/personal design work.
Exit Ticket: Name one specific technique from today's movement you could actually use in a future project.
📊 Pull up the anonymous Class Check-In for students to fill out before they go.
🧩 Differentiation & Accommodations
English Language Learners: model every step live, then check in one-on-one; provide translated materials and vocabulary support as needed. Students with IEPs: apply the accommodations and modifications listed in each student's plan (examples include extended time, graphic organizers, speech-to-text tools, chunked instructions, and visual schedules). Students with attention-related needs: break tasks into short, checklist-driven steps and provide brief movement or focus breaks. Students ready for a challenge: take on a leadership role critiquing peers' work, extend the project with a second iteration, or research how today's skill is used professionally in the field.