ART 418 · Charleston Southern University · Fall 2026

Syllabus

Design is being remade by a new medium, again. This course runs the studio's four-phase process — discovery, definition, design, develop — as one engagement across the semester, with AI worked into every phase the way a practice actually uses it: researcher in discovery, option generator in definition, spec-reader in design, production method in develop. What the student documents all term is the part that stays theirs: the judgment, the process, and the price of the work.

The course

Meets
Mon and Wed, 1:30 to 2:50 PM · CSU LB 104
Term
Aug 24 to Dec 7 · finals Dec 8 to Dec 14
Instructor
Abe Garcia
Credits
3 · prerequisite ART 318

Booksread in selections, never whole

  • Creative Strategy and the Business of DesignDouglas Davis, HOW Books, 2016required · ISBN 9781440341557
  • The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and DesignMarty Neumeier, New Riders, 2006required · ISBN 9780321348104
  • Don't Call It That: A Naming WorkbookEli Altman, No Picnic Press, 2019recommended · ISBN 9781734248302

How the grade is made100% in all

  • 15%Gate 1: research and directionThe research behind the venture, the moodboards, and the brand themes it could live in. Presented to the room.Sep 30
  • 25%Gate 2: the brandThe brand itself, built. The midterm showcase, and the largest presentation of the term.Oct 14
  • 20%Gate 3: the system, specifiedThe brand rewritten as a system: the rules, tokens and instructions a machine can operate without you in the room.Nov 11
  • 20%Gate 4: the system, runningThe brand actually operated by AI against the spec, demonstrated live, with what it got right and what it got wrong.Dec 2
  • 10%PresentationsEvery gate is presented. Marked across the four, not one at a time.all term
  • 10%ParticipationSeminar discussion, critique, and use of the work sessions.all term
  • The defenseThe whole engagement defended: what the brand claims, what the system automates, and where the machine still needs you.Dec 8 to Dec 14

What the work is marked onevery gate, the same four

  • 25%ProcessContributing to discussion and critique, and improving the work as a result of research and iteration.
  • 25%ConceptResponding to the problem inventively, and thinking critically about the work in light of critique and reading.
  • 25%ResolutionMaking work that is effective and appropriate to its concept and its context.
  • 25%CraftCare in the manufacture of the work, and technical ability in the making of it.

Policies

Readings
Books are read in selections, never whole: what is assigned is the part of it this week needs, named on the session it is read for. A reading listed on a session is read before that class, and it is handed out at the meeting before.
AI use
To be written. The machine is the production method this course studies, so its use will be declared rather than hidden, but the rules have not been set. This has to be settled before the project is announced on August 31.
Accessibility
Charleston Southern University will provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities to make all learning experiences accessible. If you feel you may need accommodations based on the impact of a disability, please contact the Office of Accessibility Services located in The Hub (2nd floor of the library; 843-863-7159, awatson@csuniv.edu) to initiate a conversation about your options. Accommodations are not retroactive, so please avoid delays.
Attendance
Attendance is tracked. University policy R-10 sets failure for absences at a quarter of the meetings, which in this course is seven.
Grades of record
Blackboard is the university's system of record. This site carries the readings, the media shelf, and your margin notes; grades live there.

Timewhat a week asks

A meeting
80 minutes, 75 usable
Reading
up to 90 minutes a week