#3 + #4 Assignment (Term Paper)

#3 + #4 Assignment Individual Essays

June 14, 2023

(marked with 60% of the overall mark)

Evaluation percentage

#1 Assignment Oral Team Presentation and Individual Essay: 20%

_This assignment has been announced on May 3 and presented on May 24, 2023.

#2 Assignment Individual Essay writing: 20%

_This assignment has been announced May 31, 2023
(deadline will be June 16, 2023, 23.55 p.m.)

#3 Assignment Term paper/Essay: 60%

_The topic of the term paper will be announced today, June 14, 2023
(deadline will be July 14, 2023, 23.55 p.m.)
 Essay requirements

1. File name example: DT01_SilkeGehrmannBecker.pdf

= DesignTheory | course topic number_student`s name | format

Font: Helvetica or Arial, 11/12 pt // Format: .docx or .pdf

1.1 The topic of your essay has to be related to the topic of the task.

2. Header information:
_date
_universitie`s name
_student`s name
_course
_lecturer`s name
_academic year
_matriculation number
3. Structure of the essay:
_brief abstract
_introduction (not more than 10% of the overall words)
_chapters including main points and arguments (and images if applicable)
_conclusion
_bibliography
_annexes/sources (if applicable)

4. Evaluation criteria:
_content
_form
_organization/coherence
_rigour
_style
_citations (if applicable)
_application of knowledge
_theses and analysis
_evaluation
_images
_sources
5. Citation style: Harvard OR APA
(please see Moodle introduction for further details and a manual as PDF)

Please note: Inadequately formatted assignments without names will not be accepted.

Take care of specifying all sources and images.

Plagiarism will be marked according to the percentage of the copied text,

more than 50% plagiarism will be marked with 0 points (5,0)
and causes a note at the exam office.

Plagiariam means: Not specified words and paragraphs, either done with an AI Chat.
TASK

Post to the Square: Perceiving, testing and categorising

of new technologies
A critical look back and equally forward into the age of AI

#3_Write an essay based on the analytical reflection of the text provided.

#4_Write a freestyle paragraph on the given topic.

#3_ Min. 3.000 and max. 3.500 words being submitted in the Moodle system
until July 14, 2023 (23.55 p.m.).
#4_ Min. 1.000 and max. 1.250 words being submitted in the Moodle system
until July 14, 2023 (23.55 p.m.).

The marks will be announced via exam office after the exam period.
“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction“
by Walter Benjamin (1935)

#3 TASK

Over the centuries, since the invention and the continuous redefinition of their
profession, designers have acted as form, image and word creators. Their field
of work has expanded continuously, the challenges in a digitized world are
different as in the times of Walter Gropius, Otl Aicher or Erik Spiekermann.
What used to be graphic design has long become visual communication with
countless addressees and analogue as well as digital distribution channels.

At the same time, designers and their work are received in the media,
clustered and thrown into the market again – think of Edel Rodriguez and the
discussions when it comes to design and politics.
And now: AI.

What do these new text and image generating tools mean for the profession
design, for its design-theoretical history, its present and future? What does this
mean for the development of your own projects, their execution and presentation,
their visibility and their future ability?

Referring to the text of Walter Benjamin “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Repoduction (II + III)” from 1935 you have to work out the following two tasks
within a design-theoretical context.
They are based on the lectures, materials, discussions and exercises in the
Design Theory course in the summer semester 2023.
Analyze the given extract of Walter Benjamin’s text and discuss it
according to your research and knowledge:

_related to the history and theory of design and aesthetics;

_about the reflection of media and medium – the seeing and perceiving of signs
and images;
_about the challenges of today`s digitalization, its principles, fakes for real, Big
Data and AI approaches.

Describe and analyse in your own words Walter Benjamin’s observations and
predictions according to your design knowledge, i.e. the principles of design
theories you got to know.

Make up your mind and discuss the text according to the digital and
technological developments since then. Take your own experiences, future
expectations and responsibilities of your design profession into consideration
when it comes to the topics of Big Data, algorithms and especially Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).

>> This part should include not less than 3.000 and not more than 3.250 words.
>> This part will make up 50% of your overall mark for Design Theory.
#4 TASK

With the use and further development of digital imaging technologies and their
accessibility to a broad mass of society, the term “image flood” became catchy.

With this development in relation to AI, it is not only the imaging moment that
takes on a different context, but also the way we view images, for example
from Midjourney or Stable Diffusion.
1.
Find a prompt generated image in Midjourney or Stable Diffusion that has
inspired you and surprised you in its quality.
Explain why you chose this prompt.

2.
Name a prompt-generated image in Midjourney or Stable Diffusion that you
have created and that you are not satisfied with.
Describe and analyse why not and what would be needed to make this
a better result.

>> Attach both image examples.

>> This part should include not less than 1.000 and not more than 1.250 words.
>> This part will make up 10% of your overall mark for Design Theory.
Good work with your #3 + #4 Assignments!