Week 4 — Tuesday, September 15

Project 1 First Draft due · Critique against the source

Focus

The whole piece exists in rough form. Today we put it next to the source and find out where the gaps are while there is still time to close them.

Due today — before 9:00 AM

Project 1 — First Draft (10 points)

The complete piece at rough standard — every section present
A side-by-side comparison against the source
A written note naming the three largest gaps you can already see

Weekly progress report.

Bring to class

The draft, ready to play or run at full size
The source, ready to play alongside it
Your three-gaps note
Notes from last week

In class

Side-by-side critique. We play your draft and the source together, repeatedly. Most of the useful information in this project surfaces in this exercise, and it is uncomfortable by design.

Gap diagnosis. You named three gaps. We check whether they are the right three — students routinely identify the visible problems and miss the structural one.

Priority ranking. You will get more notes than you can act on in two weeks. They get ranked. You leave knowing the two or three that matter.

Technique instruction as the work requires.

Supervised production.

Before next week

Address the ranked notes, in order. Top of the list first.
Do not add scope. Week 4 is not the time to discover an additional element the source has that you had not noticed. If you find one, discuss it before building it.
Begin thinking about Project 2. Which technique from this project has been most interesting or most difficult? That is your candidate. You will choose in Week 6.

Note — on the side-by-side

Playing your work directly against professional work is the single most useful critique tool available in this field, and almost nobody does it voluntarily because it feels bad.

Do it anyway, weekly, on your own. Not to feel bad — to find the specific delta. "It doesn't look as good" is not actionable. "Their contrast range is wider and their type sits 40% smaller" is.

The gap is always specific. Your job is to name it precisely enough to fix it.