Many well-known characters have brightened up our days just by uttering sometimes nothing more than a single word. Take a famous character’s catchphrase and illustrate it into an image. Try not to use the character themselves in the picture, make it so others can guess what the catchphrase being illustrated is.

Convert a key scene from a movie into an animated GIF and include graphics elements to make it look like the menu screen of a DVD. Be creative in the kind of items that appear on the menu; make it relevant to the plot

Design trading cards for your favorite movie. Grab a screenshot from a film of your choice to create a trading card in the spirit of the classic Star Wars movie trading cards. Also see the imagined trading card for The Shining here for some inspiration.

This assignment was inspired by Sean Hartter’s rendition of Brazil trading cards in this post.

Without using lies, impugn the reputation of someone usually seen as a major hero. You can do this through statistics, quotes taken out of context, inflammatory questions etc. Easy route is a quote with a picture but it could run the gambit up to a full fledged attack ad style video. George Washington magazine style example is here.

The purpose of a light switch is simple, but we fail to notice the canvas behind it: the plate. There’s so much that can be done with the metaphor of a light switch, and there’s even space to do it. That’s your task today. Create a work of art that incorporates the switch into the art. For an extra challenge, create a design that incorporates a pair of light switches for a double-gang switch. Print it out and display it somewhere. Post a digital copy of your design (a pdf would be great) online so others can download & print it out as well. Soon we’ll have our campuses covered with these fun and creative light switch covers!

This idea comes from the book by Stephan Mumaw, “Caffeine for the Creative Team.” I highly recommend it along with “Caffeine for the Creative Mind,” for excellent creativity exercises.

Pick one word. Select one single typeface, and communicate your word. Do not use colors or any other graphical elements. The goal is to select a type face that represents the meaning of the word, and if needed manipulate the font using different sizes, bold, italics, counterform (spacing) etc to visualize the word.

You’re taking a college class here, so it’s about time you thought about the big question: What do you want to be when you grow up? Design a postcard from where and what you will be 10 years from now and write a message to your current self. Firefighter? Cop? Jim Groom-ologist? Let your imagination go wild- What do you want to be when you grow up? Check out an example here.

Create a children’s book cover using primarily cutting and pasting. Imagine you’re cutting shapes out of construction paper and gluing them onto another piece of paper. Except it doesn’t have to be paper. You can make a cover for a book that already exists, or make up your own.

Design an animated GIF poster for your hometown. Make sure to include the text for the name and state of your hometown. What is special about it? Make it move!

Take a movie poster and change it to depict a movie about DS106. It’s sort of like the DS106 propaganda poster, but this time, it’s DS106, the movie!!