12th Grade — Phase 2, Unit S2: Real Client Work: The Design Process on a Real Deadline

🗓️ Before Class: Teacher Prep

Gather/set out: An assigned live (or first practice) studio job, Design process reference poster (from Grade 11).
Pull up today's slide deck (see 🖥️ Slide Deck below) so it's ready to project.
Heads-up -- This is a real client, not a hypothetical one: Treat every request the same way a professional studio would treat a paying client: confirm the brief, communicate proactively, and get sign-off before production. The staff member's satisfaction is part of the grade.

🖥️ Slide Deck (project or share with students)

Short, on-the-board pacing slides for today's Do Now, agenda, vocabulary, and exit ticket -- the full detail lives in the handout above, not here.

Day 1

Open / download this slide PDF

Day 2

Open / download this slide PDF

🧑‍🏫 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

This is a real client, not a hypothetical one

Treat every request the same way a professional studio would treat a paying client: confirm the brief, communicate proactively, and get sign-off before production. The staff member's satisfaction is part of the grade.

🎯 Essential Question

How do we apply the full design process to an actual staff request instead of a hypothetical one?

📈 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson (2 Days), students will be able to:

Apply the Discover → Define → Ideate → Design → Test/Deliver process to a real, live studio request.
Document each stage of the process for their eventual portfolio archive.
Identify what changes (and what doesn't) about the process when the client is a real person with a real deadline.

📐 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.
CDOS 3b — Career Majors -- knowledge and skills required for success within a specific career pathway (here, Digital Design).

Industry Standards (CCTC)

AR-VIS 3 — Analyze and create two- and three-dimensional art forms using various media.

📚 Key Vocabulary

Live Job: An actual, real request from a school staff member, as opposed to a class exercise.
Process Documentation: Recording each stage of a project (notes, sketches, drafts) for later reference or a portfolio.

🧰 Materials & Tools

An assigned live (or first practice) studio job
Design process reference poster (from Grade 11)

🧠 Do Now (Warm-Up)

What part of a real client relationship do you think will feel different from a class project with a made-up client?

📁 Portfolio Update — Once a Week

Once a week, add your best finished or in-progress yearbook (or, later, studio) work to your portfolio with a 1-2 sentence caption -- and once you're in the Design Studio phase, a photo of the piece in its real, installed location if possible. This is the same evidence trail you'll use for Archive & Portfolio and any PBAT/portfolio review.

✍️ Example description for your Google Sites portfolio (fill in YOUR blanks -- don't just copy this):

For this piece, I made ______________ (name what you made) for “The Design Process on a Real Deadline.” This project asked: “How do we apply the full design process to an actual staff request instead of a hypothetical one?” I used Live Job by ______________ (explain how you used it in THIS piece). The hardest part was ______________, and I solved it by ______________. I'm proud of ______________ because ______________.

📋 Main Workshop / Lesson Sequence

This lesson spans 2 Days. Suggested pacing:

Day	Focus	Plan
Day 1	Discover & Define	Do Now (5 min): what feels different about a real client vs. a made-up one? Mini-lesson (8 min): review Discover & Define from Grade 11. Independent/team work (27 min): meet with (or message) the requesting staff member to confirm the brief, audience, and purpose; write a clear problem statement. Share (5 min).
Day 2	Ideate & Begin Design	Do Now (5 min): recall your problem statement from yesterday. Mini-lesson (5 min): a quick ideation refresher. Independent/team work (30 min): generate multiple concept directions, document them, and begin building the strongest one toward a first draft. Check-in (5 min).

✅ Assessment & Exit Ticket

Process documentation checked for a clear Discover/Define stage and multiple ideation options before committing to one direction.

Exit Ticket: What is your problem statement for this job, in one sentence?

📊 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.

🔗 Resources & References

None beyond this lesson's materials.