Low Effort class. The topics were silly though not sure if I learned anything useful. Gave me some interesting perspective though and background behind design I’d seen before. Literally do the work and you’re good.

Is this an easy GE? Yes. Do you really learn anything? No. I really tried hard to pay attention in class, but being a 3hr lecture at 9am and the fact that the lights were dimmed, I slowly started to just do other work during lecture or sleep. There are three pop quizzes (lowest score is dropped) throughout the quarter, and attendance is taken either at the break or at the end of class. There's a midterm paper that is individual (it was about our opinion on if ornamentation is considered a crime), the "UCLA game" which is basically a scavenger hunt across campus with a group done instead of a midterm test, and a final group paper (this year we had to write about the design of a place we liked in Westwood). You will need to get the course reader because we have to use the readings in there as our sources for our essays. Huhtamo also used concepts from the readings in some quiz questions. If I paid more attention I would have gotten more out of the class, but it is easy to get an A without listening to lecture.

I am probably not the only one get offended when the professor characterize his lamp as "look like an Asian figure" because of the "eye shape." He could have been more sensitive given the amount of Asian students in his class.

I could go on and on about why I would never take this class again and why I would never reccommend this atrocious class to anyone, but in short:

- Huhtamo has probably the worst communication skills I have experienced from a professor
- not lenient towards any type of extensions (got an extremely rude email response back for asking for a ONE day extension because I was sick for an entire week)
- expensive textbook that is required, you cannot complete assignments or write essays without the ereader
- homework is just busywork (you could easily answer each question in at least three sentences but each question required a minimum of 100 words so you found yourself repeating yourself multiple times)
- usually I enjoy GEs, but this class drained every ounce of happiness from me
- it is extremeley boring (you would think a design class would be interesting and engaging but no, it's shocking what Huhtamo can do to you) I would honestly forget about this class a lot
- you would also think that since this class is focused on design they would design this class better
- only good thing is that it is an easy A

TLDR: DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS... INSTEAD you should try PORTSGE 46 (actually interesting, engaging, you learn something useful, you don't waste a quarter, still an easy A)

DESMA 10 has to be one of the easiest classes I've taken at UCLA. The entire class was structured off 3 components a midterm paper a final paper, which was a group assignment, and attendance. The only thing that made this class a bitch was that class was 3 hours on Fridays at 9 am, which sucked after thirsty Thursday. The class was boring asf lowkey and I would tune it out every week. The midterm was kinda cool because you had to just wander around campus and find abnormal design characteristics while quoting the readings. The final was very easy as well as it was a group assignment involving critiquing design again. Overall, a very easy class.

DESMA 10 with Huhtamo is the definition of an easy A. Just know that you will not learn anything valuable, unless you are really engaged and want to go into fashion or graphic design. I took this class during Fall quarter of my freshman year because I wanted to take an easy GE. Although it was easy and I got an A+, I honestly would've rather taken a slightly harder class that was actually enjoyable than this boring class. Huhtamo is a great person, but his lectures are sooo boring. It might just be because I am not a morning person and have a very short attention span, but waking up for the 3-hour long 9AM lectures killed me, especially as a freshman who rushed and partied a lot in the Fall.

Important things to know: Attendance is MANDATORY, there are 3 pop quizzes (hardest part of the class - textbook helps a lot but I got an A without ever reading it), a couple design "event" analyses, a couple design "special" analyses (I still don't know the difference between the events and specials), a midterm activity/paper, and one final group project/paper.
As you can see, most of the class consists of writing papers, and the TAs grade them very leniently, so it is easy to get an A on all of them. My only tip for this class is to go to class and be somewhat prepared for the pop quizzes.

This class is great to take as a GE. It was super easy, the only downside is that the classes are 3 hours long and are on Friday's. However, it's super easy to catch up, and the midterm and final are both easy as well. The weekly discussion posts are also pretty simple as well as interesting. I ended with an A+ and didn't struggle. Professor Huhtamo is also a great professor and is engaging.

This class was generally easy, but a pain to get through. I do not like the way Huhtamo runs this class. You can tell he is very knowledgeable, but I don't think his methods really prioritize learning. He pretty much reads word for word off the slides and also takes attendance. In a 300+ person college lecture. Everyone was pretty much zoned out or doing something else during those. The only reason people came was mostly to take the 3 pop quizzes he said he would be giving out. He also makes you pay for this "course reader" that is pretty much useless except to cite in the essays.
Breakdown of the class:
Midterm assignment (30%) - this was easy, a semiotic analysis about things around campus
Final assignment (40%) - also easy, group essay on designs we thought should be changed
Pop-up Quizzes (2 x 5% = 10%) - lowest score dropped, but you have no idea what to study for on these, tested on random facts from lectures and main points from readings
Two Desma 10 Specials (2 x 5 = 10%) - also easy; genuinely enjoyed these as you just write reflections on events and I went to DESMA and Art MFA exhibits
Two Design Events events (2 x 5 = 10%) - easy and interesting; reports on guest speakers. We had really interesting ones, including a tattoo artist and fashion designer
Blog (5 or more posts will raise final grade by one step) - easy reflections on a question about the lecture topics
I really liked my TA though; I had Aurora Mititelu. She was really helpful during office hours and graded reasonably.

Overall, easy and highly recommended.
If you need an easy Art GE or if you want to take a random class to boost your GPA, this is it.
The class is once a week for three hours. Professor Huhtamo is very understanding and overall a great professor. He has a slight accent and the topics he discusses can be... interesting... but I liked this class. There is lots of EXTRA CREDIT so it is easy to earn an A.

Rundown:
4 assignments: yes. FOUR. you attend four events (zooms that he will post) and write a page about each one of them
3 pop quizzes: lowest one dropped, pretty simple though
Midterm: an assignment (a short paper)
Final: group paper (1500 words spilt over a group of 1-5 people)

*Highlighting again: there are many chances to boost your grade by doing extra credit work

Professor Huhtamo's three-hour lectures were boring. Did not need to know much of anything from the PowerPoints in order to do the exams, though the material will show up on the quiz. Also, you need to pull from the readings in order to complete the midterm/final/quizzes. The readings, by the way, were very difficult to read and comprehend.

The grading was very lenient. Though due to the strike, none of the assignments were graded. Your grade was entirely reliant on one pop quiz, midterm, and final.

The lectures were awful. No one would go if not for the mandatory attendance, which would be taken around halfway through the class. When he realized people would leave right after attendance was taken, he moved attendance to the end of class. However this never happened since strike prevented us from going to class for the rest of the quarter.

This class drained me every Friday. Take it if you want a class with a light workload and an easy A to fulfill your GE requirements, but be prepared for that feeling of impending doom.