Introduction to Graphic Design
 

This is a digitally based visual design course.  Although it is taught on the computer, rest assured that it is an ART class.  Using powerful, professional-quality design software you will be exploring the art of visual communication.  While a good amount of time will be spent mastering this complex software, the core concepts of the class will be centered on the Elements and Principles of Art and Design.

All work is to be completed in the Digital Design Studio (the computer lab in Art Room 173).  You are responsible for your own virtual work space, and the maintenance (and backup!) of your own files.  Be sure to work only at your assigned work station daily.

Unit 1:  Jack and Jill's Big Adventure

Fine Arts Component:   Illustration, Formal Design Elements

Contemporary Art World Component:   Children's book illustration, comic books, or similar sequential visual story telling.

Unit Summary:   You will create a series of images to illustrate a simple nursery rhyme (in this case "Jack and Jill went up the hill").  The initial images will be created in Microsoft Word, with which you should all be familiar (although maybe not as a Design tool!)  Work will then be printed and imported into Adobe Photoshop for an introduction to more complex digital image manipulation.  

Unit II:  Jack and Jill Go to Hollywood

Fine Arts Component:   Design layout, visual communication

Contemporary Art World Component:   Mass Media, Pop Culture, Conceptual Marketing

Unit Summary:   You will begin exploring some of the professional uses of the software.  You will create artwork that expresses emotions or ideas to a viewer.  Specifically, you will create a CD case insert that relates to the type of music contained within a real or made-up Compact Disc.  Your design should appeal to your target audience.

Unit III:  Jack and Jill get a Job

Contemporary Art Component:   Media and Advertising

Unit Summary:   You will further explore the practical applications of the software.  Professional designers are called upon to sell products, concepts, ideas, and even themselves using visual marketing techniques.  Specifically, you will be designing work to communicate with a target audience, including a business card and an informative poster.

Unit IV:  Jack and Jill's Psychedelic Side Trip

Fine Arts Component:   Collage, photographic manipulation

Art History and Cultural Component:   Surrealism, Existentialism

Unit Summary:   You will now experiment with the phenomenal cosmic power of Photoshop to alter the fabric of Reality itself.  Inspired by the bizarre juxtapositions and fantastic imagery of the Surrealist Painters, you will create realistic depictions of the impossible or dreamlike images.  

The finished artwork for this assignment will be uploaded to the RIEPS (Rhode Island Electronic Portfolio System) along with a written reflection.

Unit V:  Jack and Jill Find Themselves (FINAL PERFORMNCE ASSESSMENT)*

Fine Arts component:   Digital Painting & Self-Expression

Unit Summary:   In this course you have learned to use Photoshop tools, filters, and commands to create both commercial and non-commercial (artistic) work, For this project, your Final Exam/Performance Assessment, will be using Photoshop's tools to create original expressive artwork.  Specifically, you will be called upon to create a digital collage that incorporates images and text taken from a poem or song, photographs you have taken yourself, and digitally altered textures and images.  The final composition will include personal symbolism and the expressive use of color, texture, and space.  As this is a capstone project, all of the editing tools and techniques developed throughout the course should be drawn upon.

The finished artwork for this assignment will be uploaded to the RIEPS (Rhode Island Electronic Portfolio System) along with an artist's statement.

Assessment:

Artwork will be graded on a 4.0 scale.  Each project will be evaluated against a standardized rubric.

Perception will be incorporated into assessment.  This will include participation in group and individual critiques, using appropriate art vocabulary, and examining and discussing individual preferences and decisions evident in finished artwork.

Portfolio*- a written component, counting as 10% of your semester grade, is required in all semester classes.

The Final Exam* counts as 10% of your semester grade.  It will be composed of a digital art project, a written component, and a presentation to the class.

*NOTE: The Final Exam and the Written Portfolio are combined into a "Final Performance Assessment" done in class during the last few weeks of the course.