Commercial Art Third Year – Advanced

Advanced Typography:  Electronic Type Imaging
This advanced typography course will focus on typographic material from a more aesthetic and communicative perspective. Students will explore the use of the grid format for layouts, single and multiple page designs, as well as the use of type (fonts) as a graphic design element. 

Advertising Design for Portfolio:  Print Design
Assignments place heavy emphasis on developing rough thumbnails and concepts in
traditional media.  These concepts are then created electronically in digital layout formats. Typical assignments in this class will range from advertisements, direct mail, and collateral materials.  These assignments are expected to be portfolio-ready by the end of the semester.

Conceptual Advertising:  Creative Advertising Concepts
Students will learn how to make words and images work together, resulting in effective and thought-provoking advertising.  Assignments will range from individual advertisements to ad campaigns of multiple design projects for a single client.  Using a combination of traditional and computer-based skills, students will create effective advertising campaigns for both profit and nonprofit organizations.

Portfolio Preparation:  Content, Execution, and Business Practices
A course to help each student develop their own individual portfolio and presentation.  Students will be instructed as to the best way to produce a professional portfolio, with heavy emphasis on creative content, computer output and presentation.  Each student’s artwork will be reviewed and critiqued before placement in their portfolio.  A student’s final portfolio, along with their resume and self-promotion piece, must be presented to a jury of professionals at the end of the semester for review.  Passing the portfolio presentation is required in order to graduate.

Advanced Adobe Photoshop Techniques:  Digital Image Creating
Students will continue to develop their Photoshop skills through more complex image- creating and image-manipulation assignments.  This course also emphasizes file saving formats, asset management, and production of digital files for application in high resolution printing or low resolution files for the Web.

Graphic Design for Portfolio:  Advanced Graphic Design
Advanced development of computer skills will be a major focus during classroom time for each design project.  Students will explore and generate effective graphic design techniques for business print applications.  Through a series of assignments, students decide which specific software program will be used to produce their concepts. Assignments created in this class will appear in the student’s portfolio, so strong emphasis will be placed on professional quality and standards.

Advanced Adobe Illustrator:  Electronic Illustration Techniques
An advanced study and application of Adobe Illustrator. Students will continue their Illustrator training in this software program to advance skills developed from last year. Students will begin assignments by developing traditional, hand-rendered layout concepts, then develop those concepts in Adobe Illustrator.  Examples of contemporary digital illustrators are reviewed. Digital assignments created from this class will appear in their final portfolio.

Electronic Portfolio Publishing:  Résumé and Self-Promotion
Graduating Senior students will develop and prepare an electronically produced portfolio on CD that will mirror and coordinate with their traditional portfolio.  This digital portfolio can be used as a promotional mailer or handout when meeting with a client or prospective employer.  Students will also develop a printed self-promotion unit that could be mailed or handed out.  Students will use part of this class to continue to develop portfolio-quality digital illustrations and graphics.

Advertising Illustration:  Illustration for the Business Environment
Students will be required to research and develop illustration concepts for brochures, posters, packaging, and other collateral materials.  Using time constraints similar to those of an advertising agency, students must create portfolio-quality materials under tight deadlines.

Illustration for Portfolio:  Advanced Illustration
Illustration projects will be assigned with the sole purpose of placement into each student’s final portfolio. This course will also focus on the business portion of the illustration field and how a student can prepare themselves for a freelance career.  Topics covered will include setting up a business, acquiring clients, billing, and other procedures critical to being self-employed. Emphasis will be placed on preparing artwork for the portfolio and professional interaction between a prospective client and the artist.