ARTS 222 Introduction to Graphic Design

Graphic design is a skill that is widely used in the communications, design, and publishing industries. The ability to produce well-designed visual materials is a highly marketable skill and essential for the student wishing to pursue a career in media related fields. This course is also foundational to other ARTS and COMS courses.

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

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Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (3)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to create a thread in response to the provided prompt for each discussion. Each thread must be at least 200 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 100 words.

Invitation Exercise Assignment

The invitation exercise will help the student to apply the graphic design principles of alignment and proximity using Adobe Illustrator. An invitation is a great start to graphic design as it needs minimal elements to create a communicative and aesthetic design. The aim for the assignment is to use only text and a few colors to get comfortable with Adobe Illustrator and with graphic design.

Pen Tool Exercise Assignment

This pen tool exercise will build the student’s skills in using one of the most essential skills in Illustrator – The Pen Tool. The student will learn how to click, drag and position the anchor points on a path to develop complex curves and shape that will help them build images and illustrations.

Logo Design Exercise Assignment

This Logo Design exercise will increase the student’s observation skills to capture an object’s essential characteristics and strengthen their ability to think conceptually. The student will use the iterative design process to research, develop, and refine their design solutions and improve their skills in using Adobe Illustrator Software.

Menu Exercise Assignment

The menu exercise will help the student to apply the design principles of repetition and contrast using Adobe Photoshop. A menu is a great start to graphic design as it needs minimal elements to create a communicative and aesthetic design. The idea behind this assignment is to challenge the student to showcase a creative menu using contrasting fonts and repeating elements.

Trifold Brochure Exercise Assignment

The student will use the desktop version of Adobe InDesign software to create a multi-page, tri-fold brochure for a travel destination. They will apply all the design principles that you have learned thus far (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity), as well as combing word and image to create a well-designed and organized document. This exercise will build the student’s graphic design skills as it requires the effective use of typography and layout to communicate effectively across multiple pages. 

Shape Builder Exercise Assignment

This Shape Builder exercise will build the student’s skills in using shapes to create various forms for illustrations, icons and various graphic elements.

Poster and Social Media Project Assignments (4)

Students will design and develop conceptual pieces for an event of their choice, implementing the knowledge of typography, layout design, final preparation, typography, the basic graphic design principles, and document setup. This project will be broken up into four modules:

Poster and Social Media Project: Research Assignment
The student will develop a well-designed process document, which includes project direction, strategy, and a mood board.

Poster and Social Media Project: Sketches Assignment
The student will develop a series of thumbnail and rough sketches for each major deliverable for the project.

Poster and Social Media Project: Comps Assignment
The student will create three digital comps for the poster and 3 comps for the social media design to receive feedback for the final project.

Poster and Social Media Project: Final Assignment
The student will submit the final poster and social media project in a process document as an Interactive PDF.

Behance Portfolio Assignment

For the final assignment of this course, the student will prepare their work using Adobe Photoshop to create an online portfolio. The student will be able to continue to add to this portfolio in classes to come to build up an online presence.

Quizzes (9)

Each quiz will cover the Learn material for the assigned module. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 10 multiple-choice and/or true/false questions, and have a 12-minute time limit.