Integrated Studies

Workshops allow students who feel they would benefit from expanded exposure to drawing from live models an opportunity to do so after or in between classes or during their free time. Students with poor drawing skills can improve and make use of the instructor who is present during all workshops. Students with more refined skills can further enhance their abilities. Each workshop is structured differently with different lengths of poses, nude or costumed models, full figure or portrait poses and even some lectures. Drawing workshops provide all full-time students with an opportunity to improve their drawing skills in an open, unpressured environment. Students can come and draw from the live model 5 hours a day, usually 6 days a week.

This workshop allows students who feel they would benefit from expanded exposure to painting from live models an opportunity to do. Students can make use of the instructor who is present during all workshops and further enhance their painting abilities. This workshop provides all full-time students with an opportunity to improve their painting techniques and concepts in an open, unpressured environment.

This workshop explains and reviews the fundamental-to-advanced aspects of Photoshop and Illustrator throughout the term to support students in ongoing studio assignments that require this software knowledge. Faculty teaching these workshops are aware of assignments from a broad spectrum of art and design majors, tailoring the digital lectures to subjects most relevant to students' current needs. Some time will be allotted at the end of each workshop for one-on-one support with those students who request it.

This course is designed to ensure digital literacy through the use of vector and bitmapped applications. Topics include but are not limited to: the basics of composition and layout, output in various forms of publishing, color correction and photo manipulation, as well as digital painting and drawing. These topics are based on an introductory to developmental level of skill in Photoshop, and Illustrator. Assignments encourage creative thought processes with digital tools while investigating cultural and contextual relevance for digital work. On completion of this course students will be able to develop a comfort level with these programs applicable to any type of project in the future.

This class establishes a solid foundation for the students' expanding abilities as artists and designers. Problem solving processes, analytical thinking and craftsmanship are emphasized in compositional, grayscale, and color exercises. This course introduces key art and design principles and theories, in addition to contemporary and historical references. Design 1 also provides an introduction to common digital design tools alongside analog projects.

This non-credit lab is specifically for ACN Graphic Design students concurrently enrolled in INT-102X Design 1 and who are prospective students for ArtCenter's Graphic Design degree program. Lab meets weeks 3 through 9 and will instruct students in the safe operation of certain shop equipment (including the table saw, band saw, and lathe), so that they may access the shop to complete class projects during the term.

This lab requires concurrent enrollment in INT-102X.

This course is about understanding how we see, observe, and interpret, with an introduction to composition, lighting, and color. Students will begin to develop the ability to think, perceive, and communicate design concepts verbally and visually. Students will start to recognize the cultural and social relevance of design by engaging in projects that address basic social themes or issues. Students will develop familiarity with foundational digital and/or analog design tools.

Concept Design 1 is about big picture, conceptual thinking processes. It is an introduction to composition, color, story analysis and basic design principles leading to 2D compositions that serve the narrative.

This class provides an exceptional introduction for non-photo majors to the world of photographic image making. This class introduces students to black and white film photography. Students learn the fundamentals of single capture, film photography as used in Still Life, Portrait and Landscape images. The structure of the class is divided among class/lecture, darkroom lab time or stage, lighting demonstration and location shooting. Assignments are designed to encourage personal expression, conceptual thinking, new ways of thinking about the meaning of images, which will be carried into digital applications for improved problem solving ability in all fine art and communication design fields.

Type 1 is a design studio introducing typography, its terms and history. Students study typographic structure with multiple exercises and projects: anatomy, typeface classifications, kerning, proportion/weight, letter spacing, nomenclature and understanding the differences between display type and text. Additional projects include explorations of body copy tone, legibility, meaning, and hierarchy. Type 1 serves as the primary typographic course fundamental to all future design courses.

As one of a series of Industrial Design Foundation courses, Design Fundamentals 1 concentrates on design elements and gestalt principles in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional composition. The course addresses historical and theoretical contexts through lectures and readings using short written assessments as strategies for research and concept development -compare and contrast, time lines, abbreviated literature and visual reviews, probes, and reflection. Emphasis is placed on design process, research, formal properties and terms, perception, proportion and grid structures, hierarchical ordering in visual communication, rhythm and movement in space and time, achromatic tonal qualities, color mixing, translation between traditional and digital media, and practiced craft.

This is a photographic lighting course for non-photo majors. The class will cover various methods of lighting for photography to give students the ability to photograph their own work more effectively. Techniques for shooting products as well as copy work and photographing 2-dimensional pieces will be addressed. This course is open to degree students in all majors with the exception of photography. Pre-requisites: None

There is authenticity and luminance to a Gelatin Silver Print. The print itself has value as an object of beauty. This course sets out to advance your understanding of the use of black and white film, paper, and chemistry to produce images of exceptional craft. This course will build upon your technical foundation of the silver gelatin medium, however the main goal is to use the techniques to ensure the success of a 10 image, personally driven, body of work. All effort will be made to push this traditional medium to support the concept of the "Final Project". This will be an excellent opportunity to work on a short term or long term project. Techniques for "expressive use" will be drawn from the use of grain, contrast and toning as well other techniques. Archival printing and matting to gallery standards will be accomplished. All format of cameras are accepted as long as the lens has an f-stop and shutter speed. As a class, we will pick the best image from each student's "Final" to form a group show that will be displayed on the wall outside the Black and White Lab.

This course will focus on the timeliness and relevance of sketching and drawing as a tool for designers to communicate visually. Students will learn a variety of ways to capture and express ideas visually, using hand skills including basic pencil sketching, marker sketching, perspective drawing, and digital painting. Students will learn to draw the figure in a narrative context, interacting with objects and the environment, understanding the basics of proportion and foreshortening, while experimenting with a variety of media. Students will learn to compose a page or series of pages with a sequence of images and notes that explain a specific idea or tell a compelling story. This 14-week class covers topics such as composition, human scale, artful storytelling, story boarding, and learning to draw simple forms from ellipses to complex exploded views.

Students deepen their understanding of foundational art and design principles developed in Design 1, with more complex compositional principles, integrating 2D and 3D design fundamentals with more sophistication. Students will investigate practical color theories and perceptual effects with both digital and analog color systems. The 3D component for this course provides a basic foundation guideline for working with dimensional elements. 3D exercises and projects focus on simple fabrication, prototyping models, visual translation, and structural tension and stability. Students expand their design vocabulary and methods of critique while being introduced to research and analysis in the development of their professional practices.

This lab is an introduction to the Processing language for Graphics and Interaction Design students taking Design-2. The class will focus on beginning programming, basic concepts of algorithmic design, and developing one Processing-based project for the Design-2 midterm presentations.

This foundation level class is dedicated to enhancing the student's understanding of the inherent characteristics of a variety of materials in order to explore their best applications for art or design projects. For this reason, assignments are experimental in an effort to discover innovative solutions to the development of form, structure and texture. Materials may include wood, plastics, plaster, metal and paper. Students broaden their understanding of creative problem-solving, originality, and analysis of visual information. Material covered includes the safe operation of woodworking and some metal-working machines, as well as techniques of mold-making, and material safety.

"This course will enable students to use photography to effectively capture situations that unleash the narrative and symbolic potential of images. The course starts by creating a narrative with still photography and ends with creating a narrative application in stills that tests the editing and sequencing of images. Students will learn: storytelling from narrative single images to multi image narratives and photo essays; how to understand meaning in photographs; compositions and cropping; original and found images (photo editing through various devices including storyboards), temperature and lighting; and may include art directing and how to conduct a photo shoot. Prerequisite: None, preferred to take in term 2. Narrative Sketching Course Credit: 3"

Type 2 is a rigorous introduction to the fundamentals of typography, with emphasis on the formal aspects of designing with typographic elements, and the responsibilities inherent in working with visible language. The course will focus on projects and exercises to allow students to become confident in handling the raw materials of letterforms, and the fundamental aspects of typographic composition, which include contrast, space, asymmetry, hierarchy, legibility, alignments, and structures. Historical and contemporary typographic issues are addressed as part of the introduction to the subject.

This second of a two-term class integrates basic principles of 2-D and 3-D design with the fundamentals of letterform design. Students continue to study over the two terms with a team of instructors expert in these two disciplines.

Students with no prior experience in video production will learn how to shoot, direct, art direct and edit short narrative film. The class will also explore the impact of sound in a production. Students will learn the basics of cinematic structure and how to storyboard an idea to produce an effective, visually compelling moving image piece. The first project is highly structured to give students the experience and skills to then develop their own vision in the final project. The class uses Premier Pro as the editing software and students will need to have taken either Digital Design 1 or the equivalent as a pre-requisite for the class.

This class offers students insight into contemporary methods for design and manufacture. This gives the student a better understanding of how data drives form and, in turn, drives production. Course material is structured around hardware and software integration and how this applies to form. The syllabus covers rapid/advanced visualization, 3D modeling and prototyping.

This course addresses different approaches to hand drawn words and images, including calligraphy and lettering, as applied to publishing, communicating an idea, and large format wall graphics for retail applications in a street environment. In this course calligrafitti muralist and lettering artist Peter Greco will lead you through the fundamentals required to achieve pure expression using oversized letters for interior or exterior murals. The skills absorbed in this intensive, fun course will enable students to express through design: identity, personal statements, social messages, to tell a story, to challenge conventional perceptions of word usage, to use letter forms in tandem with illustration or simply to fill wall space with typographic form, pattern and gesture. Students will learn to write Roman Monumental Capitols with flair and flourish, Street Style Gothic, Cursive Script (first with pen, then moving on to using wide brush). Students will also learn to draw modern block (Sans Serif). Suitable for illustration, design and fine art majors.

This is a drawing and design class focused on typography. Students start with calligraphy, then they learn to draw letterforms with accuracy beginning with hand lettering to develop their hand/eye coordination, later finishing their projects digitally. Students learn typographic families and history while performing structure (anatomy, proportion/weight, understanding the differences between display type and text). Students will be able to select, modify and design individual and creative typographic solutions and to integrate typography into their illustrative projects.

Persuasive Sketching 2 is the second in a sequence of two classes in support of drawing skills and techniques. We continue to work with an array of hand skills, including basic pencil sketching, rapid visualization, marker sketching and adding digital painting. This is a project-based studio focused on developing hand drawing skills as a core competency and primary means by which to engage in the process of ideation and communication in human interaction of a product, story boarding, narrative and artful story telling.

Persuasive Sketching supports drawing skills and techniques, working with an array of hand skills, including basic pencil sketching, rapid visualization, digital painting, and image making. This is a project-based studio focused on developing hand drawing skills as a core competency and primary means by which to engage in the process of ideation and communication in human interaction of a product, storyboarding, narrative, and artful storytelling.

This interdisciplinary studio course introduces collage as a dynamic visual language and critical design method. Through the integration of found, observed, and appropriated two-dimensional elements, students will explore personal and cultural narratives to develop a unique visual voice. Emphasis is placed on storytelling, metaphor, and sequential structure-key tools for artists, designers, illustrators, and communicators. Students will investigate how images operate across various contexts-fine art, advertising, editorial, and social media-and examine their biographical, geographical, and interpersonal relationships to visual content. Traditional and experimental approaches to collage will be explored, with students encouraged to incorporate media and techniques aligned with their individual disciplines, including photography, illustration, digital media, and print.

This course introduces the beginner to hand construction methods working with clay and glaze. Students are introduced to the drying and firing methods that successfully transform clay into ceramics. Through in-class demos and 1-on-1 instruction, students learn hand-building processes to bring their designs to life - including pinching, coiling, slab-working and forming texture. Surface design and glaze application procedures are also explored including brushing, dipping and pouring. Students learn about the work of other artists but pursue their own creative vision while learning basic techniques. The class meets at an off-site location. The location will be posted on Canvas.

Students develop the fundamentals of working with clay on the potter's wheel to make unique, useful objects. Through in-class demos and 1-on-1 instruction, students learn wheel-forming techniques such as throwing, trimming, and attaching handles to bring their designs to life. Surface design and glaze application procedures are also explored including brushing, dipping, pouring and sponging. After a series of introductory assignments, students articulate their own goals and use pottery skills that they've learned to execute their own creative vision. Research exercises complement in-class worktime - survey select histories of ceramics, exposing students to the work of other artists and prompting students to observe ceramic objects in their everyday lives. Students are introduced to drying and firing methods that successfully transform clay into ceramics. The class meets at an off-site location. The location will be posted on Canvas.

This course teaches introductory to intermediate printmaking processes of intaglio, lithography, silk screen and photographic printing. The manipulation of inks, media, printing papers, and technical mastery are highly emphasized. The class is based on demos, studio-time, and critiques.

This course teaches introductory to intermediate printmaking processes of intaglio, lithography, silk screen and photographic printing. The manipulation of inks, media, printing papers, and technical mastery are highly emphasized. The class is based on demos, studio-time, and critiques.

This class offers students the opportunity to learn and develop in class basic and advanced surfacing as well as solid modeling techniques. Rhino will be used as the main tool to create 3D models that will be ready to be rendered realistically for quick or detailed presentations as well as ready for rapid prototyping. Projects will range from product design to soft goods, footwear, furniture, and packaging. Class is open to all majors; it is recommended students have 3D background experience if applicable. Pre-requisites: None

Color Theory is a foundation level course covering all aspects of the use and application of color relating to, but not exclusive of visual arts practices. All areas of the subject will be covered and assignments will be given based on the relevant topics presented and discussed in class. Various theories, ideas and rules relating to color will be discussed and in many instances applied to projects. Students will develop their own term project in an attempt to understand how they use color in their work and make any relevant adjustments or corrections.

Color & Story teaches foundation skills in color theory and applies them to visual narratives. The term's first half concentrates on weekly exercises to focus on specific color usage problems, and the term ends with a large story-based project. Most work is digital and Photoshop painting skills are assumed for students entering the class. Critiques are concerned with composition, use of light and emotional engagement. Class time is spent entirely on lecture, demo and critique. Color & Story is a why class in a how school. Subjects covered include history of color systems, overview of harmonies and contrasts, how we see, histories and sources of pigments and dyes, working with limited palettes, color scripts for animation, simultaneous contrast, varieties of natural light, how cinema uses cool & warm light, narrative uses of color, color palettes through history and current use, optical color mixing, effects of light on various surfaces, advantages of using colored line, overview of golden age of children's book illustrators, how cinema uses color "tags" and saturation, story structure, how color is used symbolically in culture and in animation, how we respond to color, how colored light differs from pigment color, history of color in film, color in architecture, correcting color images in Photoshop.

This course investigates contemporary typography and print with an emphasis on exploration, examining emerging typographic conventions across various platforms and media. Students will learn to skillfully manipulate these conventions, according to the conceptual context, through typographic image and experimental print methods. Students will learn to use observational skills across a variety of media, oscillating between micro- and macro-aesthetic concerns, using typography to create a more contextual level of communication in design. Students will develop an increasingly refined and personal typographic vocabulary, customizing the projects to their skills and interests. Further your skills in size relationships, mixing fonts, and utilizing weights to create more texture, and increase your awareness overall of communicating with type.

Materials Lab for Graphic Design Graduate students is a 2-unit course introducing techniques, tools and methods for working in the Art Center shops on 3D projects. The class is taught in conjunction with the GD Graduate Seminar. This class instructs students in the safe operation of equipment including the table saw, band saw, lathe, laser cutting, drill press, 2-part Epoxy, sander, and router, so students may have access to the shop for future projects. Students complete a substantial project demonstrating an understanding and degree of facility with woodworking. Students will receive a shop access pass after successful completion of this lab.

Materials Lab for Graphic Design Graduate students is a 2-unit course introducing techniques, tools and methods for working in the Art Center shops on 3D projects. The class is taught in conjunction with the GD Graduate Seminar. This class instructs students in the safe operation of equipment including the table saw, band saw, lathe, laser cutting, drill press, 2-part Epoxy, sander, and router, so students may have access to the shop for future projects. Students complete a substantial project demonstrating an understanding and degree of facility with woodworking. Students will receive a shop access pass after successful completion of this lab.

This course is for advanced students, 5th term or higher, and has as its ultimate objective the production of a viable chapbook / zine. During the course of the semester, students will not only need to design and produce a book, but work with an editor and an author, read deeply into the text to find meaningful ways (as opposed to solely decorative ways) to graphically represent the text, and study the historical and literary ground from which the text comes as one way of discovering its meaning. Course Objectives Emphasize the dynamic relationship between the meaning a text and its graphic representation. Explore the origins of a particular text as a method of learning how to begin to discover "meaning" in a literary work. Begin to make solid connections between the graphic and the literary arts. To embrace several departments [TDS], creating collaborative projects between writers and the practitioners of ACCD's various disciplines. To produce three chapbooks per year that would be suitable for sale to individual and institutional collections, and to distribute as gifts to major donors to the college and others