Designing and creating visual messages is important for those entering the professional world. Both designers and non-designers benefit from skills that will enable them to illustrate their ideas and concepts. In this course students will learn principles of message design. A variety of industry standard software applications are available to support the research, writing, visualization, design, and production of messages. Students with a wide range of experience and computer skills will benefit from this course. The Digital Design course is an introduction to design, intended to help the student develop their understanding of basic design concepts and to develop basic design skills. Students will also get the opportunity to apply these principles to a variety of visual products such as advertisements, logos, brochures, resumes, etc.

This course presents a progressive study in terminology, visual principles, exploration, concept generation, process, and techniques of three-dimensional design and is foundational to the College of Art and Design curriculum. Using hands-on problem solving, student will develop an informed understanding of the three-dimensional form and space with an emphasis on the elements and principles of visual design and their function as the building blocks and guidelines for ordering a three-dimensional composition. A heightened awareness of form and space will be developed through lecture, assigned projects, and critiques. Students will also develop a personal awareness of problem seeking and solving, experimentation and critical analysis. **Fee: A materials fee is required for this course, and an additional course fee applied via student account**

This course is an introduction to basic visual communications in the field of graphic design. Lectures will cover graphic design topics ranging from: design thinking methodologies and processes, visual organization and hierarchy principles, color theory and application, and basic typography, to professionalism and ethics. Students will design solutions to visual communication problems through formal studies, perceptual understanding of aesthetics, graphic form and structure, concept development and visual organization. Assignments will explore aspects of graphic imagery, hierarchy, typography, and layout. Students will work with traditional materials and methods as well as develop their computer skills through applications requiring digital formats using industry standard software and hardware.

This class will introduce students to the gamut of animation thinking and making through classroom instruction and hands-on practical experience. Lecture and film screenings will emphasize the process, theory, and practice of animated filmmaking to illustrate each technique and related aesthetics. Hands-on supervised studio sessions will guide students to an intuitive understanding of the process of producing animation and students will use this understanding to analyze various animated works. Each student will develop their personal vision through assigned projects utilizing the material discussed in class. **This course has a facilities fee for non-CAD students to use cage equipment.**