In-class exercises will be assigned to support course lectures and demonstrations, and you should be able to complete these exercises during in-class lab time. Class exercises are pass/fail. If you complete the exercise, you will get credit. Exercises do not need to be printed and should be submitted through Canvas.
Exercise details are provided on the schedule page within the week that they are assigned.
You are required to create original graphic artwork using Adobe Photoshop for five creative digital imaging projects, including:
Each project addresses specific Adobe Photoshop techniques. All projects must be printed on high-quality paper, properly mounted on black mat board, and ready for review at the beginning of class on the day of the critique.
This course emphasizes conceptual development and the design process in addition to the technical execution of a project. In addition to the final artwork, projects must include a typewritten artist statement or design brief supporting your visual solution that includes: a description your concept, design goals and/or communication objectives; a description of your process and how you utilized appropriate tools to complete the project, achieve stated requirements, and meet your design goals; and a self-evaluation and critical reflection wherein you comment on your project and what you perceive as the strengths and weaknesses of your final output.
In addition to the design brief, you must submit copies of the reference images used in a project (when applicable). You may also wish to include any research evidence, notes, thumbnail sketches, drafts, comprehensives, etc. that demonstrate your conceptual and creative development process.
Your original, layered Photoshop (.psd) file must be submitted via Canvas along with a flattened JPEG (.jpg) version and your design brief documentation.
See the project guidelines for more information.
Through an online discussion forum/blog, we will research and explore examples of digital imaging work, artists and designers from around the world who are creating such work, and share useful resources and sites of inspiration with one another. Your research will culminate in two postings to a collaborative class ‘blog’.
See the Canvas Discussion Forums for full details.
Retouch, repair, and tint an old beat-up photograph, using the one provided or a similar one of your own (use of your own photo requires instructor approval).
The scenario: Life Magazine has hired you to create a "picture puzzle" for the magazine.
Picture puzzles are visual puzzles in which two photographs are presented. The photos look identical (or nearly identical) at first glance, but upon further inspection several subtle differences can be found. Readers solve the puzzle when they find all of the differences between the photos. However, the most satisfying puzzles are the ones that are hard to solve; wherein the differences are clear once you spot them, but not obvious at first glance.
Editorial illustration is artwork designed to accompany written text, usually an article in a magazine, newspaper, or online publication. Editorial illustrations help illuminate the ideas within a story and encourage readers to engage with content. Most stories are accompanied by images that grab attention and provide quick insight into the themes and concepts of the writing. Photographs are often used for this purpose. But, more conceptual and complex stories don't always lend themselves to traditional photos. Publications may seek a different aesthetic, such as editorial illustration, when they want an image to convey richer and more complex ideas, stories that are multifaceted in nature, and/or ideas that are more conceptual or abstract in nature. Editorial illustrations are well suited to accompany 'think pieces' that tell a larger story than the bare facts.
Your task is to find such a story and then use Photoshop to create an artistic editorial photo illustration for it. The final composition should be an illustration that combines at least three to four separate photos into one cohesive image that conveys the ideas/themes within your chosen article. Ultimately, your job is to make an image that grabs attention, gives people a sense of the story to be told, and makes them want to read it.
This project will combine masking and blending modes (and multiple exposure) with painterly brush effects (and your own custom color palette). These technical processes will somewhat dictate the aesthetic style of your project, but you will have plenty of creative freedom to create a compelling and effective composition.
You will create a Movie Poster or Blue Ray/DVD Cover for a motion picture that you will invent. The cover will be a a composite, montage-style photo illustration, combining at least 3 separate photos into the final composition.
Begin by choosing a genre and title for your movie. Is it a thriller, a drama, film noir, a documentary, a comedy, a horror movie, an action flick, etc.? You can use a current movie as a model (ie, it is similar to...), but may not use any imagery or titles from a real film. Your poster or cover must be completely invented and original.
It is essential that the imagery and graphic elements you choose (including font styles, colors, composition, etc.) thematically represent your concept. In other words, your design should function to reveal the genre, theme, and style of your motion picture idea. Your design should serve your concept.
collage n. {Fr., a pasting < colle, paste < Gr. kolla, glue} An art form in which bits of objects are pasted together in incongruous relationship for their symbolic or suggestive effect.
Using Photoshop, create an artistic digital collage/photo illustration. The final composition should be a composite, collage-style illustration that combines at least five separate photos, scanned objects, or graphic elements. At least one of these elements must be scanned (or photographed) by you and include something that you have hand-drawn, text that you have hand-written, or a found object placed on the scanner glass. You must use graphic texture (background texture) as part of the composition.
The final output of the project can either be on standard 8.5" x 11" paper or you can choose a larger size, such as 11"x17", 12"x18", or 13"x19" (Please note, however, that projects at this scale my become very larger in file size and may be too large to upload to Canvas. If you choose to work at a large scale, you may need to downsize the the final output/psd for submission).
You should create your project using a resolution of 240 ppi or 300 ppi and strive to achieve the best quality that you can. This means no low-res images (such as most images on the Web).
The final Digital Art Collage Project is designed to allow you to showcase your Photoshop skills while working on a theme that is of personal interest to you. It is the most flexible project, with the least technical restrictions. However, it is perhaps the most conceptually challenging as you must create your own concept.
Choose a theme for your Digital Art Collage Project, and use metaphor and symbolic representation to create a visual narrative around that theme. Choose your graphic elements for their symbolic or suggestive effect. It is essential that the imagery and graphic elements you choose thematically represent your concept.
Appropriate concepts include:
As an alternative to this 'Digital Art Collage Project' but utilizing similar compositing and photo illustration techniques, for your final project you may choose to extend upon and/or recreate the Editorial Photo Illustration or Movie Poster Design project with the goal of turning it into a solid artistic and portfolio-worthy piece.
Submit your assignment and design brief via file upload in Canvas. See the Assignment Submission Guidelines.
You may wish to research and explore the artwork of featured artists from the class including:
