Below is an example of the design process I teach in class, followed by various examples of student work.
Teaching Philosophy, Diversity Statement and Syllabi are available.
In Class Design Process
Step 1. Create a mood board that visually depicts the tone and theme of your illustration. Write a paragraph that describes how the images you have chosen relate to your overall concept or theme. Lastly, begin your thumbnail sketches to explore various ideas.
Long Time No See, 2020
Step 2. After we discuss the thumbnails, begin taking your own photography and creating your own graphics. Create a minimum of two digital drafts to review during our individual meetings.
Step 3. Comment on your peers work and receive feedback.
Step 4. Incorporate the feedback into your final illustration. Write an artist statement to read during critique.
Various Student Work
Exercise: Social Media GIF
Description: Students created a GIF for College of DuPage's Graphic Design Department. All images and graphics were created by the students.
Goals: Students designed images for use on social media channels. Students applied custom graphics to animated frames. Students created and constructed finished illustrative designs for presentation.
Deliverables: A GIF utilizing custom illustrations, textures, typography, and hand-drawn sketches with a minimum of 20 frames.
Exercise: Pizza Decade Box
Description: Students created a pizza box mockup based on an assigned decade. All images and graphics were created by the students.
Goals: Students designed images for use in informational, editorial, and promotional design
projects. Students applied custom graphics to digital mockups. Students created and construct finished illustrative designs for presentation.
Deliverables: A PSD mockup, custom logo and sl
Exercise: Current Events Poster
Description: Students created a poster based on a current event that has happened within the past two years. All images and graphics were created by the students.
Goals: Students successfully utilized a variety of Photoshop CC tools, specifically the lasso tools, quick select, magic wand, select by color range, blending mode and color replacement tool. Students also verbally expressed how their images connected to their theme and visually represented their unique viewpoint.
Deliverables: 16" x 20" poster, personal photographs, scanned in images, and custom graphics/illustrations
Exercise: FrankenMonster
Description: Students created a body from at least 15 parts of personal photos and/or images found online. In addition to the body, students included a background, created a shadow and used a filter.
Goals: Students further investigated layers including their ordering in the layers palette and how to modify/transform content within a layer. Students implemented various selection tools they learned in class. Students implemented their understanding of copyright law as discussed in class.
Deliverables: 15 to 20 body parts and/or accessories, adjusted colors/brightness, appropriate background, shadow and use of at least one filter
Exercise: Figure Movement
Description: Students used selection masks, layer masks and custom brushes to create a composition that emphasized the movement and motion of a central figure.
Goals: Students successfully utilized a variety of Photoshop CC tools, specifically the lasso tools, quick select, magic wand, select by color range, blending mode and the color replacement tool. Students also verbally expressed how their images connected to their theme and visually represented their unique viewpoint.
Deliverables: Movement within the piece, central figure with a selection mask, subtracting and adding to layer masks, various brushes and custom brush, blend mode(s) and thematic background
Exercise: Illustrative Word
Description: Students created a themed composition with a focus on text and explored layer
modes, layer styles and layer order to achieve different blending effects.
Goals:
Students explored the text tool and learned advanced techniques to edit typography as well as how to download and import different font styles. Students explored how to create and download additional brushes to use in Photoshop. Students created and utilized original photography, sketches, and hand-drawn illustrations as source material for projects.
Deliverables: Texture layer, custom brush, brushes layer with downloaded brushes, downloaded font, layer mode(s) and layer style(s), photographic element(s) layer
