Graphic Design and Digital Media

This program prepares students for a wide variety of careers in graphic design and digital media production. This includes instruction in graphic design, typography, digital illustration, photo manipulation, web design, animation, motion graphics, advertising design, entertainment graphics, and production art, using the latest equipment and software available. Classes are structured to give strong academic and hands-on experience for entry into the graphic design and digital media industry. 

Enrollment Completer Projections are approximately 45 students annually.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, students should be able to: 

·       Demonstrate graphic design and layout principles consistent with the principles and elements of design.

·       Analyze and explain methods and techniques to design aesthetically pleasing and effective typographic communication.

·       Utilize various digital image-editing tools to edit, retouch, manipulate, enhance, optimize and composite raster-based images for a broad range of graphic design and digital media usages.

·       Understand he technical differences and advantages of raster-based and vector-based images for various design outputs and digital applications.

·       Understand the unique challenges of creating rich content for today’s digital, mobile and cross-platform design environment.

·       Create effective motion graphics designs and multimedia animations for various marketing, advertising and promotional narratives.

·       Demonstrate solid understanding in today’s modern web technology, website structure and the importance of user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) in the context of digital design.

·       Utilize various web design and web development tools effectively in order to create digital content for a wide range of online distribution, promotion and e-commerce. 

·       Understand the technical differences and advantages of various digital, video and audio file formats in the context of graphic design and digital media. 

The ADM program prepares students for the following careers in graphic design and digital media: production artist, junior graphic designer, graphic designer, art director, digital illustrator, advertising designer, brand designer, digital 2D animator, 3D animator, motion graphics designer, web designer, rich content creator, multimedia designer, image editor and design marketing.

Students will take the required courses plus an emphasis elective and general education courses (when going for the degree) 

Required Courses (38 units)                                                                                                         Units

ADM-1         Introduction to Applied Digital Media                                                                            3

ADM-2A       ColorSystems and File Management                                                                             2

ADM-55       Business Management for Graphic Communications                                                   3

ADM-62        Typography and Graphic Design                                                                                   3

ADM-63A     Design for Print Publication                                                                                          3

ADM-63B     Design for Electronic Publication                                                                                  3

ADM-70        Project Production and Portfolio                                                                                    3

ADM-71A     AdobePhotoshop for Image Manipulation                                                                      3

ADM-71B     AdobePhotoshop, Advanced                                                                                         3

ADM-77A     Adobe Illustrator for Graphic Art                                                                                   3

ADM-77B     Adobe Illustrator, Advanced                                                                                          3

DigitalMedia Production Emphasis:

FTV-64A       Beginning Digital Editing Principles andTechniques                                                      3

PHO-20         Introduction to Digital Photography                                                                               3

Motion Graphics Emphasis:

ADM-67        Multimedia Animation                                                                                                  3

ADM-69        Motion Graphics and Special Effects with After Effects                                                3

Digital Animation Emphasis:

ADM-68A     3D Animation with Maya I                                                                                            3

and

ADM-68B     3D Animation with Maya II                                                                                           3

Or

ART-50A      BeginningStoryboarding                                                                                              3

and

ART-50B      IntermediateStoryboarding                                                                                           3

Digital Illustration Emphasis:

ART-36A      Computer Art- Introduction                                                                                           3

ART-36B      Computer Art-Intermediate                                                                                           3

Web Design Emphasis:

ADM-74A     Web Design                                                                                                                 3

and

ADM-74B     Web Design with Dreamweaver                                                                                    3

Or

CIS-72A       Introduction to Web Page Creation                                                                              1.5

and 

CIS-72B        Intermediate Web Page Creation usingCascading Style Sheets (CSS)                    1.5

and

CIS-76B        Adobe Dreamweaver                                                                                                    3