A favorite Friday exercise for freshmen is loosely based on a game called “Get Paul a Promotion.” We throw out the rules and use our own set.

Students draw text from three envelopes – one is an audience, then there is a description and a product. The goal (from the teacher perspective) is for students to draw three completely juxtaposed pieces, three that are going to be difficult to represent visually.

This year, we added a fresh group of terms and the freshmen didn’t disappoint us – they took the cues in stride and came up with creative and well illustrated solutions.

Quotes get the type treatment in Typography Class. These are just a few of the quote posters from first year students in the Graphic Design and Communications at BSC.

The sophomore group cranked out some solid movie posters featuring original photography and strong Photoshop work.

On Friday, February 26 the North Dakota chapter of the American Advertising Federation held their annual Awards Show in recognition of the region’s best advertising. Members and participants were able to log on to view and take part in AAF-ND’s live broadcast of the ‘At Ease’ Awards Show as winners were announced. Five Bismarck State College Graphic Design and Communications students received Addy Awards for excellence in their respective categories; second-year students Breien Berger, Alison Krein, Peter Pavek, Hailee Presser and Regan Reidlinger.

Regan Reidlinger took home a Gold Addy for her Magazine Ad Campaign for 701 Bakery.

Hailee Presser won a Silver Addy for her illustration for the McQuade’s Annual Softball Tournament.

Presser also won a Silver Addy for her integrated Ad Campaign for Danke Dough.

Breien Berger received a Silver Addy for her Consumer Campaign for Berger Sauce.

Peter Pavek won a Silver Addy for his photograph ‘Bully’.

Alison Krein won a Silver Addy for her poster design.

The awards page group is using old-school production skills to create their layout. The magazine will hopefully be printed by portfolio review day – May 5.

Weather is a universal topic of conversation, especially in the upper plains where the temperature changes rapidly. These photo assignments are meant to showcase how the weather feels through the use of photos and layout.

The sophomore students worked hard shooting photos with a green screen background and adding their subjects into different scenarios. Below are a few of the best examples.

 

 

 

 

Shane Balkowitsch has been a great friend of the Graphic Design and Communications department at Bismarck State College. Each year he has generously welcomed students into his wet plate photo studio to see the process he uses to create amazing images. Thank you for your generosity Shane!

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First year students rose to the challenge of rendering an item using nothing but the tools offered by Adobe Illustrator to achieve realism. Time-consuming and rewarding work that pushes the boundaries of what can be done in software that is usually producing flat designs. It’s always amazing to see the results.

Photoshop handles vectors a tiny bit different than Illustrator. After I’m positive that Sean has done the heavy lifting of teaching the freshmen the pen too, we spend one day looking at vectors in Photoshop culminating in a 25 minute vector car drawing challenge with a $1 prize. Jaiden Ziegler from the M,W,F class and Sophia Jilek from the T,TH,F class both walked away a dollar richer.