One of the best parts of being a teacher in the Graphic Design and Communications Department is watching students grow.
The sophomores are only a couple months from graduation and they have really figured out how to apply all of the pieces of their education. The movie posters they created based on real or fictional films are exceptional. The main photo for each piece was shot by the student and they handled the design as well.
Today we had a surprise visitor – Donna Vallarano. Donna is a retired faculty of the Graphic Design and Communications department (Commercial Art while Donna was teaching). She was also one of the instructors that taught all three of the current GDC faculty. To clarify that, she taught Sean, Tom and Jason about graphic design at BSC.
Donna took time to give a quick hand lettering demonstration that the students watched closely. After 16 years of retirement, Donna still knows how to talk to a class and deal with students.
Spending time with Donna was definitely the highlight of our day.
Sophomore group photo shot on the fourth floor of the National Energy Center of Excellence building on the Bismarck State College Campus.
Sophomore group photo at Steamboat park in Bismarck.
The final photo project for the sophomore Graphic Design and Communications classes was to shoot a group photo. All students were expected to be involved and to work together to create a product everyone was happy with. It will be a record for the students and the instructors for years to come.
The end of the school year is in sight. Around the Graphic Design and Communications Department, we call this time of year spring regardless of what the weather might be doing.
Sticking with the GDC spring tradition, the annual Spring Show will be held April 19-22 at Kirkwood Mall. The show will feature digital design, illustration and photography along with 35mm film photography.
The show has become part of the campus-wide ArtsQuest which features a variety of events. This year, GDC will be hosting nationally-known designer and speaker Jeff Fisher. He will be speaking at 7:30 p.m. April 21 in the National Energy Center of Excellence Auditorium on the BSC campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Check out the posters below advertising the events.
Spring Show poster designed by sophomore GDC student Bree Malingen.
Spring Show poster designed by sophomore GDC student Jordan Erickson.
Check out Jeff Fisher – the presentation is free and open to the public.
Blueprint-effect was generated with an action created by the instructor and students. It can be repeated quickly and accurately with only a couple clicks.
Much of the fall semester imaging classes focus on working with a particular effect, trying to achieve a specific look.
Today the discussion was about Photoshop Actions, tiny scripts that allow automation of tasks from simple to fairly complex. Nearly any operation can be automated and stopping points can be inserted to allow human interaction. Graphic Design and Communications students started with simple actions and worked up to more complex pieces.
Many designers use actions to automate tasks like converting photos to black and white or creating thumbnails for photo galleries. Another suggestion is to automate complex processes to speed them up and reduce the chances of error.