Graphic & Web Design

Full-time (Day): 2 terms | Part-time (Night): 4 terms

Prepare for a career in graphic and web design at CDIA with the Graphic and Web Design Certificate. You’ll learn to design for print and the Web with practical, hands-on training with the design software tools being used by today’s professionals. As you master publication design, file preparation, multimedia, interactivity and more, you’ll develop the skills you need to create collateral, ads, newsletters, websites, and digital video and audio. Special presentations will introduce you to the real-world business challenges faced by graphic and web designers – from portfolio development to running your own business – ensuring you’ll be ready for your new career.

At CDIA, you’ll learn how to present your work and yourself, collaborating with fellow designers and learning how to work with clients. The digital revolutions of desktop publishing and the Internet have made the tools of graphic and web design easier to access and use. The Graphic and Web Design Certificate will teach you how to combine these tools with established design principles to create powerful, persuasive work.

GWD101 Introduction to Graphic Design

This module provides an overview of the graphic design field. Lectures and exercises help students develop basic design skills for the print medium. Topics include the history of graphic design, composition, color, type, form, and the difference between vector and bitmap graphics. Upon completion, students will have a foundation to build upon in subsequent classes as well as a visual vocabulary that will enable them to describe, analyze and discuss their work and the work of others throughout the program.

GWD102 Typography, Layout and Color

This module builds on Introduction to Graphic Design by helping students further refine their design skills and sensibilities. Students explore the dual roles of typography as a visualization of language and as a design element. Through lecture and hands-on exercises, students learn about type, readability, layout (with and without grids), and explore typeface combinations, visual continuity, information organization, color and perception, color effects and color meaning. Exercises will challenge students to experiment with various solutions to common design problems.

GWD103 Vector Graphics with Adobe Illustrator

This module introduces students to vector graphics for print. The exercises are based around Illustrator, the most widely used application for creating vector graphics. The module provides students with practical production skills for creating logos, illustrations and diagrams. Students master the pen tool and work with anchor points, segments and compound paths. Exercises encourage exploration and discovery.

GWD104 Digital Imaging with Adobe Photoshop

This module provides an in-depth exploration of Adobe Photoshop, the industry standard for digital imaging. Students work on the basics of image editing, color correction, color management, preparing files for print and exporting images. Topics include working with layers, alpha channels, paths, selections and filters. Exercises prepare students for a real-world production environment.

GWD105 Publication Design with Adobe InDesign

This module focuses on professional page design using the desktop publishing program Adobe InDesign. Students explore properties of page layout including typography, image placement and using drawing tools. Topics include using master pages, working with native Photoshop and Illustrator files, using paragraph and character styles, creating magazine spreads and exporting to PDF. Students will have the opportunity to compare InDesign to the desktop publishing program QuarkXpress.

GWD106 Publication Design with QuarkXpress

This module focuses on professional page design using the desktop publishing program QuarkXpress. Students explore properties of page layout including typography, image placement and using drawing tools. Color management and printing are also discussed.

GWD107 Prepress/Color Management

This module focuses on prepress, the language of printing. Focus is on color management workflow and issues that can affect design. Students learn professional best practices for working with transparency, spot colors and calibration of equipment. Practical projects include working with Postscript printers, creating color wheels and understanding the effect that different papers and ink will have on digital files.

GWD108 Design Project

This module allows students to apply what they have learned up to this point in the program and begin the process on integrating their knowledge to become a professional designer. Students will be expected to demonstrate how to work with digital images, basic navigation elements and Flash.

GWD109 Portfolio Development

This course offers instruction in final preparation and presentation of individual student portfolios. Students are encouraged to incorporate elements from the program into their portfolios.

GWD110 Special Topic Presentations

Students learn aesthetics, business issues and career planning in special topic presentations led by local academics, professionals and entrepreneurs. These presentations help students place their new skills in context and provide a new perspective on how they can apply their skills after the program.

Topics may include:
• Discussion of font design with an industry expert
• Advanced features in Adobe Illustrator
• A tour of a local designer’s studio
• Your portfolio and marketing yourself
• Practical tips on project budgeting, scheduling and time management
• Field trip to a printing press
• Experimenting with Photoshop filters and brushes
• How to work in a collaborative environment with other designers
• InDesign from an editor’s perspective

GWD201 Introduction to Web Design

The class provides an overview of the developing field of web design, with lectures and exercises that help students develop basic web design skills. Topics include the history of web design and the Internet. Students learn the differences between designing for print and the web. The basics of HTML, how to host websites and how professional design teams are structured are all discussed.

GWD202 Using Dreamweaver

This module builds on Introduction to Web Design to help students further refine their understanding of HTML and maintaining websites. Students learn how to create usable and accessible web pages and templates as well as how to incorporate images and multimedia into HTML pages. Learning how to update and maintain large websites in a real-world setting is an important part of the course.

GWD203 Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

This module introduces students to XHTML and Cascading Style Sheets. As a developing web standard, CSS gives designers greater control over the look and feel of web pages. Topics include working with type, color and page layout. Students also learn how to create basic navigation and rollovers using CSS. Learning when to employ CSS and to what degree is an important part of the course.

GWD204 Media for the Web

This module provides an introduction to using different media on the web. Topics include editing, optimizing and color correcting images, options for formatting and integrating video and audio, creating rollovers and animated gifs, batch processing, creating buttons and integration with HTML. Exercises prepare students for a real-world production environment.

GWD205 Introduction to Flash

This module focuses on creating animated Flash movies for the web. Students explore Flash drawing tools, work with text and animate objects, use symbols and instances, learn motion tweening and more. Emphasis is placed on integrating Flash into existing web pages.

GWD206 Scripting for Designers

Web designers in today’s marketplace should have a basic understanding of how to make their web pages interactive. This module provides a gentle introduction to browser and server-side scripting. Topics include how to create interactive forms, automatic headers and footers, dropdown menus and rollovers. This module also provides an introduction to e-commerce features such as a PHP shopping cart and working with a MySql database. Emphasis is placed on customizing pre-existing scripts rather than creating them.

GWD207 Design Project

This module allows students to apply what they have learned in the first half of the program and create an integrated website from scratch. Students will be expected to demonstrate how to work with digital images, basic navigation elements and Flash.

GWD208 Portfolio Presentation

This course offers instruction in final preparation and presentation of individual student portfolios. Students are encouraged to incorporate elements from the program into their portfolios.

GWD209 Special Topic Presentations

Students learn aesthetics, business issues and career planning in special topic presentations led by local academics, professionals and entrepreneurs. These presentations help students place their new skills in context and provide a new perspective on how they can apply their skills after the program.

Topics may include:
• Introduction to XML
• Using After Effects and Photoshop together
• The bleeding edge of the web: Ajax
• Introduction to DHTML
• Your portfolio and marketing yourself
• Practical tips on project budgeting, scheduling and time management
• Understanding information architecture
• XML and RSS
• Collaboration via the web
• Usability testing
• Case Study: Building an e-commerce site
• Working in a startup

GWD999 Production Practicum

Practicum gives students who have completed the certificate program practical experience in working on a real-world project. Under the direction of a faculty member students will produce a media project for a nonprofit organization and learn to manage the constraints of a fixed timeframe and well-defined client deliverables. Students will gain confidence and better understand the professional expectations of the position they hold on a project. Practicum allows students to gain professional experience while refining their new skills in a real production environment.