The Graphic Design and Communications students have started photography. The sophomore students are working on studio photography projects that will be posted later and the freshmen are learning to use their cameras.
The following images are from the first freshmen photography assignment. The students needed to shoot a variety of topics from a list, but the car images some shot were particularly interesting.
One of the oldest forms of printing is a rubbing (paper over a raised object and rubbed with graphite to leave a mark). This is a great way to capture textures that can be incorporated with modern technology such as Photoshop. Below are some images students created using rubbings and Photoshop.
The freshmen Graphic Design and Communications students have been working hard throughout the semester. The tough part is picking projects that put all of the pieces together.
The assignment below was designed to give the students some creative freedom while using the concepts they have learned. The students were allowed to use images from the Web to create a creature. The creature doesn’t need to have a human form, but most chose that shape. Often, the objects dictate the form of the creature even more than the designer.
The last couple years the Graphic Design and Communications students have created stop action videos for Halloween. They are fun and have educational value - they help students understand time and motion as it relates to animation. They learn about the story board process and work together as teams.
In the past the videos were done by the freshmen students, but this year sophomore students created videos as well. Visit our Facebook page to vote for your favorite.
Sophomore group 1
Sophomore group 2
Freshmen group 1
Freshmen group 2
Type can be more than something to convey a written message - it can be an image. This exercise used topics previously covered in class in a new way. Type was used to create a brush shape, then a portrait was created using those brushes and layer masking techniques. The results are wonderful.
Explore Bismarck State College Day is Tuesday. The event brings hundreds of potential students to campus and many of them to the Graphic Design and Communications Department.
This year the freshmen GDC students helped roll out a “welcome mat” for the visitors. Working with instructors, they created a giant GDC logo that begins on the wall and ends on the floor of the department using blue painter’s tape. The logo appears stretched or distorted when viewed from everywhere but a single spot in the hallway. It’s a great optical illusion.
The students also created a large QR code that, when scanned with a smart phone, will bring viewers to this Web site.
The logo project forced students to look at the entire image and make adjustments for aesthetics as they worked. The QR code project emphasized accuracy and measuring. Both projects encouraged collaboration and helped students build relationships within the class.
Check out the stop action videos of the projects being created below.