Advisory:NART 285; It is advised that students be able to engage in written composition at a college level and read college-level texts.
Transfers to: UC, CSU

This course is intended for students interested in the history, theory and practice of typography as it applies to graphic design, advertising, and other areas of design and visual communication. Students learn and practice hand-rendered and mechanical aspects of typography, and how typography attracts, informs, educates, inspires, and creates retaining impressions—as well as how typography modifies human actions and behavior. Through discussions, exercises, and projects, students develop an understanding leading to clearer interpretations of typography and its role in human history, communication, design, and art. Activities include the history and principles of typography, letter structure, typeface selection, fundamentals of typesetting and introductory typographic layout.

(Formerly ART 164, ART 045A)

Advisory:NART 285; It is advised that students be able to engage in written composition at a college level and read college-level texts.
Transfers to:UC, CSU

This introductory course is an introduction to graphic design and uses vector software (like Adobe Illustrator) as the principal digital tool. Topics include the principles and elements of design, typography, color, shape stroke, illustration techniques, page layout design, as well as introductory critical concepts and professional practices employed by graphic designers. This course includes exercises, projects, and portfolio building with an emphasis on professional standards. This course is for students interested in a degree or certificate in graphic design as well as those interested in 2-dimensional (2D) design and layout applications employed as tools by graphic designers.

Prerequisite: GDSN 150 Advisory:NART 285
Transfers to: UC, CSU

This course is intended for students interested in the theory and practice of letterforms and typography as they apply to graphic design, advertising, and other areas of design and visual communication. Focus is placed on the compositional use of type as a principal design element and its relationship to issues of visual hierarchy, readability, and page structure. Students continue their exploration of typography as an expressive visual form through typographic design projects.

(Formerly ART 172, ART 040)

Advisory:NART,285; It is advised that students be able to engage in written composition at a college level and read college-level texts.
Transfers to: CSU

This introductory course is an exploration of publication design, a sub-discipline of graphic design and uses page-layout software (like Adobe InDesign) as the principal digital tool. Topics include the principles and elements of design, page composition, creative use of typography, color, imagery and the grid, and discussion of output and pre-press considerations for print and digital distribution, as well as current methods and styles, critical concepts, and professional practices employed by graphic designers. This course includes portfolio building, with an emphasis on professional standards.