digitaldesignworkshop
4weeksjune2002
fineartscollege
shanghaiuniversity
instructoralbertocidraes
assistantwangkai
Statement of purpose
The main target of this course is to give graduating students the ability to create their digital portfolio in English using a variety of software applications.
The portfolio thus prepared will then be finalized in 2 versions, one for print and another for uploading to the Internet in the form of a web site.
The applications to be used are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Fireworks and Dreamweaver.
The workshop will have the dual ambition of enabling the students to function digitally in the English language and of enabling them to, as artists or designers, independently generate their own self-promotion means and materials. This will give the students a competitive edge at International level.
Methodology
Students will produce content for their artistic portfolio in a variety of ways. The most prominent components will be digital images, which are the strongest conveyor of meaning for visual artists and communicators. But an additional effort will be placed in the production of text in English as a complement to images. Text blocks will be reduced in size and compact in meaning, taking into account time and students’ proficiency limitations.
Images will be of 3 types essentially: Digital photos or scans of past works, edited or modified images of those or other works and images created as self-standing works during the course. Students’ digital self-portraits in an artistic context will be a required component of the portfolio and an element of self-introduction.
Software applications will be used to address the specific issues they were made for:
Adobe Photoshop: Image manipulation and edition, color correction and filters, photocomposition and collage, image resolution, painting, file formats.
Adobe Illustrator: Geometry, Bezier curves, gradients, blending, typography and layout.
Fireworks: Image compression.
Dreamweaver: Web design, site management and FTP uploading.
If time allows Internet animation will also be addressed using Flash.
Schedule
Week 1:
In the first week students will be asked to put their work in digital format, using Photoshop. Their first assignment will be the execution of a psychological and conceptual self-portrait using their own photo and elements that define them, through their environment, philosophy and cultural as well as individual identity.
The next step will be to scan or digitally photograph their most meaningful works of art or design. These works will then be manipulated in Photoshop taking them to presentation level with changes in light, proportions, perspective, texture or making them, through collage techniques, a new work altogether. The purpose of this exercise will not be just presentation but also further exploration of executed ideas, digitally revisited and transformed.
Week 2:
This week will be dedicated to the use of Illustrator. One or two assignments will be given to demonstrate the creation of geometric and abstract portfolio elements. Issues of color, position, shape, rhythm, harmony and contrast will be mentioned and dealt with.
Western typography will be introduced, with examples of serif and sans serif typefaces and their usage. A compositional study of the student’s name will be made.
Page layout will be the next task. The elements generated before will be placed and organized in 2 dimensional space. Grid, balance and weight will be guidelines for composition and analysis. Students will design a self-promotion poster with images imported from Photoshop or done in Illustrator, type and text.
Week 3:
Preparing images for the Internet will be the first assignment this week, dealing with image size, format and compression. Jpeg and GIF image formats will be explained.
Images will be imported to Dreamweaver. Layers and tables and their interchangeability will be experimented on. Vertical and horizontal scrolling and their advantages and flaws will be analyzed. Similarities and differences between print and Internet 2 dimensional composition will be talked about.
Week 4:
Layout for the Internet will be the main theme this last week of the workshop.
The small self-presentation web site will be finalized in Dreamweaver. Internet text will be introduced through style sheets and Meta tags. Color, as an element of composition will be worked on, considering among other things the visual comfort of the viewer. Internal and external links, site map, structure and management will be covered.
The final step will be FTP uploading the site to a free host.
Additionally, if there is time, promoting the site to search engines could be attempted.
