Illustration Curriculum

Sequenced instruction provides rigorous training in the use of gesture, anatomy, and structural figure drafting. Drawing the human figure from the inside out fosters an understanding of complex visual relationships. Upon completion of the course, students are able to analyze the human form and to view it as a complex perceptual model for the larger realm of visual experience.

Recommended for students planning to select Animation, Game and Entertainment Design, Toy Design and Fashion Design as their major; open to students interested in any major.

A first semester Foundation course focused on studying, researching and exploring practices of creativity that bridge art/design disciplines. Through a variety of methodologies, lecture, research and discussion, Creative Practices I provides students opportunities to develop perceptual abilities in ways that incite curiosity and engagement with inquiry. Learning to ‘see’, students question their assumptions of what and how they observe complex visual relationships, locate bias, and develop awareness of context and intentionality of their own work and that of peers and exemplars. Projects are self-directed and non-discipline specific.

Recommended for students planning to select Product Design, Fine Arts, or Graphic Design as their major; open to students interested in any major. 

This course is a sequenced investigation of various organizing principles using traditional and contemporary media. Students learn fundamentals of value manipulation as determinants of visual order. Elements of visual literacy provide a basis for the study of compositional fundamentals, including focal point(s), directional elements, and visual weight.

Students study form in both two-dimensional rendering and three-dimensional building through drawing and building objects. Skills of relational measurement, compositional organization, and the placement of form in space inform both drawing and form-building activities. Drawing techniques such as perspective and isometric projection facilitate successful form generation.

A first semester Foundation course focused on studying, researching and exploring practices of creativity that bridge art/design disciplines. Through a variety of methodologies, lecture, research and discussion, Creative Practices I provides students opportunities to develop perceptual abilities in ways that incite curiosity and engagement with inquiry. Learning to ‘see’, students question their assumptions of what and how they observe complex visual relationships, locate bias, and develop awareness of context and intentionality of their own work and that of peers and exemplars. Projects are self-directed and non-discipline specific.

Recommended for students planning to select Product Design, Fine Arts, or Graphic Design as their major; open to students interested in any major. 

A second-semester Foundation course focused on exploring practices of creativity that bridge art/design disciplines. Students are exposed to a diverse range of concepts, materials, and methods for working creatively. In-class activities promote the documentation of individual creative processes and the synthesis of intuitive, culturally constructed, and personal impulses into inventive visual responses.

Recommended for students planning to select Product Design, Fine Arts, or Graphic Design as their major; open to students interested in any major.

Sequenced instruction provides rigorous training in the use of gesture, anatomy, and structural figure drafting. Drawing the human figure from the inside out fosters an understanding of complex visual relationships. Upon completion of the course, students are able to analyze the human form and to view it as a complex perceptual model for the larger realm of visual experience.

Recommended for students planning to select Animation, Game and Entertainment Design, Toy Design and Fashion Design as their major; open to students interested in any major.

Structural drawing and perceptual skills are expanded through study of the figure's relation to environment, life-scale, movement, and draping. Students discover individual sensibilities of mark making and aspects of personal vision, through a variety of traditional and experimental drawing media and techniques.

Prerequisite: FNDT180 Life Drawing I
Recommended for students planning to select Animation, Game and Entertainment Design, Fashion Design or Toy Design as their major.

A second-semester Creative Action studio course introducing students to contextually-based problem solving using fundamentals of color and design. Students learn Munsell color theory and practical aspects of color mixing such as value, hue, and chroma. Students apply these skills in solving problems that engage the larger community, trans-disciplinary practice, research, and collaboration. Prerequisite: FNDT115 Principles of Design

Students employ acquired skills transferred from Drawing and Building Form to explore and exploit materials as well as to discover unique processes in creating novel form. The study of three-dimensional design expands to encompass meaning construction, composition and research as students engage the more complex issues of form and space.

Prerequisite: FNDT160 Drawing and Building Form
Recommended for students planning to select Fashion Design, Toy Design or Product Design as their major.

Students transfer and expand on observational drawing skills acquired from Drawing and Building Form with the application of color and addition of problem finding and complexity of idea. Acquisition of research skills, and the introduction of more varied drawing media, methods and materials fosters students’ realization of aspects of personal vision.

Prerequisite: FNDT 160 Drawing & Building Form

Recommended for students planning to select Animation or Game and Entertainment Design as their major​​​​​

Foundation year students can pick any Foundation Elective to fulfil this requirement. Please see the Academic Advising Nest site for more information. Please note that elective offerings are subject to change each year. 

This course introduces the fundamental theories and methodologies of visual communication used in the fields of graphic design, advertising design, and illustration. Assignments and critiques develop problem-solving and visual storytelling skills with an emphasis on context, concept, audience, and process.

These consecutive courses for Sophomore Illustrators introduce students to the variety of materials and methods of drawing and painting, form traditional to conceptual visual thinking. Students learn how and why all visual communicators use drawing for ideation and decision-making. To develop the necessary skills, special emphasis is given to drawing as a banker, and vendors. This course teaches students how to plan, establish, and sustain a meaningful studio, office, and/or agency.

Recommended for Communication Arts graduating seniors.

These consecutive courses designed for Sophomore Illustrators introduce and expand upon the fundamentals of typography and the study of letterforms, with emphasis placed on exploring type as a tool integral to contemporary Illustrative practices.

Practicum is dedicated studio time for Communication Arts students. The studio environment cultivated in Practicum is critical to the community and fosters bonds between students and faculty.

This course introduces the fundamental theories and methodologies of visual communication used in the fields of graphic design, advertising design, and illustration. Assignments and critiques develop problem-solving and visual storytelling skills with an emphasis on context, concept, audience, and process.

These consecutive courses for Sophomore Illustrators introduce students to the variety of materials and methods of drawing and painting, form traditional to conceptual visual thinking. Students learn how and why all visual communicators use drawing for ideation and decision-making. To develop the necessary skills, special emphasis is given to drawing as a banker, and vendors. This course teaches students how to plan, establish, and sustain a meaningful studio, office, and/or agency.

Recommended for Communication Arts graduating seniors.

These consecutive courses designed for Sophomore Illustrators introduce and expand upon the fundamentals of typography and the study of letterforms, with emphasis placed on exploring type as a tool integral to contemporary Illustrative practices.

Practicum is dedicated studio time for Communication Arts students. The studio environment cultivated in Practicum is critical to the community and fosters bonds between students and faculty.

An increasingly sophisticated examination of illustration concepts and their applications; students broaden their understanding of illustration as visual language in projects that involve research and analysis, focusing on image making, aesthetics, message, audience, and intent with refined use of media and technique.

Students refine their expressive and observational drawing, painting and composition skills, as they relate to illustration as a means of visual communication. Emphasis placed on contemporary illustrative applications & techniques, including the use of digital/web techniques particular to contemporary Illustration methodologies. Studio sessions encourage experimentation and improved technique, as well as conceptual and methodological development pertinent to a contemporary Illustrative practice.

Practicum is dedicated studio time for Communication Arts students. The studio environment cultivated in Practicum is critical to the community and fosters bonds between students and faculty.

An upper-division interdisciplinary studio course offering unique core content that shifts from term to term. This studio affords students the opportunity to engage with professionals from various fields and expand their notion of problem solving beyond their major in public site real world challenges.

A limited choice of CAIL300 courses will count for the Sustainability Minor.
Please see the Interdisciplinary Studies Director.

A Studio Elective is any art and/or design course with visual production (not a Liberal Arts and Sciences course) that may be offered within or outside a student’s studio major. Students must meet the course’s prerequisite or co-requisite requirements, class level, or other criteria specified in the Course Description. See the Course Catalog (pdf) for a complete list of courses.

An increasingly sophisticated examination of illustration concepts and their applications; students broaden their understanding of illustration as visual language in projects that involve research and analysis, focusing on image making, aesthetics, message, audience, and intent with refined use of media and technique.

em>Prerequisite: For ILUS301 is ILUS300.

This course prepares students to enter the expansive and ever-changing world of professional Illustration. Students leave the class having completed a professional website, resume, business card, letterhead, cover letter, invoice, promotional leave-behind, and a product available for sale in a real-world marketplace. Students develop and improve interview and networking techniques vital to engaging in the professional world. At the end of this class students will be able to locate, research, and secure internships and employment that aligns with their interests, ambitions, and professional goals.

A Studio Elective is any art and/or design course with visual production (not a Liberal Arts and Sciences course) that may be offered within or outside a student’s studio major. Students must meet the course’s prerequisite or co-requisite requirements, class level, or other criteria specified in the Course Description. See the Course Catalog (pdf) for a complete list of courses.

A Studio Elective is any art and/or design course with visual production (not a Liberal Arts and Sciences course) that may be offered within or outside a student’s studio major. Students must meet the course’s prerequisite or co-requisite requirements, class level, or other criteria specified in the Course Description. See the Course Catalog (pdf) for a complete list of courses.

Assignments challenge the student to create a range of inventive and effective illustrative solutions, beyond editorial imagery, for alternative applications in a range of media.

Prerequisite: ILUS300 Communication Studio III

Course focuses on the use of mixed media and alternative materials for image construction. The class explores the “use values” of different mediums and how they effect communication. Some materials explored are graphite, paint, paper collage, cloth, digital collage, transfers, oil bars, duct tape, resin, inks, wax, and more. Exploring and experimenting with different combinations of materials is encouraged.

Prerequisite: ILUS310 Drawing and Painting for Illustration

A Studio Elective is any art and/or design course with visual production (not a Liberal Arts and Sciences course) that may be offered within or outside a student’s studio major. Students must meet the course’s prerequisite or co-requisite requirements, class level, or other criteria specified in the Course Description. See the Course Catalog (pdf) for a complete list of courses.

A Studio Elective is any art and/or design course with visual production (not a Liberal Arts and Sciences course) that may be offered within or outside a student’s studio major. Students must meet the course’s prerequisite or co-requisite requirements, class level, or other criteria specified in the Course Description. See the Course Catalog (pdf) for a complete list of courses.

Students explore conceptual, theoretical, experimental communications problems offering them the opportunity to integrate personal vision with professional goals. In cross-disciplinary teams facilitated by faculty advisors, students define the scope and objectives of their inquiry and outline research and production methodologies.

Course Fee: $100

An intensive introduction to all facets of running a business—marketing, promotion, developing a client base, pricing, legal, ethical, and financial aspects. Students learn best-business practices from: clients, an accountant, an attorney, a banker, and vendors. This course teaches students how to plan, establish, and sustain a meaningful studio, office, and/or agency.
Recommended for Communication Arts graduating seniors.

A Studio Elective is any art and/or design course with visual production (not a Liberal Arts and Sciences course) that may be offered within or outside a student’s studio major. Students must meet the course’s prerequisite or co-requisite requirements, class level, or other criteria specified in the Course Description. See the Course Catalog (pdf) for a complete list of courses.

A Studio Elective is any art and/or design course with visual production (not a Liberal Arts and Sciences course) that may be offered within or outside a student’s studio major. Students must meet the course’s prerequisite or co-requisite requirements, class level, or other criteria specified in the Course Description. See the Course Catalog (pdf) for a complete list of courses.

A Studio Elective is any art and/or design course with visual production (not a Liberal Arts and Sciences course) that may be offered within or outside a student’s studio major. Students must meet the course’s prerequisite or co-requisite requirements, class level, or other criteria specified in the Course Description. See the Course Catalog (pdf) for a complete list of courses.