Introduction to 2d Digital Art and Technology

Catalog description

DART 102N Introduction to 2d Digital Art and Technology (3) A General Education Integrative Studies, digital arts course introducing 2D graphics software through explorations of the 2d digital art medium. This is a General Education Integrative Studies, digital arts course introducing 2D graphics software through the creation of original digital artwork and the exploration of the 2d digital art medium. Course content explores technology, digital art, and visual culture, and concepts of identity, digital culture, and propaganda. Students create original artwork using graphic software such as Adobe Photoshop. They acquire skills and methods of research and development, creative production, critical review, reflection, and strategies for revision. Learning focuses on problem solving, exploration of creative options, visual communication, critique of images and ideas, and reflective writing. Students apply this process of visual research as a personal means of exploring topical issues and ideas, responding in informed ways to the images created by others, and reacting critically and creatively to the visual world around them. The course looks at topics such as the impact of technology on personal identity and community practices as they are represented in the mix of visual culture. Methods of visual expression and graphic communication such as advertising, messaging and propaganda are examined and critically analyzed as cultural practices that serve many purposes, from education, entertainment, marketing, and politics. The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the creative use of digital technologies in responding critically and imaginatively to this changing visual world of image, text and story in which they live. By developing original digital artwork, students learn to formulate and communicate their ideas related to the course topics from a personal perspective and build an understanding of how they make an impact on a world beyond the classroom.