Students who declare their major in Design starting from Fall 2024 will follow the curriculum of the Design Fact Sheet that is currently posted (approved 4/26/2024).
The following changes have been made from the previous curriculum:
DESN 214 is no longer a required course
DESN 222 is now a required course. It was previously listed as DESN 286
DESN 193 has a name change from Intro to Digital Animation to Motion Graphics I
DESN 290 has a name change from Motion Graphics to Motion Graphics II
Students who declared their major in Design before Fall 2024 will continue to follow the previous curriculum.
If you have taken DESN 193 – Intro to Digital Animation, you do not need to retake it as Motion Graphics I
If you have taken DESN 290 – Motion Graphics, you do not need to retake it as Motion Graphics II
If you have taken DESN 286 – Interaction Design, you do not need to take DESN 222 – Interaction Design.
If you have taken DESN 193, DESN 286, or DESN 290 already, taking them again under their new names/codes will count as a repeated course and replace your previous grade and credits for the class.
If you have not taken DESN 286 – Interaction Design AND you have taken DESN 214 – Web Design I, you do not need to take DESN 222 – Interaction Design. If you would like to take Interaction Design, it will count towards your Design Electives.
Course Name: DESN 370-VT: Special Topics in Design – Lettering & Calligraphy Class Number: 43380 Day & Time: Thursdays 10:00 AM – 1:50 PM Classroom: KP 481 Instructor: Amy Fortunato
This is a beginner-friendly course for letter enthusiasts that are looking to express themselves through hand-crafted letterforms. This is not a type design course that results in a digital font, but rather explores the artistry and bespoke qualities of hand-drawn lettering and calligraphy. Unique and beautifully crafted lettering creates stand-out portfolio pieces and is a useful asset for a multitude of projects.
A variety of exercises and workshops build hand skills with various tools and mediums that combine analog and digital techniques.
Risograph Printing
Course Name: DESN 370-VT: Special Topics in Design – Risograph Printing Class Number: 42158 Day & Time: Fridays 10:00 AM – 1:50 PM Classroom: Klapper 107 Instructor: Cecilia Ruiz Lopez
In this course, students will learn about the colorful and vibrant world of Risograph printing and how it compares to other printing methods used in the Graphic Design industry. Students will become familiar with the technical aspects and unique abilities of Riso printing as they print their various projects such as posters, zines, cards, promotional flyers, and more.
Introduction to Adobe AI Tools for Generating Imagery
Course Name: DESN 370-VT: Special Topics in Design – Introduction to Adobe AI Tools for Generating Imagery Class Number: 42157 Day & Time: Mondays 8:10 AM – 12:00 PM Classroom: Online Sync Instructor: Kathryn Weinstein
This introductory course explores the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with visual design using Adobe’s Creative Suite applications—Photoshop, Illustrator and Firefly. Participants learn practical techniques for leveraging AI tools to enhance or create compelling imagery. The course emphasizes design skills and critical thinking to build a solid foundation for digital art and design students.
Image generated using Midjourney with prompt “an illustration of a class learning about generative AI”.
AI x Design
Course Name: DESN 370-VT: Special Topics in Design – AI x Design Class Number: 43386 Day & Time: Mondays 1:40 PM – 5:30 PM Classroom: KP 107 Instructor: Danne Woo
In the rapidly evolving landscape of design, generative AI stands at the forefront, offering groundbreaking possibilities and posing new challenges. This course is designed for design students seeking to explore the potential of AI in the creative process. Students will delve into a comprehensive exploration of various AI tools, including Adobe Firefly, ChatGPT, DALL-E, MidJourney, Stable Diffusion, Eleven Labs AI, Runway ML, and others, learning to integrate them into design workflows.
The course combines theoretical learning with hands-on projects, enabling students to not only grasp the functionalities of these tools but also understand their practical applications in real-world design scenarios. As they progress, students will be encouraged to develop a critical perspective on the use of AI in design, particularly focusing on the ethical considerations such as bias, authorship, and the societal impact of AI-generated content.
Through lectures, workshops, guest speaker sessions, and collaborative projects, students will gain a nuanced understanding of how AI can augment, transform, and sometimes challenge traditional design methodologies. The course culminates in a final project where students will apply their learned skills to create comprehensive design works that reflect their mastery of AI tools and their thoughtful engagement with the ethical dimensions of AI in design.
Character Animation
Course Name: DESN 370-VT: Special Topics in Design – Character Animation Class Number: 42159 Day & Time: Mondays 8:10 AM – 12:00 PM Classroom: TBA Instructor: Elliot Cowan
Looking to improve your character animation skills and learn traditional “acting with a pencil”? In this class you’ll take the animation principles you learned in your Intro To Digital Animation class and push them further to start delivering animated performances. Using Adobe Animate, you’ll create characters that think and emote and make the audience believe they exist. This class is perfect for anyone who wants to expand their animation skills, might want to pursue a career in the animation industry or simply wants to express themselves through the powerful medium of animation.
Course Name: DESN 370-VT: Special Topics in Design – Sustainable by Design Class Number: 38566 Day & Time: Mondays 1:40 PM – 5:30 PM Classroom: KY 061 Instructor: George Switzer
This course provides an introduction to the core concepts underpinning sustainability and their intersections with design. Students will gain an understanding of the Corporate Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) landscape that has emerged as a driving force in the adoption of sustainability goals and the important role design will play in manifesting the transition to a more sustainable world. Ultimately, these concepts will be applied to student-defined projects as an extension of their studies in the areas of Data Visualization & Narrative, Product Design, and Marketing & Branding.
Character Animation
Course Name: DESN 370-VT: Special Topics in Design – Character Animation Class Number: 37040 Day & Time: Mondays 8:10 AM – 12:00 PM Classroom: IB 203 Instructor: Elliot Cowan
Looking to improve your character animation skills and learn traditional “acting with a pencil”? In this class you’ll take the animation principles you learned in your Intro To Digital Animation class and push them further to start delivering animated performances. Using Adobe Animate, you’ll create characters that think and emote and make the audience believe they exist. This class is perfect for anyone who wants to expand their animation skills, might want to pursue a career in the animation industry or simply wants to express themselves through the powerful medium of animation.
Risograph Printing
Course Name: DESN 370-VT: Special Topics in Design – Risograph Printing Class Number: 37042 Day & Time: Fridays 10:00 AM – 1:50 PM Classroom: Klapper 107 Instructor: Cecilia Ruiz Lopez
In this course, students will learn about the colorful and vibrant world of Risograph printing and how it compares to other printing methods used in the Graphic Design industry. Students will become familiar with the technical aspects and unique abilities of Riso printing as they print their various projects such as posters, zines, cards, promotional flyers, and more.
DESN 370 courses are upper-level design electives on a variety of topics. They are our newest (and often best) classes. They can also be repeated up to three times, and all count towards the major – so pick and choose your favorites.
DESN 370-001 (25508) Risograph Printing
Cecilia Ruiz Fridays 10am-1:50pm
In this course, students will learn about the colorful and vibrant world of Risograph printing and how it compares to other printing methods used in the Graphic Design industry. Students will become familiar with the technical aspects and unique abilities of Riso printing as they print their various projects such as posters, zines, cards, promotional flyers, and more.
DESN 370-002 (25507) Character Animation
Elliot Cowan Mondays 8:10am-12pm
Looking to improve your character animation skills and learn traditional “acting with a pencil”?
In this class you’ll take the animation principles you learned in your Intro To Digital Animation class and push them further to start delivering animated performances. Using Adobe Animate, you’ll create characters that think and emote and make the audience believe they exist. This class is perfect for anyone who wants to expand their animation skills, might want to pursue a career in the animation industry, or simply wants to express themselves through the powerful medium of animation.
DESN 370-003 (25506) Introduction to NFTs
Antonius Wijiadjaja Wednesdays, 1:40 PM – 5:30 PM
This course introduces students to non-fungible tokens, unique and irreplaceable digital assets that live on the blockchain. Students will create digital work such as drawings, music, photography, prose, and poetry, and then learn how to preserve them forever in a transparent, immutable, and shared public ledger. Over the semester, we will explore the history of blockchain technology and discuss the future of cryptocurrency and cryptoart. Although no coding experience is necessary, knowledge of JavaScript and JSON would help dive deeper into the technology
DESN 370-004 (25505) Animation Production
Dustin Grella Thursdays 10:00am-1:50pm
Students will create a personal film in the student’s animation technique of choice that uses an audio track to construct an animated documentary. Over the course of the semester, students will be responsible for every stage of the process from conception to completion. Combining multiple animation techniques, integration of other disciplines and experimentation are encouraged.
DESN 370-005 Animation Hotline
Dustin Grella Thursdays 2:00pm-5:50pm
Animation Hotline uses crowdsourced voicemail messages as content for short animated videos. In this course, students will learn how to set up a project to collect content, animate those messages, then promote the messages online and through social media. Animation Hotline currently has hundreds of animations that have been screened in venues such as the Cannes and Sundance Film Festival and in online publications such as the New York Times.
Design courses now have their own prefix! Design courses previously listed as ARTS are now listed as DESN,
This change has caused some issues with Degreeworks for students pursuing a Design major. We are working with the Registrar to resolve this issue. Please be patient, and rest assured that this issue will not interfere with your ability to graduate. Degreeworks is a tool for students, and sadly often confusing. Your entire transcript is reviewed when petitioning for graduation.
Please direct questions or concerns to [email protected]
[pdf-embedder url=”http://graphicdesign.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2021/08/DesignFactSheet.pdf”]
Are you looking for an opportunity to create unique work for your portfolio? Type 3 is advanced-level course that builds upon the foundations covered in Typography 1 & 2. We’ll be engaging in ways of thinking and ways of working and talking about what makes typography tick. Students will engage in exploratory workshops and typographic exercises to reinforce professional-level skills necessary for the working world. This course culminates in producing an in-depth project that utilizes conceptual thinking skills and a refined understanding of typography. This studio course is perfect for those who want to have fun with typography, are curious, and seeking to find their typographic voice.
ARTS370 (46008)
Instructor: Amy Fortunato
TH 2:00 PM – 5:50 PM
This course is primarily for students interested in graphic design, but is also useful for Studio and Photography majors. There are no prerequisites and is open to all students. The class will cover fundamental theories and methodologies of color theory and 2-D design in traditional and digital mediums. Through observation, analysis, writing, exercises, and projects, students begin to develop work processes that involve articulation, visual research, concept generation, form making, and craft skills. Seats are still available for the winter session.
Looking for a winter course? ARTS 191 Basic Software is an entry course for Design majors and minors with no prerequisites. Open to other majors as well. The class is an introduction to the fundamentals of prevailing software applications used in design; such as InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. Students work with multiple software applications to create projects that communicate through a variety of forms both digital and in print. This class prepares students with the necessary software skills required for upper level Design courses.
10:10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – All Things Animation Mike Belzer, Animator, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” Kendal Cronkhite Shaindlin, Assistant Art Director, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” Sandra Equihua, Character Designer, “The Book of Life” Jackie Koehler, Lead Animator, “The Book of Life” Jennifer Kluska, Director/Story Artist, “Hotel Transylvania” films Michelle Murdocca, Producer/Exec. Producer, “Hotel Transylvania” films Moderator: Randy Haberkamp, Senior Vice President, Preservation and Foundation Programming, Academy See Full Panel Biographies
11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Music in Horror Films John Carpenter, Writer/Director/Producer/Composer, “Halloween” Moderator: Mike Muse, host of Sirius XM’s “The Mike Muse Show” See Full Panel Biographies
1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. – Lunch Break
1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. – Lights, Camera, Action…Production! Maxime Alexandre, Cinematographer, “The Nun” Rick Baker, Special Make-Up Effects Creator, “The Wolfman” Luis Sequeira, Costume Designers Branch, “It Chapter Two” Jennifer Spence, Production Designer, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” Checco Varese, ASC, Cinematographer, “It Chapter Two” Moderator: Audrey Cleo Yap, Multimedia Journalist See Full Panel Biographies
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Working Above-the-Line Tobin Bell, Actor, the “Saw” movies Gerard Bush & Christopher Renz, Co-Writer/Director/Producer, “Antebellum” Ian Cooper, Producer, “Candyman” Gerard McMurray, Director/Producer, “The First Purge” Terri Taylor, Casting Director, “Get Out” Moderator: Mike Muse, host of Sirius XM’s “The Mike Muse Show” See Full Panel Biographies
Have you been looking for an exciting class that satisfies the MQR requirement? A new class in the math department is being offered in Fall 2020 that blends mathematics, design, and art.
The course is MATH 128: Mathematical Design (CUNYFirst code 63538) and it is open to all students who placed into MATH 122 (Precalculus) or above. Students will learn mathematical concepts and algorithmic techniques that can be used to create digital art based on mathematical exploration of two-dimensional geometry. These images will be realized using pen plotters.
(Examples of mathematically inspired pen plotter artwork by Josh Barratt, Matt DesLauriers, and Michelle Chandra.)
The math topics in the class will be taught gently – they involve include transformations of the plane, trigonometric functions, polar coordinates, parametric functions, and Mobius transformations. Students will learn the basics of programming in Desmos and p5js to be able to create images on their own. No prior experience in programming is necessary.
We anticipate that this class will be offered on a regular basis starting in Fall 2020. In Fall 2020, the course will be mainly taught online. If possible, groups of students will meet a few times during the semester in the Queens College Makerspace to be introduced to the Makerspace and have hands-on experience with the pen plotters.
Any questions can be directed to Professor Christopher Hanusa at [email protected].
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