Introduction to Lettering & Calligraphy

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.

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.

Sustainable By Design

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.  

TOPICS ANNOUNCED OF FALL 2022

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. 

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.

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 chanusa@qc.cuny.edu.

On behalf of the Design faculty and staff we want to extend a sincere thank you to students for the patience, generosity, and commitment to learning that you overwhelmingly demonstrated last Spring semester. The unplanned move to remote learning was difficult, and was only possible only through the combined efforts of students and teachers. Thank you also to those students who have reached out to communicate their hopes and concerns for the Fall semester in relation to uncertainty caused by COVID-19.
The Design faculty is currently planning the fall semester with two primary goals:

1. Provide students with rigorous courses that prepare you for professional careers in the field of design.
2. Make sure that no student, teacher, or staff member puts their health or their family’s health at risk to exposure to COVID-19 for the sake of participating in classes or completing their assignments.

We have decided that the best way to achieve these goals in the Fall is to conduct all Design courses remotely for the entirety of the semester. As campus resources such as the print lab and computer labs reopen, updates will be posted to this blog. However, teachers will not be assigning work that requires you to use these facilities.
To participate in your Design classes at the start of the semester, please check that you have the following pre-requisites completed before August 25, 2020.

• A current and functioning CUNY CAMS account and a computer with a built-in microphone/camera and the Adobe Creative Cloud installed*.
• Check both your personal email and QC email accounts for Instructions on how to access your class websites, video conferencing information, and other important course detail. In most cases, this is your QC email address, unless you provided a personal email address to be linked to your CAMS account.

We hope you have a safe, healthy, and happy rest of summer and look forward to (virtually) seeing and working with you in the fall.
*ARTS173 does not require a computer or Adobe Creative Cloud, but does require access to a smart phone.