Folio 3: ART 1604 Making peace with Adobe Illustrator. Teaching the Graphic Language of Shapes and Colors Through Computers.
I am very open about this with students: Teaching vector graphics was never my strong suit. Since starting my digital journey, I remained squarely on the Photoshop/Audition/Premiere Pro/After Effects side of the field for most of my digital life. As a result, I often struggled to teach Illustrator meaningfully.
Once I decided to meet Illustrator on its terms instead of naively resenting it for not being Photoshop, I started to appreciate the language of bezier curves and floating points as a path (pun) to the origins of graphical representation in computing. I often tell the students that RGB pixel math is one thing, shape math is another… and somehow that explanation makes sense to all of us. Fills and strokes have their place.
The following assignments - the absurd design prompt, the Isometric Poster Project, 100 Objects, and the Phenekistescope reflect my many efforts to fold vector graphics into the class. After 9 years of doing this, I can safely say that I love this part of the class, and I am confident in my ability to show how the tools work and give context to the tools’ origins. (ICBM missile telemetry)
I. How it started: Culture jamming and kitbashing: Absurd Design
Link to Prompt Language
Students are tasked with a creative remix design assignment that asks them to riff on two or more graphic styles created with a vector graphics software. Mimic the style to create an absurdist hybrid commentary on consumer culture or express your take on the subject. The result could be a single poster composition or a comic strip. The key criterion is that you identify the signature design elements. I.e., Ikea instruction booklets and aircraft safety manuals.
Outcomes:
What was missing? Remixing graphic styles felt like new media, but the gap between students with Illustrator experience and those without an idea where to start was too broad. Students were doing exceptional work. Despite an Ikea Cat poster from another section that I covet to this very day, the other 1604 faculty didn’t share my enthusiasm for the prompt, so I scrapped the design prompt in the spirit of diplomacy.
Next up: fables and isometric posters.
In 2019, we wanted to shake things up thoroughly. With some new faces in the 1604 mix, we wanted to bring in some new ideas. The idea of the modern fable and the isometric poster were brought into the fold.
Teaching improvement targets
Create a prompt that uses Illustrator exclusively.
Deliver a coherent visual message.
Stay in the realm of design.
We took historic posters from films, as well as the design scheme from the game “Monument Valley”
Objective:
Use axonometric/isometric design
Distill the essence of a story into a poster.
Make use of tri-tone color to create a sense of 3-dimensionality.
Next Up: The year I finally nailed it.
One hundred objects drawn, then traced.
A foundation’s colleague was asking students to think of one thousand of something for their contemporary class.
For some reason, I was also interested in flash tattoo sheets. The collection of illustrations is always eye-catching and busy, and it could be funny to think about if students made their own. This assignment was quite successful.
My illustrator teaching goals for assignment 3, 2021:
• Illustrate 100 distinct objects around a single time with depth in a poster.
• Incorporate drawing and looking into the class as a pre-visualization strategy, but not precisely how you would do a frame animation.
• Students will use the pen and shapebuilder tools to have a significant effect. Repetition after 100 objects will yield thousands of shapes.
• Attempt to capture the character of their hand using the hard lines of vector graphics.
Drawings, based on lists, ideally numbered.
Outcomes: The 100 objects project | ART 1604 Fall 2021, 2022.
Post 100 Project: Phenekistescope Project | ART 1604 Fall 2023
Post 100 Project: 50 Object Flash Sheet | ART 1604 Fall 2023
Post 100 Project: Full circle. Images in Sequence | ART 1604 Fall 2024
1604 Post the 100’s project 2023-2024: The Illustrator module has been broken into projects that can be turned into animated GIFs.
• Flash sheets are now 50 objects to develop skills.
• A 12-frame print-based zoetrope project.
• Phenakistoscope, where assets are explored radially. In both cases
• We’ve returned to images in sequence
•. The graphic assets created in these projects are a natural starting point for motion graphics using After Effects.