Raster vs. Vector, Artboards, Navigation, File Menu, View Menu, Guides, Grid, Transforms
Rectangle Tool, Color Tool, Color Panel, Swatches Panel, Spot Colors, Eyedropper Tool, Stroke Panel, Gradient Panel, Gradient Tool
Anchor Points, Paths, Pen Tool, Curvature Tool, Object Menu, Path Sub-Menu
Object Menu, Arrange, Group/Ungroup, Lock/Unlock, Hide/Show, Layers Panel, Align Panel, Symbols Panel
Animation & Frames, Illustrator Paste on All Artboards, Export for Screens, Photoshop Image Stack, Timeline Palette, Exporting Animated GIFs/Videos
Clipping Mask Tool, Pathfinder Panel, Blend Tool
Transparency Panel, Drop Shadow, Feather Effect, Appearance Panel
Expand, Live Paint, Symbols, Patterns
New Document, Navigation & Workspaces, Pages Palette, Master Page, Rectangle Frame Tool, Save, Export to PDF, Package
Type Tool, Character Palette, Paragraph Palette, Glyph Palette, Styles Palette, Character Styles, Paragraph Styles, Text Frame Options
Interactive PDFs, Hyperlinks Palette, Exporting Interactive PDFs
Portfolio Design Process, Book Layout Dummies
Book Binding Methods, Kettle Stitch Book Binding
PSD File Format, Image Formats, Photoshop Layers, Marquee, Lasso, Magic Wand, Image Menu, Image Size, Canvas Size, Desaturate, Invert, Gradient Map, Halftone Patterns
Introduces students to fundamental design process and problem-solving skills through the use of graphic design principles & elements. Exposure to both the intellectual and technical challenges of graphic design communication results in a series of introductory level visual solutions. In conjunction with design problems, students are exposed to information about the current design industry including related design technology. Upon completion, all projects are developed to industry standard presentation level with an emphasis on basic craftsmanship skills.
The aim of the DSGN.100 Introduction to Design Communication studio is to help students understand, and begin to utilize, the various technical tools that can be used to realize an effective print-based design in its final form of reproduction. Communications Designers need to master a variety of analog and digital processes in order to produce successful media. This course helps students to explore different tools and develop the technical skills to confidently create visual imagery for print-based solutions.
Students will be introduced to photography, scanning and other technologies to create, acquire and manipulate imagery, as well as to a variety of printing processes including offset, lithography, silk-screening, digital printing and laser-cutting. Students will learn how to prepare comps to produce professional design solutions, integrating multiple assets, and to consider technical aspects such as resolution, file formats, color models, support and printing materials, etc.
The course also articulates how the selection of specific design tools and production processes affect the final ‘look and feel’ of a design product. Students will be encouraged to explore workflows leading to alternative aesthetic qualities.
Through a number of short assignments students will be asked to create and execute a design solution applied to a specific design brief. Each one of these assignments focuses on a particular process, tool or technique, and will be supported with presentations and in-class exercises. In addition to professional standards in publication software focus will be on demonstrating the potential of a variety of tools and workflows integrating multiple digital and analog techniques.
While the focus of the course is on the application of skills and the use of the tools involved in the production of a project students will also learn how to craft new tools, in forms such as templates and style sheets, and how to approach new software, in essence ‘learning how to learn technology.’
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
Creative practitioners work in dynamic and versatile professional environments. As such, some details of this syllabus—particularly project themes, technology, software, and deliverables—are subject to change to reflect contemporary creative practices and industry trends. We will discuss and communicate any proposed changes during class sessions.
Comments, edits, suggestions, and additions to the syllabus are invited and encouraged.
| Week | Date | Date | Work Phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Thursday, August 27, 2026 | Workshop 1.1 | |
| Week 2 | Tuesday, September 1, 2026 | Thursday, September 3, 2026 | Workshop 1.2 |
| Week 3 | Tuesday, September 8, 2026 | Thursday, September 10, 2026 | Workshop 1.3 |
| Week 4 | Tuesday, September 15, 2026 | Thursday, September 17, 2026 | Project 1 Due |
| Week 5 | Tuesday, September 22, 2026 | Thursday, September 24, 2026 | Workshop 2.1 |
| Week 6 | Tuesday, September 29, 2026 | Thursday, October 1, 2026 | Workshop 2.2 |
| Week 7 | Tuesday, October 6, 2026 | Thursday, October 8, 2026 | Workshop 2.3 |
| Week 8 | Tuesday, October 13, 2026 | Thursday, October 15, 2026 | Project 2 Due |
| Week 9 | Tuesday, October 20, 2026 | Thursday, October 22, 2026 | Workshop 3.1 |
| Week 10 | Tuesday, October 27, 2026 | Thursday, October 29, 2026 | Workshop 3.2 |
| Week 11 | Tuesday, November 3, 2026 | Thursday, November 5, 2026 | Workshop 3.3 |
| Week 12 | Tuesday, November 10, 2026 | Thursday, November 12, 2026 | Project 3 Due |
| Week 13 | Tuesday, November 17, 2026 | Thursday, November 19, 2026 | Workshop 4.1 |
| Week 14 | Tuesday, November 24, 2026 | Thursday, November 26, 2026 | Workshop 4.2 |
| Week 15 | Tuesday, December 1, 2026 | Workshop 4.3 | |
| Week 16 | Wednesday, December 9, 2026 | Project 4 Due |
Students will be required to complete weekly iterative exercises as homework during the semester. Each exercise will focus on applying specific tools and techniques introduced in class throughout the term and together with each design project, will cover the course’s learning objectives and competencies.
Students will gain knowledge and understanding of the subject through theoretical lectures followed by practical demonstrations and supervised in-class short exercises, which will serve as an introduction to each one of the weekly assignments.
Class participation is an important part of this course. Students are expected to contribute to classroom discussion at every class meeting: to ask questions, make a comment or observation, respond to questions asked by faculty, guest presenters, or classmates. Students are expected to work in class and be ready to create, ideate, sketch, work with analog or digital processes, and present and discuss their assignments every week. Class participation will be monitored and the student’s grade will reflect the contribution made each week.
This class is OER (Open Education Resources); The professor will provide all required readings as digital files.
This class is software agnostic; you are encouraged to use any and all software that you feel comfortable with, or that you are interested in exploring. No specific software is mandated for course work, however specific programs and platforms that will be demonstrated in class include:
Assignments submitted late will receive a 10% point deduction. An additional 10% point deduction will be applied for every additional class session in which the assignment is not submitted.
| Grade Letter | Grade Percentage |
|---|---|
| A | 93 - 100 |
| A- | 90 - 92.9 |
| B+ | 87 - 89.9 |
| B | 83 - 86.9 |
| B- | 80 - 82.9 |
| C+ | 77 - 79.9 |
| C | 73 - 76.9 |
| C- | 70 - 72.9 |
| D+ | 67 - 69.9 |
| D | 63 - 66.9 |
| D- | 60 - 62.9 |
| F | 0 - 60 |
The University commits to providing reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Students with disabilities who need accommodations to fully participate in this class are urged to contact Student Accessibility Services (SAS), as soon as possible, to explore the arrangements needed to be made to assure access. Student Accessibility Services is located on the first floor of the University Library and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00AM to 5:00PM. They can be reached at sas@rwu.edu and 401-254-3841.
All RWU students adhere to the university’s policies regarding academic integrity: https://www.rwu.edu/academics/academic-affairs/academic-standards.
We, the students of Roger Williams University, commit ourselves to academic integrity. We promise to pursue the highest ideals of academic life, to challenge ourselves with the most rigorous standards, to be honest in any academic endeavor, to conduct ourselves responsibly and honorably, and to assist one another as we live and work together in mutual support.
Note that the University does not have a policy regarding students’ use of AI software. Unless otherwise noted, use of generative image AI is allowed for all graphic design and visual communication design work in this course, and should always be credited and attributed as such in an accompanying citation with the work.
Course materials distributed by an instructor are the intellectual property of the instructor and may not be shared or distributed without permission.
The Tutoring Center – which is comprised of the Math, Science, Writing, Language, SECCM and Business Centers – is located on the second floor of the Main Library. You can walk in and see a peer tutor; appointments for faculty tutors are encouraged. All tutoring is free. You are encouraged to visit the Center to ask questions, whether it’s about course-specific tutoring, specialized study groups, or how to get the most out of tutoring. In addition, the Writing Center offers a second option for tutoring: an email tutoring system called WritingHelp. The WritingHelp email system is not in-person tutoring; for in-person help, please come into the Writing Center.
The Tutoring Center provides services:
For more information and tutor schedules, please go to https://rwu.edu/go/tutoring.
Roger Williams University fosters a campus free of sex-based discrimination, harassment, and violence, as outlined in the RWU Title IX Policies and Procedures. These policies also protect students and employees who are pregnant and/or with related pregnancy or parenting circumstances.
If you experience an incident of sex-based conduct, harassment, or discrimination, you are encouraged to report it to the RWU Title IX Coordinator, Jennifer Stanley (jstanley@rwu.edu), or another faculty or staff. Please note that, under Title IX regulations, all RWU employees are required to disclose reports of sex-based discrimination, harassment, violence, and pregnancy and pregnancy-related status to the campus Title IX Coordinator.
If you would like to report a situation confidentially, the following resources are available for you:
Roger Williams University recognizes that some members of the campus community choose to identify themselves by a first name other than their legal first name. The University provides students and employees with an opportunity to use a Chosen Name wherever possible throughout university business and education. Individuals may request the use of a chosen name online via RogerCentral. A student’s Chosen Name should then repopulate through many university systems and will replace their legal name in some regards such as class rosters.
Students who request a Chosen Name can also have their Student ID and Email Display Name changed as well. Additional instructions and information about RWU’s Chosen Name Policy are available online. For questions, please contact the Registrar’s Office or the Assistant Director of Queer & Trans Initiatives - Henley Ballou (hballou@rwu.edu).
If you are feeling stressed, worried, or down during the semester, or if you notice signs of emotional distress in someone else, here are some campus resources:
If you or someone you know needs to talk to someone right now, text or call 988 or chat 988lifelone.org for a free, confidential conversation with a trained counselor 24/7. You can also call the Counseling Center at 401-254-3124 after hours, following the prompts to be immediately connected to a professional who can provide crisis intervention. If you are off-campus in the Bristol area, call East Bay Center (available 24/7/365) at 401-246-0700. Additional resources are available on the RWU Counseling Center website.
RWU utilizes an RWU Alert system which serves as the University’s primary communications tool for alerting campus community members to urgent situations. When activated, the system sends phone, email, and text messages regarding incidents that could affect their safety. The University also hosts an emergency siren warning system that broadcasts alarms and voice instructions when activated. In the case of a fire alarm, individuals should proceed outside of the building. All buildings include instructions on what to do in the event of each type of emergency.