Course Descriptions

← Previous

Photo Lighting and Planning

Learn how to stage and light your photoshoots like a pro

Planning a photo shoot can be challenging as you struggle to properly prepare while keeping the artistic juices flowing. In this online photography lighting course, you'll focus on the planning and preparation that lead to the successful execution of a photo shoot. You will develop a thorough understanding of different types of lighting, both natural and artificial, and learn how to work within varied shooting conditions. Working with a photography pro, you'll explore ways to effectively stage and style photographs to achieve your desired effect.

Photoshop I

Learn fundamental Photoshop techniques through hands-on projects

Adobe Photoshop is the premiere image manipulation tool for print design, Web design, and photography. You can learn to tame this creative powerhouse of a program in this online Photoshop course. Working with a design pro, you’ll learn the best techniques for common Photoshop jobs including selecting and isolating objects, creating image composites, masking and vignetting images, setting typography, and improving images with retouching and effects.

Photoshop II

Expand your Photoshop skills with advanced techniques

How well do you know Adobe Photoshop, the industry-standard imaging app? In this advanced online Photoshop course you'll transcend your current skill set with vector illustration techniques, photo-realistic painting, high-impact typography, and professional editing methods that preserve the editability of your original images. Working with a Photoshop pro, you'll build proficiency with the Pen tool, Adobe Color, Smart Objects and Filters, and more.

Portfolio Review

Portfolio review for second year AOS students

Students participate in portfolio review at the end of their degree programs. The course provides students the opportunity to gather and develop a portfolio of work and present it to faculty and classmates for feedback. Students will learn to recognize strengths and weaknesses in their work, and feedback will help students identify specific works or subject areas that need improvement.

Technical Illustration and Infographics

Data representation and information design for illustrators

Information design is the practice of creating visual presentations that communicate information for the purpose of instruction. In this online infographics course, you'll explore approaches and concepts in technical illustration and infographics. Working with a skilled illustrator, you'll learn methods for creating instructional illustrations that communicate clearly and effectively.

The Study of Graphic Design

Infuse your projects with a knowledge of design history

Professional designers make choices informed by the present and the past. In this online design history course, you'll explore design movements from the early 20th century through today and gain experience in research, idea-building, and production of creative concepts. Working with an experienced art director, you'll learn how to use historical knowledge and cultural awareness as a springboard for your contemporary design projects.

Time-Based Media

Advanced projects in digital media and movie making

This creative online time-based media course explores storytelling and allows students to integrate 2D animation, 3D animation, motion graphics, and video in an advanced After Effects environment. You will emerge with both a solid grasp of movie making techniques and a varied portfolio including a commercial, movie credit sequence, a dramatic short story, a visual illustration of a complex idea, a movie trailer, and an abstract tone poem. The course will explore useful techniques for research, scripting, and storyboarding with reference to film, television, and Web-based movies.

Typography I

Learn the fundamentals of letterforms and typefaces

Typography is what sets designers apart from other artists. In visual communication, typography must be integrated (every last loop, bowl, and descender) into a total design. In this online basic typography course, you'll explore the anatomy of the letterform. Working with a design pro, you'll learn how to classify typefaces and use them creatively. Understanding the fundamentals of typography will give your work power, eloquence, and beauty.

UX/UI Design

Where there's an app for that

UX/UI is a hot field in software development and web design today. Companies need designers who can rapidly prototype the interface for an app or a website, applying principles of usability and accessibility to create intuitive, engaging user experiences. In this course, you’ll work with veteran UX/UI designer Michael Hamm to learn UX/UI from the ground up. Using your favorite prototyping tool - Sketch, Invision, Adobe XD, or Figma – you will learn how create a concept for an app, and turn your sketches into live prototypes with hotspots, transitions, and slick graphics, using the iterative development process practiced in the industry.

WEB 101: HTML and CSS I

Learn fundamental coding skills

In order to build a Web site today, you need to know how to code using HTML and CSS. In this online HTML/CSS course, you'll learn just how fun and creative hand coding and designing Web sites can be. Working with a professional Web designer, you'll discover how to create Web pages with HTML and control page design and layout with CSS. Working with a pro Web designer, you'll get up to speed with current Web design practices including HTML5, CSS3, semantic coding, Web fonts, and responsive design. By the end of the course, you'll have designed several Web sites, including your first responsive Web site.

WEB 205: JavaScript for Designers I

Learn to code and develop basic Web applications.

Learn the fundamentals of JavaScript, the programming language that allows you to make things happen when a user interacts with your website. You will learn how to create clean, valid code as you create programs that respond to various kinds of user interaction. Assignments include a range of projects: interactive dialogue boxes, a trivia quiz, a rainbow color picker, a sortable database, and more.

WEB 207: Internet Marketing

Exploring strategies for winning the Internet

Taking a business online? Building a commercial Web site for yourself or a client is just the start. In this online Internet Marketing course, you'll learn practical skills for growing your business on the Web. Studying with a professional Internet marketing consultant, you'll learn how to develop an entire marketing plan for your online business. Course projects will include target audience analysis, site planning, content development strategy, email marketing campaigns, optimizing for search engines, building a Facebook page, and more.

WEB 209: Advanced CSS

Add flexbox to your web toolkit

Looking to take your CSS to the next level? In this online CSS course, you'll learn how to utilize flexbox, a new set of CSS properties that easily adapt to different screen sizes and different sizes of content, providing limitless, robust ways to structure page content, and design navigation, column-based layouts, even sticky footers! Working with an expert instructor, you'll study how to how to use flexbox with scalable vector graphics (SVG) and CSS3 animation, adding interactive and creative power to your Web graphics.

WEB 213: Bootstrap Using Dreamweaver I

Learn the leading framework using Adobe's HTML editor

Bootstrap provides a framework of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to speed up your site development. Designing with Bootstrap puts a wealth of useful code at your fingertips. In this course, you'll learn how to build responsive, mobile-first web sites using Bootstrap 5 and Dreamweaver, Adobe's HTML editor. Working with an expert instructor, you'll learn how to design web sites from using HTML and CSS to structure and design page layouts, and ensuring that your designs work on a range of platforms and devices. Each project includes accessibility testing as an integral part of the workflow.

WEB 214: Bootstrap Using Dreamweaver II

Tap the power of advanced Bootstrap elements

The powerful assets of Bootstrap are made easier to access using Adobe Dreamweaver. In this advanced course, you'll learn how to build responsive layouts using Bootstrap, add advanced CSS styles and transitions, add JavaScript and jQuery features, all without reams of code. Working with a pro Web designer, you'll learn how to apply these techniques to practical design project scenarios.

WEB 231: Web Design I

Learn to manage the website design process

Students will create a small business site working step by step, researching and creating a blueprint, developing wireframes or priority guides to map pages, creating a custom logo, developing responsive layouts, and using mood boards to develop and implement color choices in CSS. The site will be tested, validated, and profiled for performance and students will explore how to add a Shopify template. In addition, students will use Adobe Portfolio to create a simple online portfolio, learning how to create a presentation of work samples for prospective clients.

WEB 232: Web Typography

Functional and expressive typography for website applications

Crafting the experience of Web type remains the quiet bulk of a Web designer's work. In this online Web type course, you'll learn how to enhance your Web designs with the the latest techniques for styling, typesetting, and embellishing text. Working with a pro designer, you'll get up to speed on the latest in Web font options and how to use CSS font stacks. You'll study a mix of classic and cutting edge techniques to ensure on-screen readability and effective rhythm, including CSS3 effects and typography-driven information graphics.

WEB 241: WordPress for Designers

Add WP skills to your resume

Everywhere you look, there's another website built with WordPress. As a savvy web designer, you need WordPress skills in your ninja belt. In this online WordPress course, you'll learn how to develop sites that take advantage of the power, versatility, and community of WordPress. You'll start learning the main attributes of a CMS and explore themes, plugins, ways to install, information and support, functions, pages and posts, headers and footers, widgets, and more, all with one big goal in mind: learning the techniques and tools essential to developing excellent WordPress sites.

Web Design Capstone and Portfolio Review

A portfolio project and portfolio review for Web Design majors

The Web Design Capstone and Portfolio Review class offers an opportunity to develop a multifaceted portfolio piece and hone your creative work into a polished presentation for future clients and employers.

The Web Design Capstone Project is a complete client project in Web design, from concept to the final presentation of a series of client pieces. Students work closely with the department head using a full project brief to create information design concepts, a complete Web site and associated graphics, and a banner advertisement. The project is executed in three stages with feedback and a discussion at each stage. Students are expected to discuss, present, and critique their work with the highest level of professionalism, and implement research strategies that contribute to the overall finished project.

Students participate in Portfolio Review in weeks 9-15 of the semester. This provides students the opportunity to gather and develop a portfolio of work and present it to faculty and classmates for feedback. Students will learn to recognize strengths and weaknesses in their work, and feedback will help students identify specific works or subject areas that need improvement.