Embracing the Process

The Process Book

The original course of Digital Techniques was print design focused. The final project was a closely time-managed professional press-produced 16-page Lookbook complete with vendor-facing line sheets promoting student’s fashion brand. To get there, students fulfilled mini-assignments they gathered in a Process Book, which I provided as an InDesign template. This mimics professional studio practices of working with and sharing pre-existing templates. In mini-assignments, student demonstrated specific skills taught in class, which I gathered quarterly.

Self-Reflection

In the first entry into Photoshop is learning about what makes a digital image, learning about the interface. What is the difference between bitmap or rasterized and vector graphics? We explore differences in additive and subtractive color and RGB vs. CMYK color spaces.

Photoshop: Step One – Image creation, curating, and optimizing for high resolution print

Students reflect: What drew me to this image or design or art work? As artists and designers, students reflect on why they chose certain pieces or looks. What personally resonated with them about the work? And why?

Students practice good craftsmanship: By placing their work in a gallery-like book with ample white framing and captions, even mini-assignments must uphold to high standards of digital craftsmanship. Downloading high resolution images from a fashion forecasting website, they see what professionally shot photography looks like and appreciate the visual details made possible with well-captured imagery.

Students exercise their design literacy: In another assignment, students identify styles across disciplines. They define a genre by compositing their fashion figure in their corresponding interior designed space.

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