Inside this book is just about everything you need to know about Graphic Design at York College of Pennsylvania.
YCP Graphic Design majors work in all kinds of media from graphite to digital, from book cloth to letterpress. Top to bottom: Allie Clouspy ‘15, Emily Chernuka ‘14, Josh Weber ‘17.
T
he Graphic Design major combines studio work, design theory and criticism, and history with York College’s strong academic curriculum to provide you with the tools you will need to become a successful professional in your field. At YCP, you will learn not only about the tools and techniques, both traditional and digital, necessary to make your ideas come to life, but also the ways in which your work relates to our culture and society. Coursework in graphic design history gives you a valuable perspective on where the discipline has been, where it is going, and how technology affects the way people communicate. Graphic designers are valuable members of multi-disciplinary teams that produce many different kinds of communication, both in print and on screen, flat and 3-dimensional, linear and interactive, and public or private.
Do You Have What It Takes to be a Graphic Designer? Contrary to popular belief, talent and a laptop are not the only requirements for success in the graphic design field! See what your potential is by checking off the items that apply to you. I spend a lot of time drawing and doodling. I am not afraid of hard work. I am a good communicator. I am a good listener. I love color.
• Publication Design
I am naturally curious.
• Typeface Design
I love words.
• Identity Systems
I am competitive.
• Informational Graphics
I love technology.
• Illustration
I am a team player.
• Book Design
I have a solid work ethic.
• Display Design
I have a sense of humor.
• Package Design
I take direction well.
• Decorative Pattern Design
I show up.
• Technical Publication Design
I am able to take (and give) constructive criticism.
• Website Design • Motion Graphic Design • Television Graphic Design • Educational Design • Interactive Design • Promotional Design
PHIC GRA
S DEN IG
P @YC
As a Graphic Design major at YCP, you can focus on whatever your interests are. You can make the program fit you, while still learning the basics and mastering them. Chelsea, Graphic Design ‘15
If you checked 5 or more of these boxes, you may have what it takes to enjoy a great career as a graphic designer! Don’t worry about the boxes you didn’t check. You’ll acquire those skills as you study graphic design in college. Your faculty, peers and visiting designers will help you learn about process, concept and professionalism. 3
What You’ll Take and When B.A. in Graphic Design 125 credits
G
raphic Design majors at YCP start their major area of study immediately upon arrival, with foundations in graphic design, manual and digital craft, and drawing. You’ll begin to examine graphic design’s history and role in culture and society. You’ll learn effective file management and application skills. And you’ll hone your ability to draw what you see, which is an essential tool for every graphic designer. The program is sequential for a reason. You learn a lot, then you move on and use what you’ve learned. Practice makes perfect. So the closer you follow the progression, the better you’ll be when you graduate. Get to know your advisor and seek his or her help each semester. Advisors are your friends, at least where your academics are concerned. <3
Sophomore Portfolio Review Graphic Design majors undergo a second portfolio review in the Sophomore Portfolio Review. It’s a 1-credit pass/fail course. You need to pass it to remain in the major. It’s a good opportunity to see how you’re doing and decide where to concentrate your focus.
The GD program at YCP helps students push past their design comfort zone. Some of my greatest projects came from ideas that I thought were out of my wheel house. Emily, Graphic Design ‘17
Freshman Year
Junior Year
Fall
Fall
ART200 Introduction to Graphic Design
ART287 Printmaking I
ART206 Elements of Computer Graphics
ART296 Publication Design
ART215 Drawing I
ART340 Web Design I
FYS1xx
DP
First Year Seminar
Social/Behavioral Sciences
FCO105 Rhetorical Communication
DP Humanities
Spring
Spring
ART204 Survey of Western Art I
ART398 Junior Design Studio
ART218 Typography I
ART399 Motion Graphics
ART265 Drawing II
ART436 Professional Development
F
Quantitative Fluency
DP
Natural/Physical Science
F
Advanced Communication
C
Constellation I
Sophomore Year
ART450 Graphic Design Internship or
Fall ART205 Survey of Western Art II ART220 Painting I ART247 The Digital Image ART290 Print Production F
Summer (suggested)
Global Citizenship
Spring ART219 Typography II ART293 Book Arts ART299 Sophomore Portfolio Review
ART498 Independent Study Senior Year Fall ART432 Senior Design Studio ART
Art elective
ART
Art History elective
C
Constellation II
Elective Free
ART389 History of Graphic Design
Spring
F
ART441 Senior Exhibition
American Citizenship
DP Arts There are lots of great art electives to choose from including but not limited to Lettering Arts, Book Arts, Introduction to Letterpress, Web Design II, Printmaking II, Jewelry and Small Sculpture I & II, Illustration I through IV, Photography I through IV, History of Photography, and The Modernist Impulse. Your advisor will suggest other electives to add to your graphic designerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s toolkit such as Introduction to Creative Writing, Introduction to Film, Consumer Behavior, Introduction to Psychology, just to name a few!
ART
Art elective
C
Constellation III
C
Constellation IV
Elective Free Elective Free
For detailed course descriptions and policies, visit catalog.ycp.edu
5
The Minor Facts Want to add another facet to your Graphic Design degree? YCP offers a lot of options for minors that may give you an extra area of focus. It’s actually hard to find a minor that doesn’t relate to graphic design! • Advertising • Anthropology • Art History • Computer Science • Creative Writing • Entrepreneurship • Film Studies • Fine Art • French • German • Information Systems • International Studies • Literary Studies • Marketing • Marketing Communications • Music • Philosophy • Music Industry • Photography • Professional Writing • Psychology • Public Relations • Sociology • Spanish • Speech Communication • Theatre • Womens & Gender Studies • World History Check out YCP Graphic Design @ www.behance.net/GDYCP
Outside the Studio Internships Internships are an invaluable part of your education. Student graphic designers gain work experience in the real world as well as develop professional relationships and networks. Talk to your advisor about when to do an internship and how to get one. AIGA Student Group When you get to campus, you’ll want to join our vibrant and active AIGA (American Institute for the Graphic Arts) student group. A national organization for professional graphic designers, YCP’s group organizes exciting events and gives you opportunities to show off your stuff. AIGA membership is a requirement for graphic design juniors, but recommended for students of all levels. Visit national AIGA’s website at www.aiga.org. The York College Galleries You’ll get a lot of opportunities to show your work from day one as a Graphic Design major at YCP. A lot of schools focus on competitive opportunities for upperclassmen only. At YCP, freshmen establish an online presence which they continue to add to throughout the 4 years. All students qualify to enter the Annual Juried Student Graphic Design or Fine Art exhibition, and have their work selected by nationally known visiting artists. Visiting Artists You’ll hear, meet and work with major names in the world of graphic design, as well as knowledgeable regional and local visiting designers. Each year, a nationally-known designer serves as the juror for the Annual Juried Student Graphic Design Exhibit.
Ken Barber, type director for House Industries, works with a YCP designer during a type and lettering workshop.
Some important visitors have been: • Ken Barber, House Industries www.houseind.com • Matteo Bologna, designer/typographer www.mucca.com • Luba Lukova, designer/illustrator www.lukova.net • David Carson, graphic designer www.davidcarsondesign.com • Ellen Lupton, writer, curator, educator www.elupton.com • Paul Sahre, designer, author, lecturer www.paulsahre.com • PostTypography, designers, educators www.posttypography.com • Rick Valicenti, graphic designer www.3st.com Graphic Design Semester in Italy Spend the spring semester of your junior year studying in one of the world’s most important centers of graphic, industrial and fashion design, Milan, through YCP Graphic Design’s articulation agreement with NABA (Nuovo Accademia di Belle 7 Arti). Buona fortuna!
Your Faculty
Y
our faculty are all practicing graphic designers with a variety of areas of interest. While dedicated to YCP’s philosophy, each prof has his or her own unique set of perspectives and processes. From typography to motion graphics, from publishing to production, you will be challenged to be the best graphic designer you can be. Visit www.ycp.edu for YCP’s faculty roster.
How to Submit Your Portfolio
YCP Graphic Design faculty members are practicing professional graphic designers as well as exhibiting artists. You’ll work with them in locations such as YCP’s own letterpress printshop, Catch and Release Press in downtown York’s vibrant arts district as well as at personal studios in and around campus. Check out Instagram: @catchandreleasepress and visit theletteringoffice.wordpress.com.
I
n addition to fulfilling all of York College’s admissions requirements, a student seeking admittance into the Graphic Design program is required to submit a portfolio of 10 to 20 examples of artwork. The portfolio should contain the student’s best work to date, reflect a range of abilities, interests and concepts, and demonstrate experience in a variety of media. In addition, an introductory artist’s statement must be included, and should be a brief synopsis of the applicant’s experience, who or what has been an influence and how, and what aspirations are for the future. The portfolio is to be submitted via York College’s online submission system (you will receive the link upon your acceptance to York College). York College does not accept portfolio submissions via mail in slide form or CDs. The payment of a $10 portfolio submission fee, paid with a credit card online, is the final step in the submission process. The applicant will then receive confirmation of receipt by email with a confirmation number and approximate decision date. A portfolio will
only be reviewed after the applicant has been accepted to York College. Acceptance to York College does not guarantee acceptance into art programs. Evaluation Criteria The Portfolio Review Committee wants to get a sense of who the applicant is as an artist, through reading the artist’s statement and viewing his or her best work to date. Experience in a variety of media, interesting perspectives and subject matter indicate to the committee that the applicant has potential for success in a college level art program and beyond. A numerical score is given to the applicant, in areas, listed below. These numbers are then averaged for a final rating. The committee asks these questions during the evaluation of a portfolio: • Are the images of good quality in terms of focus and lighting? • Is the artist’s statement clear and substantive? • Is there a good sampling of several of the following media: ink, pencil, pastel, oil, acrylic, collage, digital, photography, sculpture, fabric, jewelry, ceramics, printmaking, video or web? • Is there drawing from both real and still life? • Has there been experimentation with both realistic and expressive drawing and composition? • Are there varied subjects and concepts in the portfolio and s the subject matter a reflection of the applicant’s interests?* * Avoid cartoon action figures, fairies, monsters, anime, graffiti art, cute pets, drawings from photos, and images of vacations, sunsets and flowers.
Submission Deadlines Deadlines for submission are Jan. 31st and March 15th for Fall entrance, and Nov. 1st for Spring entrance. Portfolios will be reviewed on an as-received basis after these dates, as space in the program permits. This status is available from the admissions office. The Division of Art reserves the right to cap entrance to the Graphic Design program as space indicates to preserve optimal class size and quality. For Transfer Students The portfolio should contain a minimum of two examples of work from each art course the student wishes to transfer to York College. Transfer credit in Graphic Design is given only for foundation courses (with the exception of Elements of Computer Graphics), art history courses and art electives. Provisional Graphic Design Majors Students who are interested in becoming a Graphic Design major, but are not yet ready to submit a portfolio, may declare themselves as Provisional Graphic Design majors. This status indicates that the student’s intent is to eventually apply to Graphic Design, and assures assignment to an advisor who knows how to give guidance towards the goal of acceptance into the major. New incoming students should inform admissions of their intent to apply to Graphic Design upon acceptance to the college, and will then be processed as Provisional majors. New incoming Provisionals will receive a block schedule containing courses applicable to their desired eventual major, as space permits, with preference given to accepted and declared Graphic Design majors with deposits paid. 9
Current YCP students who wish to become Provisional should contact the Academic Advising office, request a meeting with the Provisional advisor concerning the program’s status, then request a switch to Provisional if desired. Becoming a Provisional major does not guarantee acceptance into the Graphic Design program. Provisional majors are subject to the same portfolio submission criteria and deadlines as new incoming
students. Provisional majors should be prepared to stay at YCP at least one year longer than those who enter the programs as first-semester freshmen to complete their degrees. A student’s advisor will help them to progress through the programs as efficiently as possible once accepted. Students may not submit a portfolio for entrance into the Graphic Design program more than twice.
Ellie King ‘13 Anya Felch ‘14
Ryan Kurz ‘15 Holly Tillman ‘13
Check out the York College Galleries calendar of events at www.ycp.edu
Need to Build Up Your Portfolio? Want to add some more pieces to your portfolio? Not sure how to proceed? Try a few of these time-tested, tired and true projects. You can do them on computer, by hand or both. Foreign Customs Poster Find a custom of a country other than your own that you find really amazing, weird and different. Research it, get to its roots, then design a poster that briefly describes it. Include the name of the custom, a graphic to accompany it. 18 x 24 is a good size, tall or wide. Currency Design Design a piece of currency that could function as a worldwide monetary device. Name the unit and design a 1 unit, 5 unit and 10 unit note. Make it immediately understandable by all languages and as
Lina Than ‘16
universal as possible (ie: graphic!) Do your research and check out the currency designs of various other countries (many use the Euro now, so look before that!) Poem Interpretation Select a short poem or lyric that means something to you. Compose the piece using only typography to express the meaning of the poem... how it should be read, where the emphasis should be. Use limited color, as the size and style and position of the type should be the most important thing. Playing Cards Design a set of playing cards that are particular to something you are interested in. You can replace the King, Jack, Queen, etc. with something else if you wish. This is a fun project that can be a real illustration and type workout. My employer told me that what “sold them” was my self promo piece (the design of it and also handing them each one at the end of my interview). Years later and YCP Graphic Design professors are still impacting my career!
Stephanie Hart ‘13
Jen, Graphic Design ‘12
@ycgraphicdesign GDYCP www.ycp.edu
rev. 10/16