Erika Nunez’s Profile Student Toggle navigation

User Ex­pe­ri­ence (UX) De­sign is an es­sen­tial com­po­nent in de­vel­op­ing web­sites, ap­pli­ca­tions, and any other type of prod­uct in­tended to be used by peo­ple. This course ex­am­ines the lead­ing con­cepts of user—­centered de­sign through read­ings, dis­cus­sions and as­sign­ments. Prac­ti­cal con­cerns in­clude eval­u­a­tion of tech­nol­ogy needed to cre­ate or main­tain web­sites; and ex­plo­ration of a step ­by ­step process for cre­at­ing prod­ucts using flow charts, con­tent trees and schemat­ics. Stu­dents will also gain an un­der­stand­ing of is­sues sur­round­ing us­abil­ity on the Web, knowl­edge man­age­ment and Web strat­egy.

User Experience (UX) Design is an essential component in developing websites, applications, and any other type of product intended to be used by people. This course examines the leading concepts of user—­centered design through readings, discussions and assignments. Practical concerns include evaluation of technology needed to create or maintain websites; and exploration of a step ­by ­step process for creating products using flow charts, content trees and schematics. Students will also gain an understanding of issues surrounding usability on the Web, knowledge management and Web strategy.

This course will ex­plore stu­dio pho­tog­ra­phy as a means to com­mu­ni­cate ideas. Stu­dents will learn to use light­ing to trans­form sub­ject mat­ter into metaphor, mood and mean­ing as well as how to de­velop vi­sual co­her­ence within a group of im­ages. Stu­dents will de­velop port­fo­lio level pro­jects that dis­play con­cep­tual think­ing and mas­tery of the craft of pho­tog­ra­phy.

This course will explore studio photography as a means to communicate ideas. Students will learn to use lighting to transform subject matter into metaphor, mood and meaning as well as how to develop visual coherence within a group of images. Students will develop portfolio level projects that display conceptual thinking and mastery of the craft of photography.

This course is an in-depth ex­plo­ration of the cre­ative ad­ver­tis­ing cam­paign and re­lated media. Work­ing in­di­vid­u­ally and/or in teams, stu­dents will re­search, de­velop cre­ative con­cepts and de­sign pack­aged goods and ser­vice sec­tor cam­paigns. Prepa­ra­tion of fin­ished art­work using QuarkX­press and soft­ware such as Adobe Cre­ative Suite.

This course is an in-depth exploration of the creative advertising campaign and related media. Working individually and/or in teams, students will research, develop creative concepts and design packaged goods and service sector campaigns. Preparation of finished artwork using QuarkXpress and software such as Adobe Creative Suite.

In­tern­ship in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion De­sign As­sign­ment to field work/study sit­u­a­tions of ap­prox­i­mately eight to ten plus hours per week at a graphic arts-re­lated in­tern­ship site ap­proved by the de­part­ment in­tern­ship di­rec­tor. Sites may be in areas such as ad­ver­tis­ing, print­ing, cor­po­rate com­mu­ni­ca­tions or pub­lish­ing. Stu­dents keep a log/jour­nal to be shared in group sem­i­nars/dis­cus­sions. Su­per­vi­sion is by fac­ulty and by the job su­per­vi­sor. Stu­dents will be re­quired to keep a learn­ing jour­nal of their in­tern­ship in the form of a blog using Open Lab.

Internship in Communication Design Assignment to field work/study situations of approximately eight to ten plus hours per week at a graphic arts-related internship site approved by the department internship director. Sites may be in areas such as advertising, printing, corporate communications or publishing. Students keep a log/journal to be shared in group seminars/discussions. Supervision is by faculty and by the job supervisor. Students will be required to keep a learning journal of their internship in the form of a blog using Open Lab.

This course is a prac­ti­cal in­tro­duc­tion to the field of il­lus­tra­tion. Focus will be places on process work and pro­fes­sional prac­tices, pre­sented within con­tem­po­rary and his­tor­i­cal con­text. Course in­cludes pro­jects and lec­tures in a va­ri­ety of il­lus­tra­tion gen­res in­clud­ing: prod­uct de­sign and ad­ver­tis­ing, sto­ry­board, book il­lus­tra­tion, ed­i­to­r­ial il­lus­tra­tion, and in­sti­tu­tional il­lus­tra­tion. A va­ri­ety of ma­te­ri­als will be in­tro­duced through lec­tures and demon­stra­tions for use on as­sign­ments such as: pen­cil, pen and ink, brush, col­ored pen­cil, brush and paint, and col­lage. Crit­i­cal con­cepts such as: Con­cep­tual De­vel­op­ment, Work­ing on As­sign­ment, Com­po­si­tion, Con­trast, Value, Point of View, and Color the­ory will be in­tro­duced.

This course is a practical introduction to the field of illustration. Focus will be places on process work and professional practices, presented within contemporary and historical context. Course includes projects and lectures in a variety of illustration genres including: product design and advertising, storyboard, book illustration, editorial illustration, and institutional illustration. A variety of materials will be introduced through lectures and demonstrations for use on assignments such as: pencil, pen and ink, brush, colored pencil, brush and paint, and collage. Critical concepts such as: Conceptual Development, Working on Assignment, Composition, Contrast, Value, Point of View, and Color theory will be introduced.