Art-Design Village Courses

ArtDes1 DEVELOPING THAT “GREAT IDEA” – Visual thinking, before you launch your computer.

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Instructor Ron Plante

Many of us with a creative bent have a “third eye” that allows us to give birth to a great idea.   We’re often asked to create a brochure, flyer, or poster for our club or organization or family event. How about you small business owners? You can’t afford to hire a professional designer  just yet. Most amateur designers will fire up their computer, launch a program (usually the wrong one) and type all the text.  Then, they start moving things around and altering the look of some until they stumble on something that looks pretty good.  No plan, no idea, and usually, they end up with a spaghetti supper poster that looks strangely similar to that wedding invitation they saw and liked.

There is a logical, step-by-step procedure to follow.  Learn to brainstorm an idea, create thumbnails and rough sketches, and develop ideas based on a plan. Visual design starts with visual thinking, using your third eye.  Learn to exercise the right side of your brain and develop the mind-to-hand skills  necessary in professional design.

IT WORKS!

6-Hour Course over three weeks  ©2009 Ron Plante

ArtDes2

THE NEXT STEP – Make your “Great Idea” Digital

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Instructor Jenifer Swanson Dexter

After you’ve come up with that “Great Idea” it’s time to  launch Adobe Illustrator. This course takes off where ArtDes1 leaves off.  Yes, begin by doing the unplugged steps, but, in today’s design world, we must make that great idea digital.  You’ll learn the proper way to translate the refined roughs into a “Comp”, a Comprehensive Rough that says to a client, “this is what it’ll look like.”

6 -Hour Course over three weeks  ©2009 Jenifer Swanson Dexter

ArtDes3

DRAWING IS SEEING – Draw what you see, not what you’ve imagined.

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Instructor Ron Plante

What happens when someone sits in the den and tries to draw a tree?  There’s no tree to look at, so they draw their “idea” of a tree or their memory of the same tree that they’ve drawn since childhood. Now what would happen if you went to your backyard and looked at your favorite tree? You notice the peeling bark, the knothole where your nephew broke off a branch. You’re now seeing the tree and understanding it;  you’re not just drawing the concept of some tree. Every little bend, branch, and knothole defines that tree.   Draw a dog from memory.   Now sketch your sleeping dog while looking at him.   Compare the two drawings.

6 -Hour Course over three weeks ©2009 Ron Plante

ArtDes7

CREATING ART WITHOUT USING ART SUPPLIES – How you can make art inside a cave, at the top of a mountain?

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Instructor Ron Plante

So, you’ve climbed that peak and want to sketch the beautiful scene before you.   Darn! … you forgot your pencils.   You have your sketchpad, but how will you draw? What is a pencil?  How do they make charcoal sticks?  Where does paint come from?  Using various art media requires understanding their origins. Cavemen, early artists, used what natural materials they found in their environment.  Paint with food items, motor oil, or wine.  By the way, find a stick on the mountaintop, and use your emergency matches to burn it. You’re drawing with charcoal.  Learn, have fun, swap ideas with other classmates.

6-Hour Course ©2009 Ron Plante

ArtDes9

ARE YOU USING THE RIGHT FONT? – Typography tips for the beginner.

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Instructor Ron Plante

You’re making a poster for the scout troop chili supper. You’ve been asked to do a newsletter for the animal shelter. Mittens never came home last night, and you want to make an effective “Seen my cat?” flyer.

The type font you select should be appropriate for the message you’re sending or you may be wasting your time.

Type creates a mood, sets a theme, and the wrong font can work against your goal. This course will help you select type professionally and effectively.

6-Hour Course over three weeks

©2009 Ron Plante