This course introduces students to digital art and design: interdisciplinary modes of creative production concerned with the use of and engagement with computers, software, new media, and the web in visual culture. While developing the critical and formal skills to engage problems clearly, visually and digitally using a Bauhaus inspired pedagogy, sessions will emphasize the ways software can be used for project development, prototyping, and experimentation. 

Most of our time will be spent in Adobe Creative Suite. The core elements of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign will be taught through a series of short assignments emphasizing image manipulation, page layout, graphic design, and motion graphics. Furthermore, it is hoped that through sustained engagement with digital problem-solving and 'critically engaged making,' that students will develop rich technical and conceptual vocabularies for considering and addressing the unique problems of image production in the 21st century. 

No previous skills required.This course is intended for graduate students of all skill levels and backgrounds. The only requirement is students maintain an open mind and possess an active desire to challenge themselves and engage new tools and ideas in art.

Christopher Chenier (B.A., Bard College, M.A. and Ph.D. (ABD), University of Delaware) is a historian and artist. His research concerns the history of technology, photography, and capitalism. His current project, Artists For Commerce: The business of postwar American advertising photography, studies advertising photography in the mid-20th century. In addition to training students to think about and make art, Professor Chenier's teaching concerns the global history of trade, technology, and the environment. Professor Chenier has taught art and history at the University of Delaware and Bennington College. In a past life, he worked in advertising and fashion as a commercial photographic retoucher.