COMMERCIAL ART

Instructor, Susan Lowther

Course Description
This course will prepare students for entry-level positions in a variety of art-related jobs or entry into postsecondary schools for additional art training.

Commercial Art is a three-year course. The first year builds a solid foundation in drawing, painting, rendering techniques and Adobe Illustrator skills.

Year two explores more advanced computer skills and graphic design techniques, as well as cartooning, color theory, Adobe Photoshop skills, matting and framing techniques, and proofreading.

The third year prepares the student for entry into the world of work. The emphasis is on more advanced computer rendering and graphic design skills to be used in the workplace. Students learn Adobe InDesign skills to help them prepare brochures, booklets, calendars, and many other graphic design jobs. They prepare resumes and practice job interviewing skills as well as compile portfolios, both comprising of their actual pieces collected from the three years, and a digital CD of their work.

Students best suited for this course are those who are creative, like to draw, work well with others, like computers, and have organizational skills.

Prerequisites: Applied Communications, Applied Math, Computer Literacy

Appropriate Occupations:

Art Director
Layout/Paste-Up Artist
Sign Maker/Designer
Exhibit/Display Artist
Technical Illustrator
Cartoonist
Graphic Designer
Illustrator
Computer Artist
Freelance Artist

Job Outlook

Over the next five years, an additional 50,000 jobs are expected to be developed in this field nation wide. Commercial Art is a vital part of the "information explosion" we are all experiencing and as such, it is a growth industry. Even locally, the market continues to grow, especially for enterprising freelance artists.

Further Education Opportunities

We are fortunate to have in Pennsylvania a long list of fine schools offering both two- and four-year degree programs in Commercial Art. At least one school offers advanced placement for graduates of the Commercial Arts program at the Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center. As in many other fields, additional education enhances job opportunities and earnings in Commercial Art.

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Revised 3/26/07