Graphic Design: Digital Illustration - Certificate
The Certificate of Achievement in Digital Illustration provides the basic skills for students interested in the field of digital illustration. Graduates of the program might seek employment as medical, book, magazine, or newspaper illustrators, create illustrative work for training, and promotion in a corporate environment, or create digital illustrations for digital media projects and/or the web.
Students learn technical and creative skills used in the creation of illustrations using both raster based and vector based software tools, while working on projects such as product illustrations.
Many illustrators work as freelancers, and this is a competitive field which requires skill, drive, and talent to succeed. The classes in the core requirements should be taken in the general order that they are listed.
Program Learning Outcomes
- Students will identify and apply the fundamentals of vector art creation and manipulation.
- Students will create technical product illustrations using both the vector and raster tools in Adobe Photoshop.
- Students will create original illustrations using a combination of Illustrator's creative tools, including various free-form drawing tools.
To earn this certificate, students must meet the following requirements:
- Complete all required certificate courses with a C (or P) or better.
- Complete at least 1/3 of the program courses at Mission College to establish residency.
NOTES:
- Requirements here apply to the current catalog year and are subject to change. Visit DegreeWorks in My Mission Portal to view requirements based your catalog year.
- Not all classes are offered each semester.
Core Required Courses: Choose one (1) of the following:
| Code | Class | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ART 031A | Drawing (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| ART 031B | Intermediate Drawing (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| ART 034A | Introduction to Digital Art (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| GDS 064 | Introduction to Adobe Photoshop (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| GDS 066 | Advanced Adobe Illustrator (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| GDS 068 | Portfolio Production Studio (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| GDS 085 | Professional Portfolio and Design Career Preparation (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
Plus additional courses required from the following to bring your toatal to a minimum of 17 units:
Courses used in the Core Required Courses section cannot be used here.
| Code | Class | Units |
|---|---|---|
| GDS 035 | Graphic Design I (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| GDS 073 | Digital Photography (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| GDS 039A | 3D Animation and Modeling (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| ART 034B | Advanced Digital Art (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| ART 031A | Drawing (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| ART 031B | Intermediate Drawing (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| ART 034A | Introduction to Digital Art (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| GDS 062 | Digital Illustration with Adobe Illustrator (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| GDS 064 | Introduction to Adobe Photoshop (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
| GDS 066 | Advanced Adobe Illustrator (2.0 Lecture/1.0 Lab) | 3.0 |
Units Required
| Units | |
|---|---|
| Total Required Units | 17.0 |
Career/Transfer Opportunities
Career opportunities include the following: commercial art, print production, web production, graphic arts production, as well as print and electronic publishing.
Career Opportunities in Graphic Design