NOTES

ART 115 History of Graphic Design
ART 122 2D Design
ART 133 Drawing I
ART 136 Drawing as Design Process
ART 208 Computer Illustration
ART 211 Digital Imaging
ART 215 Typography
ART 227 Web Graphics
ART 230 Graphic Design I
ART 231 Graphic Design II
ART 232 Portfolio Seminar

GENERAL INFORMATION QUESTIONS

ANSWERS

What is four-color process?

Four-color process is a printing process that uses four colors of ink, Cyan. Magenta, Yellow and Black to achieve an optical range of thousands of colors.
Example of four-color printing

What's a halftone dot?

The creation of halftone dots for reproducing optical values or shades of a single color of ink in a printed piece is a process called "halftoning". By varying the size or density of dots, the eye can see a shade somewhere between the solid color and the color of
the background paper. This halftone effect has its lmits for when the dots get too small or spaced too far apart the eye can start seeing the individual dots, such as in newpaper printing.
Halftones

SPI, PPI, DPI, LPI

Do I create an image in RGB or CMYK?

It depends on the final output. Will it be for print reproduction (CMYK) or for display on a computer monitor or video display (RGB). If your client has a limited budget, you might just have to work with spot colors, which don't exactly fit into either catorgory. See below.
Warning:

Switching from RGB to CMYK will generally lose color information (the colors will become grayer), however, coverting a CMYK image to RGB will display no noticable shifts in color. The reason for these changes is RGB is a much bigger color space or color gamut.

What are spot colors and when should I use them in a project?

Spot colors are specially mixed inks that come in a rainbow of colors, including some speciality inks such as metallic and flourescent. Unlike CMYK or process color which creates colors by laying down layers or millions of dots of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black in varying amounts on the printed page, spot colors are pre-mixed and applied individually to the printed page.

Each spot color requires its own plate on the printing press. Because a varnish requires a separate plate it is considered a spot color, too.

If you are planning to print an image with spot colors, you need to create spot channels(Photoshop) to store the colors. To export spot channels, save the file in DCS 2.0 format or PDF.

Spot colors are overprinted on top of the fully composited image. Each spot color is overprinted in the order it appears in the Channels palette (Photoshop).
Explanation of spot color usage with printed project examples.

PANTONE spot vs. process color

What's the best resolution to use when scanning an image?

Well, the best answer I can give is, "It depends." It depends what you plan to do with the image, is it for print, on a printing press, a proofing device, or a large-format printer, or is it intended for screen display? The answer to the latter question is generally 72 ppi.
Photoshop's Image Size Dialog Box
Explanation of upsizing and downsizing images

How do I make smooth curves using the Pen Tool?

Learn the five basic rules for working with Bezier curves.
Pen Tool Rules

What is a morgue or swipe file?
It's simply a collection of images or reference materials you save to a file cabinet, either paper or digital.

Many artist and designers keep such files for ideas and to be inspired creatively by image they respond to strongly.
What is a Morgue file? (ArtSlam.com)

I kept one for over 20 years that filled more than five file cabinet drawers! It's an important resource.