Due Dates

• Each week has two due dates labeled first due date or (1st) and second due date or (2nd).
• (1st) is by Tuesday at 11:59 pm mountain time
• (2nd) is by Saturday at 11:59 pm mountain time

Click here to see the Spori 107 Lab schedule

Each project will take two weeks. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE, these projects are easily two weeks worth of work.

We’ll be using ilearn for deadlines and grading. I will not grade anything that is not in ilearn. This means that I won’t grade things turned in via email, jump drive, carrier pigeon, etc. If ilearn goes down, the instructions and examples can be found at https://305.commbyui.org

https://vectorgraphics.slack.com

1. Use your byui.edu email to join the team
2. Use your first and last name as your username
3. Introduce yourself in Week 01.
4. Join the #questions channel.
5. Join the #announcements channel
6. Click the gear/cog symbol on the top of these channels, choose “Notification preferences” and turn on “activity of any kind” under notifications for those channels.
7. Click on your name, choose “preferences” and set your notifications settings to “only direct messages and highlight words” then choose some highlight words that you want to receive notifications for.
8. Click on your name again and edit your profile (add an image of yourself)

We will be doing project write-ups on Behance. You will need your Adobe login to use this platform. This will allow you to showcase your work and working process to prospective clients and employers.

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Paper and Software

You will need something to sketch with and something to sketch on. It HAS to be physical like paper or a sketchbook, no digital sketching is allowed. You will also need access to Adobe Illustrator with you can get on your personal computer or you may choose to use adobe labs on campus.

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Software & Lab

This class uses Adobe illustrator and after effects. You will need access to this software. The Spori 107 lab has the Adobe Creative Cloud and trained lab assistants. Other areas on campus, like the library commons, also have the software you’ll need. You also may consider getting illustrator on your computer. It is best to have the Creative Cloud with a student discount.

I’ve created a series of videos that will teach you everything you need to know about Adobe Illustrator. These videos can be accessed on the course blog and on YouTube. Refer to these videos often, especially in the first few weeks as your doing your worksheets.

Vector Graphics Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0NZlM3T6ytEh2M91i4F-Bf-p7BIsrJVM

Uncut recordings of students getting help with projects: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0NZlM3T6ytHxJxdd23RMSOSagQkV8A-G

I’ve noticed that the students that are successful do a few different things:

Jump in the deep end. Don’t wade in and be timid, right at the start on day one, open Illustrator and try to do stuff

Watch the video tutorials and follow along… a lot… multiple times…

Turn everything in on time. I don’t assign busy work, everything has a purpose. Do it all in the order that it is assigned and you’ll do great.

Stretch and try hard things

Read the instructions. Don’t skim.

This class offers one Mulligan. The mulligan allows you an additional 48 hours to turn the assignment in and receive credit. You must contact me before the deadline to use the mulligan. Follow the instructions found in the iLearn “course” folder.

This class follows the BYU-Idaho Grading System. Become familiar with these guidelines.

More than three absences may result in your grade being lowered a full letter grade. More than four absences may result in failure of the class. Missing the quiz at the beginning of the class counts as an absence.

Plagiarism is not tolerated in this class or in the industry.

• Do your own original work. 
• Do not copy other’s work.
• Do not trace other’s work.
• Do not use auto-trace (except for textures as demo’d in class)
• Do not use any form of generative ai (this includes generative fill, text to vector, and anything else that does the work for you.
• Do not pass other’s work off as your own.
• Do not turn in the results of following a tutorial.
• Basically, create your own images
• It is possible to cheat in this class. Cheating may result in failure on the project or the class. I take this very seriously.

Student Honor

Student Honor is following the path of discipleship and learning to be more like Christ—learning to think, to feel, and to act more as He does.

Living a life of honor:

• Begins as we learn and live the baseline standards of the Honor Code, understand their purposes, and are true to the promises we have made.
• Continues as we heed the promptings of the Spirit to raise our personal bar of righteousness and foster a spirit of integrity, sacrifice, consecration, love, service, and willing obedience as students and throughout our lives.
• Prepares our hearts for devoted discipleship in the family, church, work, and community.

Student Life | Academic Honesty | Dress & Grooming

Disability Statement:

BYU-Idaho does not discriminate against persons with disabilities in providing its educational and administrative services and programs, and follows applicable federal and state law. This policy extends to the University’s electronic and information technologies (EIT). Students with qualifying disabilities should contact the Disability Services Office at disabilityservices@byui.edu or 208-496-9210. Additional information about Disability Services resources can be found at http://www.byui.edu/disabilities.

Preventing Sexual Misconduct Statement:

BYU-Idaho prohibits sex discrimination against any participant in its education programs or activities. Prohibited sex discrimination includes incidents of sexual harassment (including sexual violence), dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking (collectively “sexual misconduct”). As an instructor, one of my responsibilities is to help create a safe learning environment for my students and for the campus as a whole. University policy requires that I report all incidents of sexual misconduct that come to my attention. If you encounter sexual misconduct, please contact the Title IX Coordinator at titleix@byui.edu or 208-496-9200. Additional information about sexual misconduct and available resources can be found at www.byui.edu/titleix.

Illustrator-only projects (Stickers, Watch, Gig Poster)

Download the submission template here.

Motion Graphics Project

Download the submission template here.

There are different submission templates for different projects. Follow the instructions within the Ai submission template to create multi-page PDFs for each submission dropbox in I-Learn.

Animation Project

Download the submission template here.

Weeks

In each unit (or project) there are two weeks, the first week is called the "draft week" and the second is called the "final week"

Where to Submit

There are three places to submit:

1. I-Learn
   1. Always submit a single PDF (with multiple pages)
   2. You will often be asked to screenshot your slack and blog posts and include them in the PDF
   3. Do not zip anything
   4. To submit a link, you must first submit the PDF, then I-Learn will allow you to copy and paste the link
   5. After pasting your link, press space to make it clickable.
2. Slack
   1. The course slack group: vectorgraphics.slack.com
   2. Initial Posts of sketches and concepts
   3. Critique replies to your classmates' posts
   4. Screenshot your posts and replies as you go. Collect them into the Submission Template PDF for submission at the end of each week.

Description

Most weeks will have an activity. Follow the instructions on each activity and submit them with your Submission Template PDF.

Go to the activities page for instructions on each activity.

Due Dates

The activities are due by first due date as part of the Submission Template PDF in I-Learn.

Submission

Submit a screenshot of your completed activity with your other assignments for the due date in the Submission Template PDF

Due Dates

• Each week has two due dates labeled first due date or (1st) and second due date or (2nd).
• (1st) is by Tuesday at 11:59 pm mountain time
• (2nd) is by Saturday at 11:59 pm mountain time

Click here to see the full schedule

Concept

• Interesting and engaging
• The image clearly communicates the concept in a creative, memorable or clever way
• The concept is appropriate for the assignment (target audience, project objectives)

Craftsmanship:

• The image looks finished and professional.
• There are no stray anchor points, reversed handlebars, awkward curves, too many anchor points and the anchor points are not placed in awkward places.
• The shapes are all closed and there are no unintentional “loose ends.”
• If there is a stroke, it looks professional is implemented well as part of the illustration.
• Any gradients are subtle and not distracting.
• The layers, groups and masks are organized well and named logically. The file could be used by another designer with no confusion.
• The document color mode is appropriate for the intended output (CMYK for print & RGB for screens)
• Fonts are outlined

Design, Typography and Color rules are implemented well.

Student Examples

Each project has at least one Pinterest board associated with it. Pins on those boards with “by student” in the description will link to that student’s write-up of their project.

Professional Examples

Please take a moment to look at these examples.

• Asun Asyar (great example!)
• Creature Box (good example of showing the process, I’d like to see a little more narrative written than they do here)
• Krolik (great example of progression through the idea)

A note on photographing sketches:

There are a lot of different ways to do this. There are no “right” ways, as long as it looks good, you’re good to go. One very interesting way to do it though is to show the tools and surroundings with your sketchbook. The idea is to show that it was done on paper first. People really value traditional work, even if the end result is digital. Take a look at these examples (these are not good write-ups, just a good examples of interesting ways to photograph your sketches)

• Various Work (showing tools and surroundings)
• Never let go (close up with torn edges)
• icons collection (showing tools, surroundings, and close-ups)

Remember, each person’s write up or case study will be different, but they all should have a narrative of the process and at minimum, have the following:

The final image should be a professional quality polished image presented in the best light possible. The write up should tell the story of the creation of the image and give us a glimpse into your process. We should be able to see the concept develop throughout the narrative. At a minimum, the write-up will include:

• a description of your concept and objectives
• an image showing your sketches
• a few lines about your sketching process and your thoughts/reasons/development/etc in the sketches shown.
• an image of your vector draft(s)
• a few lines describing how you incorporated the feedback you received
• your final image
• a few lines defending how your image meets the objectives

Consider this write-up an exercise in professional communication. Feel free to let your personality show through, but put your best foot forward in your writing. Often, process write-ups posted to your blog and tagged correctly will be the catalysts to launch new client and employer relationships. Don’t let poor writing kill a relationship before it starts.

Types of Sketching

The following process will help you sketch in a creative and systematic way to generate ideas and good composition.

Submitting to Dropboxes in iLearn

PDFs: Creating Multiple Page PDFs

NOTE: illustrator will export artboards as pages in the PDF in the order that they are listed in the artboard panel.