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Graphic Arts and Design Practices

  

“Design is thinking made visual ” - Saul Bass

The graphic Arts & Design Practices Program offers two distinct pathways.

Illustration

The Illustration pathway emphasizes learning and skill development through core units in various areas of image making, visualization of ideas, illustration techniques, visual storytelling, visual narratives, bookmaking, book arts and editorial illustration.

Graphic Design

The Graphic Design pathway explores core units in typography, layout design, information design, publication design, digital publishing, branding marketing and communication design.


About the Program

As a Graphic Arts and Design Practices (GADP) student, you will be equipped to contribute meaningfully to the publishing industry across various mediums and languages. The course combines print-based and digital mediums to provide you with the technical and graphic skills necessary to create design and imaging solutions for the publishing and entertainment industry. Through this program, you will gain expertise in planning, creating, and producing work for various creative industries, including advertising, branding, digital, and print-based publishing. Embrace the opportunity to be a leader in the field and make your mark in the world of graphic arts and design.

The core content of the course focuses on:

  • Learning and skill development through core units in various areas of illustration, visual storytelling, graphic design, information design, and identity & marketing communication design, among others
  • Practical immersions through apprenticeships and work experience in the industry
  • Exploration of a variety of mediums and contexts that traverse the branding, publishing and imaging industries

 


A Book Layout Design, an Info Design and visuals of the Secure Himalaya Project Campaign

 

Vision

The Graphic Arts and Design Practices course at SMI aims to prepare its graduates to be creative contributors to this publishing industry, whether print-based or digital, whether in English or other Indian languages. The course emphasises blended learning of print-based and digital mediums to enable technically sound and graphically skilful design and imaging solutions for the publishing and entertainment industry.

Graphic Arts practice is rich, multi-disciplinary and exploratory as it is nested at the threshold of graphic design, visual arts, imaging and digital publishing. Students will gain expertise in planning, creating and producing work in various creative industries, from advertising and branding to digital and print-based publishing.

 

Sector

Media & Entertainment

The three years of this course align with levels 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the NSQF guidelines and create skilled practitioners for the above sectors.

NSQF, or National Skills Qualifications Framework, is a nationally integrated and competency-based education framework that allows individuals to achieve their desired competence level. In NSQF, qualifications are organized according to the levels based on skills, knowledge, and aptitude.

Key Elements Of National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF):

  • Skill proficiency promotion to create individuals with international equivalency
  • Multiple entries and exit provisions for students
  • Opportunities to help students become lifelong learners
  • Preparedness for the industry standard with the development of skills
  • A transparent mechanism for the growth of students

 


Field studies and interaction with experts

 

Course Structure

Mastery Learning with Guided Practice breaks down competences or skills into subskills, methods and techniques. Through targets taught through modelling and direct instruction followed by guided and independent practice, mastery of core competences and skills are achieved.

Work Related Learning is the co-design of opportunities/projects by industry based professionals or employers or other stakeholders on the one hand and faculty on the other. Guided and facilitated by mentors this space allows for future employers to participate in the learner’s journey.

Industry Linkages includes both exposure, orientation and direct interactive learning in real time contexts. This is towards specific jobs and roles, as well as work experience within each course’s respective industrial sector. Linkages between academic institutions and creative industries is inclusive of both economic and social benefits of innovation.

Fab. Ateliers builds on the values of thinking, modelling and making to challenging design contexts drawn from indigenous knowledge and / or tools from digital technology.

Public Labs are open spaces that foster DIY thinking along with citizen science and other initiatives to build a culture of learning that is self-initiated, independent and collaborative. Public Labs are open to all learners for purposes of self-study, learning, archiving and developing personal interests in technologies.

Bootcamps foster accelerated learning of concepts, skills and technologies that are directly linked to either employable, entrepreneurial or livelihood based skills. Working through immersion, with a focus on hands-on problem solving and peer learning rather than instruction.

Hackathons can range from competitions or events over days to half-day jams or a one day hack-fest. This format encourages brainstorming, pitching of concepts, working in teams and also planning projects as well as development of prototypes.



Pathways

Graphic Arts and Design Practices offers a choice of two pathways and students can choose any one pathway to pursue:

 

People


Enquiries





 

FAQs

Graphic Arts and Design Practices is nested at the threshold of graphic design, visual arts, imaging, motion graphics and digital publishing. This disciplinary practice emphasises blended learning of print-based and digital mediums to enable technically sound and graphically skilful design and imaging solutions for the publishing and entertainment industry. The course at Srishti is offered through two pathways- ‘Illustration’ and ‘Graphic Design’.

According to FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), the publishing industry in India is counted among the top seven publishing nations in the world. With an estimated market of INR 10,000 crores, India ranks third after the US and UK in English language publishing. The advancement in technology and India’s skilled manpower, makes the country a major outsourcing hub for print and pre-publishing services in the world, be it print or digital design, or editorial. The sector has tremendous potential, both in the domestic as well as the export markets.

Graphic Arts and Design Practices course focuses on developing skills and understanding of graphic design and imaging by combining learning from Visual Communication, Visual Arts, Animation, Illustration and Branding. The course structure caters to the print as well as web and screen-based design industries, animation and motion graphics. It facilitates this ability by encouraging:

  • focus area learning and skill development through core units in various areas of illustration, visual storytelling, graphic design, information design, and identity and marketing communication design among others.
  • practical immersions through industry exposure, apprenticeships and work experience.
  • exploration of a variety of mediums and contexts that traverse the branding, publishing and imaging industries.

If you are intrigued and attracted to visual forms of communication, have a passion for aesthetics and creativity and wish to hone your creativity and imagination to give form to your ideas, then this course is an avenue to build a creative and challenging career.

If you think visually, articulate ideas and have a talent for drawing or working with images, colour, letterforms and love to exercise your creativity and imagination in designing an effective and result-oriented communication, then one of these two pathways is a potential career path for you.

Please refer to the course prospectus to know about the learning units that will be taught in this course.

The course in Graphic Arts and Design Practices aims to prepare its graduates to be creative contributors to the publishing industry, either in print-based or digital, as illustrators or graphic designers.

The course is designed such that at the end of each of the 3 years, students acquire specific capabilities that enable them to choose to work as a professional within the capacity of their abilities. For example, at the end of first year, if a Graphic Design student wishes to take a break from the studies and work in an industry s/he will be capable of working at a design studio as a junior artist or visualizer. Similarly, after two years of study s/he will be employable as a junior designer, and after completing the course the graduate will be able to find employment as a designer/visualizer/illustrator in any of the following sectors: publishing industry, news and media companies, print and production houses, corporate design studios, NGOs, advertising agencies, digital marketing agencies or independent design studios.

The graduates of this course can be employed in organizations that seek, effective and result- oriented communication design skills. These skills are sought after for all types of business, entertainment industry, service sectors, agencies for social work, cultural institutes, publication, information and communication agencies, web and digital media platforms.

Please visit the two pathway webpages ‘Illustration’ and ‘Graphic Design to learn about the different employment opportunities after each year.

Both the pathways will prepare the learners to traverse print as well as digital media.

The ‘Illustration’ pathway emphasizes learning and skill development through core units in various areas of image making, visualization of ideas, illustration techniques, visual storytelling, visual narratives, book making, book arts and editorial illustration. If you choose this pathway you can pursue a career path in various creative industries to become an illustrator.

On the other hand, the ‘Graphic Design’ pathway emphasizes learning and skill development through core units in typography, layout design, information design, publication design, digital publishing, branding and marketing communication design among others. Focused exploration of a variety of mediums and contexts that traverse the advertising, publishing and imaging industries will be encouraged as you learn industry standard skillsets in Branding, Publication Design and Marketing Communication Design.

Graphic Design as a practice has changed over the years and continues to evolve with technological advancements. There is a shift from Graphic Design being used largely in fields of publishing to being applied more frequently in computer systems design and related services. The future of Graphic Design as a career will evolve into adapting new tools and techniques. Emerging areas of professional practice such as Digital Design, Digital Marketing, User Experience Design come across as career paths for the Graphic Designer of today, as the institutions and industry are using digital platforms to increase their presence on the screen. The role of the graphic designer is now moving toward combining multiple skill sets to create effective designs for websites, social media platforms and online publications. Graphic Design curriculum at Srishti is designed in cognisance of these new developments and includes learning to communicate ideas visually using print as well as digital mediums.

Fundamentals of elements of Visual Design are rooted in principles of Gestalt, which respond to principles of perception and cognition. These principles and elements remain relevant and valid even as the medium of expression evolves and progresses into augmented reality, and virtual reality. Designers will have more expressive ways of sharing their vision across new, technologically advanced mediums since Graphic design will continue further its dependence on technology to create interesting and compelling narratives and concepts.

“The future of illustration lies in finding new ways to visually evolve an idea to break new territory.” – Kate Sallai

In a competitive industrial scenario where even the smallest of margins could dictate future trends, the age of stock images and cliparts is meandering to an end and enterprises of varying scales are waking up to it. Brand Representation and Corporate Communication emerge as key ideas within the industrial landscape and illustration lies at the crux of it.

Building on its traditional industrial usage in fields such as medical illustration, botanical illustration and editorial illustration etc, the future of illustration is ever expanding its multi-hued horizon. Building on its traditional strength as a model of narration, Illustration is emerging not just as a marketing device to communicate brand image or visual narration, but also as an in-house communication tool that creatively innovates on notation, ideation and evolution of services provided by the industry.

The explosion of digital social media has produced rapidly evolving forms of Visual communication. The influx of technology in our daily lives and the introduction of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality opens up new vistas for the illustrator. The explosion of the App industry and easy access to digital media tools further accelerate the growing role of the illustrator.

The Illustration module in the Graphic Arts and Design Program focusses on both core and emerging profiles in the industry. In order to keep Pace with changing trends in the market, there is a part of the curriculum that is constantly evolving. While currently we focus on industrial output skills like visual merchandising, packaging illustration, illustration for events - in the time to come we add to this roster to synchronise our curriculum with more pertinent market demands.

Both these pathways require specialized training and competence building and therefore these are offered as two separate areas of learning. From the first year itself, you are required to choose your area of interest in either one of these two pathways. While there are some learning units that are common to both the pathways, you are not encouraged to change your pathway once chosen. All learning units for each of the pathways are defined and mandated.

 


View Eligibility for Admission, Fee Schedule & Other information for this Program >>