Art: Graphic Design and Illustration
18 courses · Mt. San Antonio College · 2026-2027 Catalog
Classes: Fall 2026 · Winter 2027
ARTC 90 Digital Drawing for Commercial Art
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 36, Lab: 54
An entry-level digital drawing and design course tailored for aspiring commercial artists in entertainment, advertising, and visual media. This course emphasizes industry-relevant concept development, creative problem-solving, and production-ready illustration techniques. Students will develop foundational skills in digital sketching, composition, achromatic value, and color application while exploring volumetric construction within a commercial and client-driven context.
ARTC 100 Fundamentals of Graphic Design
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 36, Lab: 54
- Advisory
- ARTD 15A and ARTD 20
- Transfers to
- CSU
- C-ID
- ARTS 250
Fundamentals of graphic design for the commercial art industry. Technology, creativity, design, and production. Adobe Photoshop to produce effective commercial art.
ARTC 120 Print Design and Advertising
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 36, Lab: 54
- Prerequisite
- ARTC 100
- Corequisite
- ARTD 20 (may have been taken previously)
- Transfers to
- CSU
Theories, concepts, and skills for the design and layout of printed commercial art. Covers typical printed products including advertisements, flyers, brochures, posters, books, and catalogs. Focuses on using Adobe InDesign with additional exposure to Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.
ARTC 140 Vector Design and Illustration
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 36, Lab: 54
- Prerequisite
- ARTC 100
- Corequisite
- ARTD 20 (may have been taken previously)
Explore theories, concepts, and techniques for designing and illustrating vector-based commercial art. Design and develop vector illustration projects, including characters, packaging, product designs, posters, and infographics, using Adobe Illustrator as the primary tool for execution.
ARTC 160 Typography
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 36, Lab: 54
- Prerequisite
- ARTC 100
- Corequisite
- ARTD 20 (may have been taken previously)
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
Design and use of basic letterforms, type families, characteristics, history, and principles of typography in graphic design. Traditional and digital skills for the art of typeface design, typographic layout, expressive typography, and conceptual thinking.
ARTC 163 Dynamic Sketching
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 36, Lab: 54
- Transfers to
- CSU
Tools to conceptualize, communicate, and express creative ideas dynamically through the art of sketching. Emphasis on problem solving through the sketching process for illustrators, animators, entertainment designers, and fine artists. Off-campus meetings required.
ARTC 165 Illustration
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 27, Lab: 81
- Prerequisite
- ANIM 104 or ARTD 15A
- Transfers to
- CSU
Illustration using a variety of techniques and media with an emphasis on story, editorial, and advertising applications. Demonstrating the proper uses of illustrative rendering techniques in traditional drawing, painting media, and their integration to electronic media while using industry standard technology and software.
ARTC 167 Visual Development
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 27, Lab: 81
- Prerequisite
- ARTC 163 or (ANIM 101A and ARTD 16)
- Transfers to
- CSU
Conceptual designs focused on storytelling for video games, film, and animation. Students cannot receive credit for both ARTC 167 and ANIM 167.
ARTC 169 Contemporary Illustration
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 27, Lab: 81
- Prerequisite
- ARTC 165
- Advisory
- ANIM 101A
Development of visual concepts to create unique and provocative illustrations based on social, cultural, and political issues. Exploration of personal style and media with emphasis on contemporary art trends.
ARTC 200 UI/UX and Web Design
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 36, Lab: 54
- Prerequisite
- ARTC 100
- Corequisite
- ARTD 20 (may have been taken previously)
- Transfers to
- CSU
UI/UX theories, concepts, and skills for the design and production of apps and websites. Covers user interface (UI) design, user experience (UX) design, accessibility, wireframing, prototyping, interactivity, multi-media integration, hypertext markup language (HTML), and cascading style sheet (CSS).
ARTC 210 Corporate Identity and Branding
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 36, Lab: 54
- Prerequisite
- ARTC 140 and ARTC 160
Creative techniques, design theory, and process methods for developing effective logos, corporate identity systems, and brands.
ARTC 220 Creative Design and Compositing
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 36, Lab: 54
- Prerequisite
- ARTC 100 and ARTD 20
- Advisory
- ARTC 140
Advanced creative and compositing skills for graphic designers. Covers advanced photo editing and photo retouching techniques for the development of photo illustrations, editorial compositions, advertisements, and other commercial art.
ARTC 230 UI/UX and Application Interface Design
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 36, Lab: 54
Explore the principles, tools, and methodologies of user interface and user experience (UI/UX) design. Learn to develop wireframes, interactive prototypes, and design systems that support intuitive, accessible, and user-centered products. Apply design thinking and usability testing to iterate and improve interface design for a variety of platforms and devices.
ARTC 272 Motion Graphics, Compositing and Visual Effects
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 36, Lab: 54
- Prerequisite
- ARTC 100 or ANIM 100 or PHOT 9
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
Elements of motion graphics, motion art, and visual effects including design, animation, character art, typography, compositing, and editing in a production environment (i.e. TV, film, DVD, or web). Focuses on using Adobe After Effects and other industry standard software. ANIM 172 and ARTC 272 cannot both be taken for credit.
ARTC 286 Portfolio Preparation
- Units
- 2
- Hours
- Lab: 108
- Prerequisite
- Completion of the Graphic Design Level I Certificate N0487 plus at least 6 units from any Graphic Design - Level 2 program. The instructor will verify that the prerequisite has been met.
Review, critique, and improvement of portfolio pieces in preparation for the ARTC 290 - Portfolio class. ARTC 286 will be a portfolio review and improvement course. The instructor evaluates and critiques the student's projects (a minimum of ten potential portfolio pieces) to determine their portfolio readiness. Under the instructor's guidance, the student then works to improve the projects to meet the portfolio quality necessary to seek an entry-level job. At the end of the semester the student either meets or does not meet requirements.
ARTC 290 Portfolio
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture: 36, Lab: 54
- Prerequisite
- ARTC 286
- Transfers to
- CSU
Selection, preparation, and assembly of a portfolio, book, or package of works of art, including digital and multimedia formats, that represent individual interests and strengths of students from the visual arts disciplines for use in entering a four-year institution, professional art school, or professional field of choice. Also includes cover letter and resume preparation.
ARTC 298 Work Experience in Studio13
- Units
- 1-3
- Prerequisite
- ARTC 120 and ARTC 140 and ARTC 160 and Instructor approval and Compliance with Work Experience regulations as designated in the College Catalog
Work experience in graphic design, web design, media design, advertising design, illustration or other commercial art field in Mt. SAC's media design studio - Studio13. A minimum of 54 clock hours per semester is required for each unit of credit. It is recommended that the hours per week are equally distributed throughout the semester.
ARTC 299 Work Experience in Graphic Design
- Units
- 1-3
- Prerequisite
- Courses above in Graphic Design - Level I Certificate and Instructor approval required. Students must have completed at least one-third of the units for the related program or be concurrently enrolled in a class in a program related to the work experience course.
- Advisory
- ARTD 20 and ARTC 100 and ARTC 120 and ARTC 140 and ARTC 160 and PHOT 58
Work experience in graphic design, web design, media design, advertising design, illustration or other graphic design related field in an approved work site. A minimum of 54 hours of paid or unpaid work per unit is required. It is recommended that the hours per week are equally distributed throughout the semester.