Saturday, July 5, 2008

Fall Classes Are Filling Up – Sign Up Now!!

Fall 08 registration is in full swing so if you haven't signed up for your GCOM classes yet, you better get on it soon. The most popular classes Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and InDesign, but there are some other great classes you may not know much about:

GCOM316, Intro to Page Layout using QuarkXPress 7
Quark is an excellent graphics layout program for both print design and web sites and has been an industry standard for nearly 20 years. It's not as well known as InDesign these days, but it is still used by many design professionals and SCC is the only school teaching it in Northern California.

GCOM319, Newspaper Design
This class works directly with journalism and photography students to learn about news media design for both printed newspapers and web sites. But it is also one of our most important  "real-world" experience classes because the students design and produce the campus newspaper The Express and the E-press web site every 2 weeks. It's a great chance to put your page layout skills to the test, work in a team atmosphere, and produce some excellent portfolio work—not to mention the boost a class like this gives your resume. (Note: this class includes both lecture and lab and is scheduled for Mon/ Wed, 1:30-4pm, but there is some flexibility and the time required can vary depending on the production schedule)

GCOM363, Advanced Creative Web Page Design using Adobe Flash
GCOM383, Interactive and Motion Design using Adobe Flash
If you've learned Dreamweaver and have an interest in more advanced Web sites and motion, Flash is the way to go. And if you've already taken 363, this Fall will be the first chance to take 383 in over 2 years. We don't offer this advanced course every year, so you don't want to miss it! Plus, both classes are taught by Flash Guru, Phuong Nguyen, considered by many local design firms to be the top Flash designer in all of Sacramento. (Note: regardless of the what the SCC catalog says, we are teaching Adobe Flash CS3, not Macromedia Flash)

GCOM420: Intro to Video Game Design
Our long awaited Game Design courses finally begin this Fall with the first class of the program. This will be an exciting and dynamic theory and concepting class that will lead to an intermediate and advanced class to be offer in later semesters. And it's already filling up, so get in quick.

GCOM490: Graphic Communication Studio
This is another one of our very unique and exciting "real-world" experience classes. This class doubles as the GC Club and operates like a working design studio where students work in teams on actual design projects for actual paying clients. This is one of the best opportunities in our curriculum for you to put your skill to the test and develop actual work for your portfolio. It will also look great on your resume! This class includes lecture and lab and meets 2 days a week—Tues/Thurs, 3-5pm.

If you have any questions about these, or any other GCOM classes, feel free to contact Don Button at buttond@scc.losrios.edu.