Class:MFA Illustration 2026/Week 7

Last Week

• Review "tiny town" projects and your separation technique
• Photoshop animation techniques
• New assignment: tiny town animations

This Week

• Review animations
• InDesign Overview
• Generative Ai open discussion
• Brief overview of next week's assignment.

Notes

InDesign Basics for Illustrators

InDesign Basics

Welcome to the InDesign User Guide

Printing booklets & zines with the Print Booklet feature

Impose a document for booklet printing

YouTube Quick Tip: Using the Print Booklet Feature in Adobe InDesign

Printing 101 for Illustrators

On the front page of this wiki I have created a new reference page for you Printing (and Inkjet Paper) Best Practices

Printing Best Practices

Options for InkJet Printer Papers & ICC Profiles

Where to shop for InkJet Printer Papers in NYC

Video Notes

• Tiny Town Animation Assignment Rev 2 Review Part A
• Introduction and Basics of InDesign
• Overview and Prep for Next Week’s Printing Assignment

Assignment

Use the techniques reinforced in class over the past few weeks to create a new hand and/or digitally created illustration, composited, and colored composition.

• Compositions must be 6" x 6" and printed on 8.5" x 11" paper.
• Subject matter is should be a colorful illustration of a song. You will share the song that inspired you with the class.
• You should use a range of colors in this illustration. Do not stay monochromatic; add a complementary color or use a more significant part of the spectrum.
• Your illustration must contain 3 areas of 3 different primary or secondary colors!
• Should be a composite image, multiple colored drawing parts from paper or iPad assembled into one psd illustration

And Then:

• Your task is to also bring two printed copies of your composition.
• Find our use a high-quality printing paper (Epson, Ilford, Red River, Moab, etc...).
• Each print should be centered on 8.5" x 11" sheets of paper.
• Each print should have written notation on the front or back:
  • Paper Manufacturer / Paper Type
  • Printer Manufacturer / Model
  • Print settings if possible
• This is the ideal week to experiment with print settings, write em down!
  • Try different papers (matte, glossy, luster, bright, natural, warm, cool, and so on).
  • Try different printers
• One print should be your best attempt at a perfect exhibition print.
• The other can be more exploratory, must be two different types of paper.
• Both prints must have the printer's marks from the photoshop file linked below.

Note:

• No prints on cheap/standard printer paper. I will not accept them.
• No prints on paper smaller than 8.5" x 11".
• No prints without the printer marks and color bars below.

We created a Photoshop file containing square printer marks and color bars. In Photoshop, you can place your art in the center and print your files with the crop and color bars. LINK WILL BE ADDED!

Bring prints with you to class next week and upload your digital files to Google Drive:

• One layered photoshop file.
• Two fabulous prints with color bars (above).
• A link to your song in Apple Music, Spotify, etc...

Linework created as digital or analog, it's up to you.