LibGuides: Zero Textbook Cost: Art &amp; Design

Textbooks

Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals by Wayne Collins, Alex Hass, Ken Jeffery, Alan Martin, Roberto
Medeiros, and Steve Tomljanovic (2015): BCcampus.

This textbook addresses the many steps of creating and then producing physical, printed, or other imaged products that people interact with on a daily basis. It covers the concept that, while most modern graphic design is created on computers using design software, the ideas and concepts don’t stay on the computer. The ideas need to be completed in the computer software, then progress to an imaging (traditionally referred to as printing) process.

Digital Foundations by xtine burrough, Michael Mandiberg (2024): Open Oregon Educational Resources

Digital Foundations uses formal exercises of the Bauhaus to teach the Adobe Creative Suite. All students of digital design and production—whether learning in a classroom or on their own—need to understand the basic principles of design in order to implement them using current software. This revised edition updates Chapters 1-12 of the original text for use with Adobe Creative Cloud 2024 software.

Open Oregon Catalog

Line D - Organizational Skills Competency D-3: Read Drawings and Specifications by Camosun College (2020):
BCcampus.

Some of the most important documents used in the workplace are the technical drawings, diagrams, and schematics that specify how fabrication and construction tasks will be carried out, or describe the composition and assembly of equipment. One of the essential skills for anyone involved in a trade is the ability to correctly interpret drawings. If you are in a construction or fabrication industry, you will need to be able to examine a drawing, take information from it, and visualize the finished product.

BCcampus

Introduction to Computer Graphics by David Eck (2023): David Eck.

Introduction to Computer Graphics is a free, on-line textbook covering the fundamentals of computer graphics and computer graphics programming. This book is meant for use as a textbook in a one-semester course that would typically be taken by undergraduate computer science majors in their third or fourth year of college.

UMN Open Textbook Library (Version 1.3)
Online PDF (Version 1.4)
Hardcopy (Version 1.4)

Introduction to Design Equity by Kristine Miller (2018): University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing.

Why do affluent, liberal, and design-rich cities like Minneapolis have some of the biggest racial disparities in the country? How can designers help to create more equitable communities? Introduction to Design Equity, an open access book for students and professionals, maps design processes and products against equity research to highlight the pitfalls and potentials of design as a tool for building social justice.

The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web: A practical guide to web typography by Richard Rutter
(2018): Richard Rutter.

This book is a practical guide and companion reference to all aspects of typography on the web. It deftly combines implementation details with typographic theory, and is ideal for designers, developers and anyone else involved in the process of creating a website.

Book Homepage

Computer Graphics and Computer Animation: A Retrospective Overview by Wayne E. Carlson (2017): The Ohio State
University.

This book was developed in an attempt to maintain in one location the information and references that point to the many important historical developments of the short life of the computer graphics world as we know it.

Courses

Art Appreciation (Open Course Library)
This is an exploration of visual art forms and their cultural connections for the student with little experience in the visual arts. The course includes a brief study of art history and in depth studies of the elements, media, and methods used in creative process and thought.
Digital Typography (MIT OpenCourseWare)
This class introduces studies in the algorithmic manipulation of type as word, symbol, and form. Problems covered will include semantic filtering, inherently unstable letterforms, and spoken letters. The history and traditions of typography, and their entry into the digital age, will be studied. Weekly assignments using Java® will explore new ways of looking at and manipulating type.
The Elements of Drawing (Oxford University)
Stephen Farthing R.A. presents eight practical drawing classes using John Ruskin's teaching collections to explain the basic principles of drawing. This series accompanies 'The Elements of Drawing', a searchable and browsable online version of the teaching collection and catalogues assembled by John Ruskin for his Oxford drawing schools. For further information please visit http://ruskin.ashmolean.org/
Fundamentals of Computational Media Design (MIT OpenCourseWare)
This class covers the history of 20th century art and design from the perspective of the technologist. Methods for visual analysis, oral critique, and digital expression are introduced. Class projects this term use the OLPC XO (One Laptop Per Child) laptop, Csound and Python software.