Course Name: Certificate in Graphic Design
Major Subject: Graphic Design & Digital Media Production
Course Category: Certificate
Department: School of Visual Arts
Duration & Structure: 4 Terms (1 Year). Classes are executed using a strict 1-to-1 workstation policy where each student operates a dedicated high-performance rendering terminal equipped with the modern Adobe Creative Cloud (CC) suite.
Tuition Fee: Ksh 36,000 per term
Detailed Course Outline/Structure:
1. Term 1: Visual Literacy, Typography Architecture & Vector Design
- Design Theory Foundations: Structural study of the fundamental elements of art and principles of design: balance, contrast, hierarchy, white space, proportion, and scale.
- Typography & Font Engineering: Anatomy of type, typeface classification (Serif vs. Sans-Serif), kerning protocols, tracking, leading, and pairing type for corporate commercial layouts.
- Advanced Vector Asset Creation: Complete workspace mastery of the pen tool, shape builder tool, pathfinder matrices, and custom gradient manipulation inside Adobe Illustrator CC.
- Color Theory & Space Management: Navigating the physics of color, psychology of branding palettes, and configuring technical file setups for CMYK print processing vs. RGB screen spaces.
2. Term 2: Pixel Manipulation, Digital Imaging & Composite Artistry
- Advanced Image Processing: Non-destructive image editing pipelines, RAW file correction, clipping paths, and complex hair/transparency selections inside Adobe Photoshop CC.
- Commercial Asset Composition: High-end image manipulation, texture mapping, matte painting, perspective adjustments, and digital brush customization.
- Frequency Separation & Retouching: Professional skin cleaning techniques, dodging and burning, and blemish removal for corporate marketing materials and commercial fashion collateral.
- Modern Web Optimization Output: Preparing design assets for digital interfaces, managing file asset compression without loss of detail, and exporting responsive SVG and web-ready formats.
3. Term 3: Multi-Page Editorial Layouts, Pre-Press & Print Infrastructure
- Editorial Architecture & Grids: Setting up master pages, grid alignments, paragraph style nesting, column tracking, and baseline alignment inside Adobe InDesign CC.
- Commercial Print Production Protocols: Configuring bleeding areas, slug settings, crop marks, margins, spot colors (Pantone Matching System), and handling multi-page impositions.
- Packaging Design & Dielines: Constructing 3D packaging designs, creating vector dielines for manufacturing cutters, folds, structural tabs, and physical product mockups.
- The Modern Illustrator-to-InDesign Workflow: Transitioning native assets seamlessly across the Adobe Creative Cloud environment to optimize printing outputs for commercial media houses.
4. Term 4: Brand Identity Strategy, Motion Graphics & BTEC Certification
- Corporate Brand Identity Blueprint: Constructing cohesive brand guidelines, unified logo symbols, corporate stationary, company profiles, and digital asset sheets for the corporate market.
- Introduction to Vector Motion Graphics: Creating dynamic animated typography, logo stingers, social media promotional layouts, and moving brand assets utilizing Adobe After Effects.
- The Creative Business Architecture: Building an elite digital show portfolio (Behance/Adobe Portfolio integration), client contract drafting, freelance billing lifecycles, and KECOBO copyright safety protocols.
- Vocational Evaluation Pipeline: Complete submission review of the student's personal commercial brand portfolio for final BTEC-certified exit accreditation.