OVERVIEW
Foundation Elective courses are offered by the upper division programs within the College. Introductory courses in each of the major areas of undergraduate emphasis at Otis provide Foundation students access to upper division faculty, opportunities to bridge Foundation core studies with their intended area of emphasis, and specialized skills and information supportive of the transition into a chosen major. Foundation Electives are designed and taught by upper division faculty within each area. The 1 credit courses are 3 hour workshops, in which no homework is assigned.

ELECTIVE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Note: Second semester studio elective offerings may change. 

FNDT 145   Communication Arts:  Design Solutions   1 credit
Graphic designers and advertising designers have fun with creative ideas in visual communications that use image and type, form and color, function and emotion to create clear, engaging and enticing visual messages. In a dynamic process students learn to be open, responsive and flexible in a lively studio setting. A design process that is original, creative and satisfying for a young designer creates successful solutions that could answer real problems. Taught by Communication Arts faculty.

FNDT 145   Communication Arts:  Illustration   1 credit
Figure illustrators explore visual language and narrative skills through drawing, sketching, sequencing, researching, and observation for applications in entertainment illustration, animation, character development, concept illustration, publication and editorial illustration, advertising, and product illustration. Skills acquired in Foundation year are applied to finding, processing, and executing solutions that may result in such visual products as comic sequences, characters and short animations, and editorial illustrations. Taught by Communication Arts faculty.

FNDT 145   Digital Media:  Motion Graphics Essentials   1 credit
Life is movement. Art is life. A course for taking art and design to a different level by adding movement. An artist/designer is both a storyteller and a problem solver. In this class students refine skills through the use of today's most sophisticated, yet easy to learn tools in a course truly supportive of experimentation and risk-taking. Explore compositing through the use of software such as After Effects, Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Final Cut Pro. You will also use digital video, photography, and hand-made artwork for telling stories and creating moving designs. Taught by Digital Media faculty.

FNDT 145   Architecture/Landscape/Interiors:  Designing Space   1 credit
Design the spaces where we live, work, and play. This course will introduce the full scope of spatial design fields: architecture (buildings), landscape (spaces between buildings), and interiors (spaces within buildings). Students will visit significant architecture, landscapes, and interiors in and around Los Angeles while designing their own building and landscape proposal for an actual site. Taught by Architecture/Landscape/Interiors faculty.

FNDT 145   Fashion Design:  Model Drawing   1 credit
Students explore various methods of expressive model drawing involving the clothed fashion model and aspects of costuming. Technical facility in various drawing media will blend with a process of self-directed investigation within a studio environment that fosters experimentation and risk-taking. Both sections are taught by Fashion Design faculty, so students will learn more about the fashion design program and the career of a fashion designer.

FNDT 145   Fine Arts:  Painting Explorations   1 credit
A basic painting course introducing a variety of painting methods and materials, including color mixing, paletting, and paint application in oil and/or acrylic. Emphasis will be placed on use of opacity and transparency in painting, as well as on a variety of modes with special consideration given to figurative and non-objective work. Instruction will blend technical facility with the creative process within a studio environment supportive of risk-taking and the entertainment of possibilities.  Traditional and contemporary modes of pictorial representation and abstraction will be explored. Taught by Fine Arts faculty.

FNDT 145   Fine Arts:  Sculpture and New Genres   1 credit
An introduction to some of the fundamental skills employed in the fine art of sculpture: construction in wood and metal (using power tools and welding), and plaster and rubber mold-making.  Discussion will focus on how an artist’s vision can be realized in many different forms and contexts. Work will progress toward the mysterious new form, “new genres,” by exploring the use of time and space in site-specific art forms and video art.  Some projects may include collaboration, and students will have opportunities to make artworks in any or all of these media. Taught by Fine Arts faculty. 

FNDT 145   iProduct Design:  Product Design Workshop   1 credit
An introductory course focused on the process of designing consumer products for a variety of consumer markets. Students engage in market research, creative sessions to generate product ideas that fit a consumer or market, and develop what constitutes good product design by exploring the integration of aesthetics, functionality, and technology into their product design through concept sketches. Students will develop appreciation of exemplary mainstream product design through product styling, projects, and critiques. Taught by Interactive Product Design faculty.

FNDT 145   Toy Design:  Introduction to Toy Design   1 credit
An idea-driven workshop that introduces students to Adobe Photoshop as a primary tool for the manipulation of drawn and photographic images. Instruction will focus on Photoshop as a means of enhancing drawing skills in support of design activity and concept presentation. Students will learn specific Photoshop skills in preparation for further study within the Toy Design major. Project activity will provide opportunities for students to develop and present toy design concepts. Taught by Toy Design Faculty. 

FNDT 145   Paris Trip   1 credit
Students travel to Paris for a period of 10 days in March for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit museums, historic sites, and the great European city with Foundation faculty for on-site lectures and focused field study. Please note: Otis College of Art and Design reserves the right to cancel scheduled foreign travel based on international travel conditions and/or safety concerns.