39 Graphics and Animation
Collections
Graphic Design Resources by Various (Various Open Licenses)
MERLOT (Multimedia Education Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) is an online repository and international consortium of higher education institutions, industry partners, professional organizations and individuals who work together to provide users of OER (Open Educational Resource) teaching and learning materials. The library holds more that 40,000 curated and rated items, The MERLOT Collection consists of tens of thousands of discipline-specific learning materials, learning exercises, and Content Builder webpages , together with associated comments, and bookmark collections, all intended to enhance the teaching experience of using a learning material
Courses
ART 323: Color Theory Course Pack by Marcelle Wiggins (CC BY).
This course covers studio problems in the use and understanding of color and its application to works of art, interior design and graphics, basics of color theory, and color interchange. It also includes image and composition as related to the use of color both functionally and creatively.
Digital Typography by MIT OpenCourseWare (CC-BY-NC-SA).
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.
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.
Software
Blender by various (GNU-CPL).
This software is a free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entire 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, video editing and 2D animation pipeline.
Textbooks
Computer Graphics and Computer Animation: A Retrospective Overview by Wayne E. Carlson (CC BY-NC-ND).
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. [Published in 2017 by Ohio State University.]
Digital Photography for Graphic Communications by Richard Adams; Reem El Asaleh; Art Seto; Jason Lisi; and Martin Habekost (CC BY).
The purpose of this book is to serve as a reference for a one-semester course in digital photography for graphic communications. Since digital cameras have mostly replaced colour scanners, graphic communicators need to capture images for use in magazines, catalogs, brochures, packages, signs, banners—all forms of printed materials—and also for eBooks, web sites, and apps. It is based on a 2009 print book by the authors that was called Digital Photography for Print and published by the Printing Industries of America (PIA) Press.
Foundations in Visual Media Production by Steve Covello (CC-BY-SA)
An introduction to the process of producing visual media including basic principles and processes — aesthetics, editing techniques, music selection, graphic animation, among other elements. [Published in 2020 by UNH college of Professional Studies.]
Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals from Graphic Communications Open Textbook Collective, British Columbia Institute of Technology (CC BY).
This textbook — written by a group of select experts with a focus on different aspects of the design process, from creation to production — 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. [Published in 2015 by BC Campus.]
This book serves as a general introduction to illustration for the college-level student. In this book, students will learn the basics of putting together illustrations for various purposes, professional aspects of the field, and consider assignments in botanical, poster, middle grade narrative, comic and picture book illustration, and illustration for self promotion. [Published by LibreTexts.]
Introduction to Computer Graphics by David J. Eck (CC-BY-NC-SA).
Introduction to Computer Graphics is a free, on-line textbook covering the fundamentals of computer graphics and computer graphics programming. [Published in 2016 by Open Textbook Library.]
Visual Communication by Steve Covello (CC-BY-NC-SA)
A general education textbook for the study of visual rhetoric provides a vocabulary to understand and communicate about graphic design, art, media studies, communications, and intellectual property law. [Published in 2019 by UNH college of Professional Studies.]
Websites
AIGA supports education throughout the arc of a designer’s career, including special programs for educators, a group critical to advancing the profession.
Art Babble compiled by the Indianapolis Museum of Art
ArtBabble is a website that showcases high quality art-related video content from more than 50 cultural institutions from around the world. It is an energetic place to learn for everybody who loves and has an interest in art and particularly for educators who can use it as a way to support their classroom activities. ArtBabble brings art content from different places and perspectives together, easily accessed and found.
Color Palettes & Color Schemes
Color Matters by Jill Morton (Website is copyright protected. May be accessed using educational rights.)
Color plays a vitally important role in the world in which we live. Color can sway thinking, change actions, and cause reactions. It can irritate or soothe your eyes, raise your blood pressure or suppress your appetite. When used in the right ways, color can even save on energy consumption. As a powerful form of communication, color is irreplaceable. Red means “stop” and green means “go.” Traffic lights send this universal message. Likewise, the colors used for a product, web site, business card, or logo cause powerful reactions. Color Matters!
Search the database of over 150,000 files on artists, art collectives, galleries, and museums held in our Art and Design and History and Culture libraries.
Metropolitan Museum of Art by the The Metropolitan Museum of Art ( licenses will vary)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art implemented a new policy known as Open Access, which makes images of artworks it believes to be in the public domain widely and freely available for unrestricted use, and at no cost, in accordance with the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation and the Terms and Conditions of this website. It also makes available data from the entire online collection―both works it believes to be in the public domain and those under copyright or other restrictions―including basic information such as title, artist, date, medium, and dimensions. This data is available to all in accordance with the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.
Workshops
Gif It Up – Create your own Gifs by Stephanie (Charlie) Farley (CC BY).
This workshop was created to provide an introduction to creating GIFs from openly licensed and public domain, museum, library, and archival materials. This workshop includes a series of guides to take anyone through the steps to create GIFs using images, videos, and materials from University of Edinburgh museum, library, and archival materials (or anywhere else that provides openly licensed content).
