Young Graphic Designers


Learn the fundamentals of communicating with words and images

© Charles AltschulThis two-week program is designed for high school students between the ages of 14 and 18.

In a world where information proliferates, the ability to effectively communicate through the combination of words and images is an increasingly important talent. In the first week of this two-week workshop for aspiring graphic designers, the traditional medium of letterpress printing is used to introduce students to typography, composition and design fundamentals. During the second week, students will continue their graphic design explorations using a variety of software on Apple Macintosh computers. Hands-on work will be interspersed with field trips to look at design examples and to collect imagery for projects.

About the Young Artists Program: Young Artists’ days are comprised of both classroom and field/location work: lectures and critique, demonstrations, shooting, editing, writing, computer workflow and/or darkroom work, depending on the workshop. All instructors are talented industry professionals as well as experienced educators, and each works with a teaching assistant, providing additional support for their class. The students are busy all day and into the mid-evening hours, attending presentations from visiting master faculty. All Young Artists reside at a nearby residence (a motel-style building, with four students to a room, gender specific, and private bath) located 3/4 of a mile from campus. The property is controlled by Maine Media Workshops and is used exclusively by students and their counselors. Students are shuttled to the main campus each morning for breakfast to begin their day, and are driven back at the end of the each day, following their last class or other scheduled activity. All meals are taken together. Parents can indicate any special dietary needs upon registration. Counselors supervise the students 24 hours a day, and help make group decisions about weekend activities like swimming, bowling, and hiking. Coin laundry facilities are available on campus. A lobster dinner is served (there are other choices) on the last Friday night of each workshop, and all Workshops students gather for an evening presentation of highlights from the week’s work. Parents are welcome to attend and meal tickets may be purchased in the Registration Office.

We recommend students have access to $150 over the two-week period for incidentals, snacks, movies, field trips etc.

Check-in is on Sunday, between 3 and 6 and departure is on Saturday morning.

Tuition Note: includes room and board

Instructors

Charles Altschul

Charles Altschul is the Director of the Design and Book Arts Program at Maine Media Workshops and College. From 2006 – 2011, he served as it's first President following it's transition to non-profit status. He Received a B.A. and M.F.A. from Yale where he also held a faculty appointment as Senior Lecturer. In 1991, he moved to Camden, Maine to become Director of Education at the Eastman Kodak Center for Creative Imaging. When Kodak sold the business in 1993, Altschul worked with several art schools, including the Cooper Union in New York, to help them integrate digital technologies into their curricula. In 1997, he created the nation’s first BFA program in Multimedia at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He was Chair of the 1996 American Center for Design conference, "Design for the Internet," and has judged international new media competitions for “Communication Arts” magazine and the Art Directors’ Club Annual. He is a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and has been a judge for the Webby Awards since 2000. Altschul’s work as an artist stems from contemporary as well as historical perspectives. His photographs have been exhibited widely and published in numerous publications. He has designed and published handcrafted books, most notably an illustrated folio signed by Nobel prizewinning author Samuel Beckett.