Workshop leader and photographer, Rick Etkin, returned this Fall to work with a motivated and energetic group of the 3rd year students. He gave a basic working and practical overview of lighting and photography techniques for the studio. The course plan offers the basics that a designer could use to light simple products and people for use in their layouts.

From left to right: Emma Sun, Atrin Yazdani-Biuki, Sofia Alvarenga Morales, Rick Etkin, Rachel Wong, Haluka Yagi, Sara Nguyen. Check out this story!

IDEA22 set out to explore the working environment and day-to-day tasks of two Vancouver based digital design businesses.

This group of second-year students is in the process of studying interaction design foundations. This course focuses on: UX storyboards/user empathy, landing page design, motion design, HTML & CSS, and CMS structures.

Check out some photos from the field trip!

Last November, the Bank of Canada released a new ten dollar bill into circulation, and in doing so, made history.

IDEA Grad 2020 was lucky enough to have the knowledge and experience of two key players in the Bank of Canada’s banknote redesign process, Martine Warren, Bank Note Design Specialist, Boyd Laanstra, Senior Analyst of Visual Content.

Check out some great student work!

Every October, artists all over the world take on the Inktober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the entire month.

We asked our first year students (IDEA Grad 2023) to send us their best dark and spooky Inktober illustrations. See some of their work below!

Shown above: Cruella—Black + white ink by Kathrin Teh.

Launch Conference 2019 is GDC BC’s annual career development conference for design students, graduates, educators, and employers.

Launch! is a two-day GDC/BC initiative aiming to help new and budding designers launch toward a successful design career. This event provides an unparalleled opportunity for attendees to learn new skills, connect with peers, receive guidance navigating their career path and inspire creative thinking.

The two-day event includes a tour of three design studios plus a tour of a local print shop, followed by an evening networking social, education fair, projects review and workshops.

Congratulations to Joyce Chan (IDEA Grad 2022) for gaining the RGD Honourable Mention for Print Design for her “The Great Gatsby” Book Cover Design.

The final project in the First Year Design Survey course is for students to design a shopping bag to represent a country, city or geographical location.

There was some extraordinary work created overall, showcasing both the students' design and illustration skills. Check out a few of the standout projects including ‘Istanbul’ (shown above) by Geraldine Yaris.

Visual artist, illustrator, and educator, Jeff Burgess mentors four IDEA School of Design students in his studio one day a week over the summer. The students participating this summer are Sophie Young, Aidan Zecchel, Alison Johnstone and Charise Wang. We visited his studio in the early weeks to capture some images of the work being created and interview the students. We hope you enjoy!

IDEA School of Design’s second-year Grad 2021 graphic design class @ideatwentyone recently spent an afternoon getting their hands dirty during a workshop at Vancouver’s Porchlight Press (@porchlightpress). It was amazing to see all the old machinery still in use. IDEA students study the history of printing and printing techniques in their first year Survey of Design class. It is these same presses—some of them over a hundred years old—that are still being used by letterpress studios today!

The team at Porchlight made us feel so welcome and provided us with such a great experience.

As a third year interactive design student Evelyn Chua was challenged to redesign a popular Vancouver food blog - in only four weeks. Her case study was very successful and caught the eye of a Medium publisher & popular UX/UI website Prototypr. 

Many claps to you, Evelyn!

Shanene Lau’s practicum last year turned into an internship and then a job as a Junior Designer. In this Grad Spotlight, Shanene shares her advice to art school students regarding “paralyzing fears”, making decisions and concludes “Remember that you already have everything you need, in here *points to heart*”. Catch up with Shanene!

This project was a collaboration between Communications 190 writing class and IDES 235 Illustration class. Comm 190 writers were paired with an IDES 235 illustrator to design an illustration that would visually introduce the story in a magazine. The results were impressive, and the students of both classes really enjoyed the collaborative development.

Shown above: How I Weave Reconciliation written by Cohen Isberg and illustrated by Aidan Zecchel.

Every year our 2nd-year students take on a project to help them understand the challenges of reconciliation in Canada. It is an opportunity to ask ourselves how we can become stronger allies for Canada’s Indigenous peoples. This year we kicked things off for IDEA21 with a visit from Squamish designer and workshop facilitator, Michelle Nahanee.

Twice a year we invite the public to our Open Studio Day, for an overview of the entire program and to show what makes it distinctive from other schools. Plus, it’s a chance to see where the action happens, and meet both faculty and current students. Mark the date: Saturday, November 3rd, 1 – 4 p.m.

We begin at 1 p.m. with a Keynote presentation, followed by studio tours, friendly portfolio reviews, and a drawing session. Shown above: Illustration by Alice Zeng (IDEA18), Junior Designer at If Communications.

First year IDEA School of Design student, Joyce Chan is really grateful to be in such a comprehensive program where she gets to learn about creative thinking, photography and life drawing in her first year. Being a first year student in Capilano University’s Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication is both a reward and a challenge for her.

Joyce has always been interested in photo manipulation shown above in her self portrait inspired by a quote by author Mark Manson. Read her story.

Second-year students at IDEA School of Design, Capilano University's Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication degree program, design, illustrate, print and sell Valentine's Day cards each year as a fundraiser for their third-year class field trip next year. The sale starts Thursday, January 31, 2019 in the library and cafeteria at Capilano University.

When she got the assignment to do a self-portrait (shown above), Annika McFarlane (IDEA22) created herself out of some of her most iconic pieces of clothing, and surrounded herself with pieces of the places that she often finds herself in. It took her about 5 hours to collect all of the objects, arrange them and shoot the portrait.

In this story, Annika reflects on her first term at IDEA School of Design and shares some of her work. She could not be more stoked to be spending the next 4 years at IDEA. Early applications for Fall 2019 close on Wednesday, January 23, 2019.

Study art and design in Vancouver! Capilano University’s Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication is a career-oriented program for the next generation of creative professionals, with concentrations in branding, illustration and interactive design.

Applicants must submit a portfolio and other documents through the online portal SlideRoom. Shown above: Herald One illustration by 1st year student, Jonathan Pachkowsky.

2nd year IDEA student Alison Johnstone shares her story illustrating for student press publication, Capilano Courier. Illustration shown above for Naked and Not Afraid: Woman is a Word in the October 24, 2018 issue written by columnist Scarlett Vanderwoodsen.

Season’s Greetings from IDEA School of Design at Capilano University! Early Applications for the Fall 2019 Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication close on Wednesday, January 23, 2019. Illustrated and animated Elf Christmas card by Sarah Haglund (IDEA21).