Achieving my Adobe Illustrator Certified Associate status.
Upon completion of my Masters in February, I took a short time to recover and then enrolled in the Cenit College: Graphic Design and Illustration using Adobe Illustrator course, provided by SOLAS. This online course uses video-based tutorials and online quizzes and assessments to tutor you in everything Illustrator. The course is broken into 3 sections with your progression to the next section governed by your success in the completion of the assignments submitted to your e-Tutors in Cenit.
The assignments were heavily based on research and sketching for the initial set with the final assignment being a refinement and completion of your previous work in Illustrator. Upon passing this assignment you are free to complete the closing phases of the video tutorials and enrol on the Adobe Certification exam for final approval.
Exercise 1
Assignment 1 was to research examples of the style of graphic you wished to create, catalogue and discuss your researched items and begin sketching your own proposals.
Exercise 2
Assignment 2 was concerned with researching and justifying colour choices as well as refining your concept for your design. As part of my submission, I undertook some further research into colour theory and the cultural meanings of colour that earned me extra marks.
Exercise 3
Exercise 3 was very much the completion of the process and final generation, in Illustrator, of your proposed graphics using the skills and techniques learned over the course of the video tutorials.
I scored highly in all my assignments achieving 100% grades on the first two and 85% on my final submission. My lack of a naming system for my layers and groups in my submitted .ai files let me down on points for file organisation and management which meant I missed out on the 100% grade and taught me a valuable lesson to pay more attention to the marking rubric, something I was always very careful about in college.
After receiving my portfolio grade I was free to rake to Adobe Certification Exam, an online exam completed in a certified test centre. I achieved 95% in this exam and I am now an Adobe Certified Associate in Illustrator until 2022.
