9491 - Poster Design Studio

Delivery Options Classroom

Course Description

Posters are perhaps the most recognizable and celebrated graphic design format; they’re a powerful medium for public expression, a unique space for visual experimentation and design authorship, and a cultural form in dialogue with its own rich history. In this intensive studio course we’ll explore the poster format through a series of hands-on studio projects. You’ll approach posters as playgrounds for experimental form-making, as platforms for typographic messaging, and as large-scale visual systems.

Our activities will include lectures, demos, workshops, and group critiques. You’ll come away from this class with a working knowledge of the challenges and affordances of poster design, advanced-level experience with typography, image-making, composition, and visual systems, and a sense of the history and significance of posters across cultures.

Learner Outcomes

Following completion of this course, you should be able to:

Understand the unique visual and communicative possibilities of the poster format,
Identify what qualities make a poster successful,
Bring together type and image in experimental, unconventional, and impactful ways,
Deploy the formal strategies of visual communication—2d composition, visual systems, visual metaphor—to create effective and striking visual statements.

Notes

For RISD Students:

RISD Continuing Education (CE) credit is treated as transfer credit by RISD’s undergraduate degree programs. If approved, satisfactory completion of this Graphic Design course with a ‘C’ or better can count as 3 transfer credits toward non-major studio elective (NMSE) requirements. Complete the Transfer Credit Prior Approval for Major/Non-Major Credit form in etrieve before completing the online course registration.

Students from institutions other than RISD:

Students seeking academic credits are urged to contact their home institution to arrange prior approval before registering. Policies on transfer credit vary by institution and by program, and it is at the discretion of your home institution to determine what credits it will accept and how they might meet individual academic requirements. For additional information about RISD Summer Intensives and Transfer Credit Policies, visit our webpage.

Prerequisites

Students must be an adult age 18 or older to participate.

Instructors

Anther Kiley

Enroll Now - Select a section to enroll in

9491 - 001

Jun 24, 2026

Classroom

Campus: RISD Main Campus

Available

Jun 24, 2026 to Jul 23, 2026

Studio

9:00AM to 4:00PM

Jun 24, 2026 to Jul 22, 2026

Studio

9:00AM to 4:00PM

Jun 25, 2026 to Jul 23, 2026

Schedule and Location

View Details

70.0

RISD Main Campus

Classroom

Tuition credit (3 units)

$3,380.00

3% Service Fee

3 units

Jul 15, 2026

Jan 15, 2026 to Jun 18, 2026

Jun 22, 2026 to Jul 26, 2026

Necessary Supplies

Students are responsible for purchasing their own art supplies, equipment, software subscriptions, and/or books. For most classes, the cost is under $125 (estimate). A supply list will be available on the course site in Canvas at least 30 days prior to the first day of class.

Once you have received your enrollment confirmation and logged in to Canvas, navigate to Upcoming Courses on the left-hand side of your dashboard. Supplies will be listed on your course homepage under the supplies heading. Some or all of your course supplies are available at the RISD Store.

Section Notes

Students are expected to have a beginner-level proficiency of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator prior to enrolling in this course. Please visit the Adobe Photoshop website to check "minimum system requirements" for your computer before registering. Additionally, please visit the Adobe Illustrator website to check "minimum system requirements" for your computer before registering.