Training Resouces Abound

The PIAG website is the central place for all information on the SkillsUSA statewide grap

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hic communications and advertising design competitions. Even if you aren't sending students to state, take a look at the training resources available for both graphic communications and advertising design. There is a wealth of information for anyone interested in graphic communications. This site has been compiled with the input of numerous industry professionals and showcases the skills students need to know for a successful career in print. Some highlights include:

• Link to a free trial copy of CS4, the official software of SkillsUSA Georgia
• Link to training tutorials on CS3 and CS4
• Samples of past exams for both state and nationals

Check out the other resources available on PIAG's website and let us know what you find most valuable.

2008 SkillsUSA National Tests

If you are planning to participate in the 2009 SkillsUSA graphic communications competition, you'll want to take a look at the 2008 SkillsUSA National competition. This link is a 28 page PDF document and is a great study guide for the 2009 events. Bookmark the link above. The national technical committee for graphic communications is maintaining this blog and will post information on the national contest. We'll try to keep you posted here as well.

SkillsUSA Georgia Coming Soon

PIAG is planning for the 2009 SkillsUSA Georgia competitions. We hope to have the maximum entries in the graphic communications and advertising design competitions. If you are planning a regional competition and would like sample tests, please email me at srodman@piag.org.

The Printing and Imaging Association of Georgia (PIAG) is sponsoring the statewide competitions at the United States headquarters of global print manufacturer Heidelberg USA on April 17. In addition, we are hosting a full day training session with industry professionals for the student competitors to prepare for the competition. PIAG hosted this same program last year and our state graphic communications winner placed second in the national competition and has been invited to compete for a spot on the WorldSkills team!

As sponsors of the SkillsUSA Georgia statewide graphic communications and advertising design competitions, PIAG has assembled more than 25 industry professionals to assist in creating, administering, training and judging these competitions. In addition, we have partnered with AIGA, the professional design association to offer specific expertise in advertising design. Students are given intensive training prior to the competition on the latest equipment used within the industry today and access to professionals working daily on the equipment. After the competition, all contestants are given extensive feedback on their performance with specific suggestions for improvement.

PIAG is also offering assistance to teachers in preparing their students for the competition. On PIAG’s website under the About the Foundation section there are resources and information on the SkillsUSA competition including the equipment used, training videos on the equipment, copies of old contests for review, and a link to Graph Comm Net, a social network for industry and academia on educational issues including SkillsUSA.

Finally, The Trustees of the Printing and Imaging Association of Georgia Foundation have committed to offer scholarships to the winners of the statewide graphic communications and advertising design competitions. In addition, the Foundation will sponsor the winner and their advisor to attend the National SkillsUSA competition in Kansas City, MO.

Georgia teachers and students, we hope to see you in Atlanta on April 17. For industry, we'd love for you to participate in this great event. We are looking for sponsorships, prizes, gift bag donations and your expertise. Contact me at srodman@piag.org if you'd like to get involved in this great event.

National Student Design Competition Slated

To promote career opportunities within the graphic communications industry, the Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation (GAREF) is challenging students to create and produce a marketing product designed to appeal to the industry's future workforce.

Winning entries receive $2,000 plus a two-day, all-inclusive paid trip for the student(s) and instructor to attend PRINT 09 in Chicago, IL. There will be a winner in the secondary and post-secondary category. Second prize is $1,500 and third is $1,000. Deadline for entries is May 1, 2009.

To download more information and an entry form, go to www.gaerf.org. Questions? Call 703-264-7200 or email ecassidy@npes.org

More Adobe CS Exercises for Your Class

Image via WikipediaDigital Foundations: Introduction to Media Design with Adobe Creative Suite is a textbook that integrates the formal principles of the Bauhaus Basic Course into an introduction to digital media production with the Adobe Creative Suite.

If you'd like to view a working version of the book online for FREE (it includes exercises in all twenty chapters that have been tested and proven in the classroom.) Go to http://wiki.digital-foundations.net.

If you are an instructor interested in adopting the book in your course work, you can also request a review copy through this page.

Print Production Test Questions

A week from Saturday, Jan. 31, the Trade and Industry Educators of Georgia will meet in Newnan for the annual TIEGA conference. If you haven’t registered, go to www.tiega.org and do so today.

If you want to get more out of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat make sure you attend on the 31st. Claudia McCue will teach useful, productive skills in Creative Suite 3 that you can pass on to your students. While the session is devoted primarily to Creative Suite 3, you'll also see the cool new features in Creative Suite 4!

Claudia is the author of Real World Print Production (Peachpit Press, 2006), a contributor to InDesign magazine, Dynamic Graphics magazine, and HOW magazine, and a frequent presenter at industry conferences. She is the presenter for the video training series "Adobe CS3 Print Workflow" from Total Training. She is an Adobe Certified Instructor for Photoshop, Acrobat, and InDesign.

But wait! Just like the old Ronco commercials, there’s more. Paul Davis, former graphic communications instructor at DeKalb Tech has taken Claudia’s book Real World Print Production and created worksheet questions (could become a real test) for use with each chapter of the book. To view the worksheets click here.

Paul’s got a lot more items to share and will be hosting another FREE session for teachers on Friday, Jan. 30 from 12 – 4 pm at the CEC in Newnan. So come a little early for TIEGA and see what other goodies Paul has compiled. Paul’s session is not an official part of the TIEGA conference. If you’d like to attend his session, just email me at srodman@piag.org.

Online Pre-Press Training

Looking for extra training in pre-press? Have students that want to do more? Check out http://www.prepresstraining.com/. It's $150 per year for teachers and you can take the courses as many times as you want. There is also a liscencing option that will allow students to download per course for a less expensive fee. This site was recommended by Tim Captville, formerly with Semper International during our summer Camp T&I program at PIAG.

Check back to The Mentor soon, we'll have additional pre-press training materials and labs from our FREE teacher training session with Paul Davis soon.