AP 2-D Art and Design
Build a 2-D portfolio — graphic design, photography, collage, painting — through a sustained investigation.
How this exam works. There is no exam day. You submit a digital portfolio: a Sustained Investigation of 15 images with written responses about your inquiry, plus 5 Selected Works with written justifications.
The vocabulary of technique and, more usefully, the scoring criteria. Students routinely lose points on the written responses by describing what they made instead of what they were investigating, and that is a fixable, learnable thing.
The portfolio itself, which is a year of studio practice. No study tool substitutes for making work, documenting it well, and revising it.
What to do instead. Photograph work properly as you go, keep a process journal from day one, and write the inquiry question down early — the written responses are far easier when the thinking already exists on paper.
Sustained Investigation
- From Broad Idea to a Guiding Inquiry13 min · 3 objectives
- Practice, Experimentation & Revision with 2-D Elements and Principles14 min · 3 objectives
- Documenting Process, the Written Evidence & Academic Integrity14 min · 3 objectives
- Generating & Researching Ideas: Sketchbook, Influence, Sources14 min · 3 objectives
- How an Inquiry Evolves: Decision Points & Dead Ends14 min · 3 objectives
- 2-D Materials & Techniques in Depth15 min · 3 objectives
- Photographing & Documenting 2-D Work14 min · 3 objectives
- Reading the SI Rubric & Managing a Year of Work15 min · 3 objectives
Selected Works
- Choosing 5 Works That Show Your 2-D Skills13 min · 3 objectives
- Materials, Processes, Ideas & Writing the Selected Works Responses14 min · 3 objectives
- What "Skill" Means in 2-D: Elements & Principles as Evidence15 min · 3 objectives
- Choosing & Sequencing the Five Works14 min · 3 objectives
- Writing the Responses, Showing Intent & Transformation14 min · 3 objectives