Graphic Design Course

ELIZABETH

LESSON PLAN – OUTLINE INTRODUCTION • Who am I / Role on the team • Course content GRAPHIC DESIGN THEORY • Explanation of basic design concepts • Information about how concepts are applicable EXAMPLES • Examples of relevant work created in Illustrator ILLUSTRATOR BASICS • Demonstration of Illustrator Tools WRAP UP / Q&A

GRAPHIC DESIGN – CONTENT COMPOSITION & LAYOUT • Arrangement of design elements DESIGN THEORY • Graphic Design principles ICONOGRAPHY • Simple visuals used to convey meaning TYPOGRAPHY • Arranging type in legible forms COLOUR THEORY • Colour combinations and mixing

VISUAL COMMUNICATION Graphic Design can be used to visually communicate ideas and information GRAPHIC DESIGN – VISUAL COMMUNICATION IMPORTANCE • Present ideas effectively • Easily understandable • Clear visually • Engaging and exciting content • Unified content • Visuals reinforce strong design ideas • Simplifies ideas to be readable

Composition is the arrangement of design elements that form a whole image GRAPHIC DESIGN – COMPOSITION SUCESSFUL COMPOSITION • Attracts the viewer • Guides their eye across the design GRID • Use a grid to align elements • Organizes elements of the design RULE OF THIRDS • Layout is divided equally using a grid • Focal points where lines intersect ELEMENTS OF COMPOSITION

COMPOSITION

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SYMMETRY

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GESTALT PRINCIPLES Process by which people simplify and organize visual elements into groups CLOSURE

The brain fills in the missing parts of a design or an image FIGURE / GROUND

Objects stand out in front or recede into the back

& ORDER

that are symmetrical are perceived as a group

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Elements that appear close together seem to be related CONTINUITY • The eye naturally follows elements on a line or a curve SIMILARITY

Visually grouping elements regardless of proximity

HIERARCHY Organization of elements by importance Used to influence perception TYPOGRAPHIC HIERARCHY • Fonts organize design • Various sizes, weights, spacing ALIGNMENT • Alignment directs the eyes • Dictates visual composition REPETITION • Unifies a composition • Repeated design elements GRAPHIC DESIGN – HIERARCHY SIZE & SCALE • Size impacts visibility • Users notice larger elements COLOUR & CONTRAST • Visually drawn to colour • High contrast stands out PROXIMITY • Suggests relationships • Close elements seem related

GRAPHIC DESIGN – BALANCE SYMMETRICAL (formal) • Evenly distributed visual weight • Creates stability and order ASYMMETRICAL (informal) • Imbalance of visual elements • Creates tension and movement RADIAL • Balance around a single point • Evenly spread visual elements CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC • Uniformly repeated visuals • Creates balanced chaos BALANCE Visual weight of elements in a composition Used to create cohesiveness

GRAPHIC DESIGN – CONTRAST SHAPE • Difference in shapes and forms • Attracts more attention to an area COLOUR • Complementary colours (high contrast) • Balance the right amount of contrast SIZE & SCALE • Eyes are drawn to larger shapes • Adds visual interest to a composition TYPE • Different fonts, colours, sizes and shapes • Creates variation and importance CONTRAST Difference between various elements Used to add visual interest and hierarchy

ICONOGRAPHY Visual images and symbols used to convey and communicate particular meanings GRAPHIC DESIGN – ICONOGRAPHY SIMPLICITY • Simple representation • Understandable, clear, legible FORM • Visually stable foundation • Simple geometric shapes VISUAL METAPHORS • Make connections between concepts • Consider visual associations CONSISTENCY • Keep uniformity in mind • Use similar styles to define icons Magnifying Glass = Search Person Silhouette = Account

GRAPHIC DESIGN – ICONOGRAPHY REFERENCE ILLUSTRATIVE Thor Icon SIMPLIFIED Thor’s Hammer Mjolnir Represents Thor ICON DESIGN Simple representation of a concept

Tracking set to 0 Tracking set to -50 Tracking set to 100 TYPOGRAPHY Arranging type to make legible forms Used to convey specific messages GRAPHIC DESIGN – TYPOGRAPHY SANS SERIF “Sans” means without Font without serifs SCRIPT Flowing, cursive stroke SLAB SERIF Thick, block-like serifs SERIF Small lines and hooks at the end of strokes KERNING • Space between letters in the same word LEADING • Space between two lines of text TRACKING • Adjustment of space for groups of text FONT TYPES

GRAPHIC DESIGN – COLOUR THEORY PRIMARY (Red, Yellow, Blue) SECONDARY (Green, Orange, Purple) TERTIARY (Blue-green, Red-violet) COMPLEMENTARY High Contrast ANALOGOUS Rich Monochromatic COLOUR WHEEL Tool for understanding important colour relationships and palettes TRIADIC Balance with Contrast

HUE Colour in its purest form SATURATION Intensity of a colour VALUE Relative lightness or darkness of a colour RGB COLOURS Additive mixing (brighter) GRAPHIC DESIGN – COLOUR THEORY Red, Green, Blue TVs, Screens, Cameras CMYK COLOURS Subtractive mixing (darker) Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (Black) Printing HIGH SATURATION • Vivid Hues • Pure intense colours LOW SATURATION • Pale Hues • Gray tones

WARM COLOURS Active colours • Appear to advance • Shades of red, orange, yellow • Stimulating COOL COLOURS Passive colours • Appear to recede • Shades of green, blue, purple • Relaxing GRAPHIC DESIGN – COLOUR THEORY REPRESENT: • Sunlight and Heat • Energy, Activity • Vibrancy, Intensity EMOTIONS: • Heightened Emotions • Playful, Happy, Excited • Stimulating, Passionate REPRESENT: • Ice, Snow, and Rain • Peace, Calm • Relaxation, Serenity EMOTIONS: • Relaxed Emotions • Calm, Harmony, Trust • Meditative, Subdued

KEY TAKEAWAYS Colours can evoke emotion, attract attention, and organize content GRAPHIC DESIGN – COLOUR THEORY COLOURS HAVE MEANING • Associated with specific things • Convey different emotions COLOURS UNIFY CONCEPTS • Can unify or separate concepts • Colour palettes can unify themes COLOURS DRAW ATTENTION • Can create visual interest and hierarchy • Use contrast or warm & cool to highlight COLOURS HAVE HARMONIES • Use a limited colour palette • Blend warm and cool colours

MAIN BENEFITS Software used for creating a variety of vector graphics and artwork ILLUSTRATOR – BENEFITS VECTOR ARTWORK • Graphics made of paths and anchors • Scalable without loss of quality MULTIPLE ARTBOARDS • Artboards act as different pages • Organize various design elements RECOLOURING ARTWORK • Experiment with different colours • Eyedropper maintains formatting SNAP TO PIXEL CAPABILITY • Accurately snaps to the nearest pixel • Art stays aligned even when moved

ILLUSTRATOR – INFORMATION NEW FILE • How to create a New file • Document Set up (Bleeds, CMYK) CONTROL PANEL • Window > Control LAYERS • New Layers / Organization • Locking / Selecting • Grouping ARTBOARDS SHOW GRID / SNAP TO • Pixel / Point / Grid PLACING IMAGES (cropping images) GROUPING / TOOLS ARRANGE – front/back • CTRL+SHIFT [ or ] (Send to back/front) • CTRL + [ or ] (Send backwards/forwards) COPY/PASTE & DUPLICATE • Paste in Place / ALT + Drag OPACITY (Transparency) STROKE (Path settings) EFFECTS: • Effects > Stylize • Drop Shadow / Outer Glow • Roughen / Extrude / Bevel EXPORT/ EXPORT AS • How to Export Finished Artwork

ILLUSTRATOR TOOLS – OVERVIEW SELECTION TOOL (V) DIRECT SELECTION TOOL (A) PEN TOOL (P) CURVATURE TOOL (SHIFT + ~) RECTANGLE TOOL (M) PAINTBRUSH TOOL (B) TYPE TOOL (T) ROTATE TOOL (R) ERASER TOOL (SHIFT+E) SHAPE BUILDER TOOL (SHIFT+M) GRADIENT TOOL (G) EYEDROPPER TOOL ( I ) WIDTH TOOL (SHIFT+W) BLEND TOOL (W) ARTBOARD TOOL (SHIFT+O) SMOOTH TOOL

SELECTION TOOLS – DETAILS SELECTION TOOL (V) Select objects and groups by clicking and dragging ADD OR REMOVE SELECTION • SHIFT + Click to deselect or add content ISOLATION MODE Focus on the selected content • Double-click for Isolation mode VIEW MODE To make content selection easier view outlines • View > Outlines or View > Preview SELECT SIMILAR CONTENT To select content that shares formatting • Select > Same > Attribute SELECT LAYERS • Select Layers or individual objects in layers panel DIRECT SELECTION TOOL (A) Select individual anchor points or path segments ADD OR REMOVE SELECTION • SHIFT + Click to deselect or add content LIVE CORNERS • Click on a shape then Click and drag on Live Corners to create rounded corners RIGHT-CLICK MENU GROUP SELECTION TOOL (Direct selection + ALT) Select an object within a group LASSO TOOL (Q) Select by dragging around an object

PEN & CURVATURE TOOLS – DETAILS

TOOL (P) Create and edit shapes, anchor points, and paths ADD OR REMOVE POINTS

Click artboard or on a path to add anchor point

Click on anchor point with pen tool to remove CLOSE PATH

Click on original anchor point to close path CREATE STRAIGHT LINES

Hold SHIFT + Click to create straight lines CREATE CURVES

Click and drag to create direction handles SPLIT HANDLES

Click while holding ALT to split the handle REPOSITION ANCHOR POINTS

Click with Direct Selection Tool (A) to reposition anchor points and handles

POINT TOOL (SHIFT+C) PEN TOOL RIGHT-CLICK MENU Select individual anchor points or path segments CREATE OR REMOVE HANDLES

Click and drag on an anchor point to create or remove handles

TOOL (SHIFT+ ~) Create paths and curves in an intuitive way ADD OR REMOVE POINTS

Click artboard or on a path to add anchor point

Click anchor point and press delete key

STRAIGHT LINES

Hold ALT + Click to draw straight lines

POINT OR SMOOTH CURVE

Double-click anchor to create corner point or smooth curve

PEN

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ANCHOR

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CURVATURE

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CREATE

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SHAPE & BRUSH TOOLS – DETAILS RECTANGLE TOOL (M) Draw Rectangles and Squares ELLIPSE TOOL (L) Draw Ellipses and Circles POLYGON TOOL Draw Polygon shapes CREATE A SQUARE • Hold SHIFT while dragging to create a square WIDTH AND HEIGHT • Click on artboard with shape selected to enter specific values for width and height RIGHT-CLICK MENU STAR TOOL Draw Star shapes LINE SEGMENT TOOL ( \ ) RECTANGLE TOOL RIGHT-CLICK MENU Draw one straight line segment at a time LENGTH AND ANGLE • Click on artboard with tool selected to enter specific values for length and angle PAINTBRUSH TOOL (B) Create free-form paths with a hand-drawn feel BRUSH SIZE • Hold [ or ] to increase or decrease brush size • Bring up control panel Windows > Control TOOL OPTIONS • Double-click on brush tool to change settings (Fidelity, smoothness, fill new brush strokes) BRUSH LIBRARY • Change brushes to create stylized paths

BLOB BRUSH TOOL (SHIFT+B) PAINTBRUSH TOOL RIGHT-CLICK MENU Draw strokes that are expanded into shapes BRUSH & TYPE TOOLS – DETAILS TOOL OPTIONS • Double-click on Blob Brush to change settings PENCIL TOOL (N) PAINTBRUSH TOOL RIGHT-CLICK MENU Draw to create free-form shapes and lines CREATE STRAIGHT LINES • Hold SHIFT + Click to create straight lines COMBINE PATHS • Select two paths and draw from anchor points to create a path between them RESHAPE PATHS • With paths selected draw across to reshape path TYPE TOOL (T) Type out lines of text TYPE OPTIONS • Window > Type > Character for type options CREATE TEXT IN A SHAPE • With shape selected drag text box over it CREATE OUTLINES • Type > Create Outlines converts the text to editable paths with anchor points RIGHT-CLICK MENU TYPE ON A PATH TOOL Create type along a path VERTICAL TYPE TOOL Create type with a vertical orientation

TOOLS – DETAILS ROTATATE TOOL (R) Rotate objects using a reference point REFERENCE POINT • ALT + Click to determine reference point to rotate around INCREMENTAL ROTATION • Hold SHIFT and drag to rotate in increments RIGHT-CLICK MENU SCALE TOOL (S) Scale objects using a reference point REFLECT TOOL (O) Reflect objects using a reference point SHEAR TOOL Slant or skew objects along an axis TRANFORM METHODS Additional Methods to Transform Objects SELECTION TOOL (V) • Click on an object and adjust the shape using the bounding box • Click and drag on the rotation widgets (near the corners of the bounding box) • Hold SHIFT and drag to scale uniformly TRANSFORM OPTIONS • With object selected Object > Transform (Move, rotate, scale, reflect, shear) • With object selected right-click to bring up options menu Transform (Move, rotate, scale, reflect, shear)

TRANSFORM

ERASER & MERGE TOOLS – DETAILS ERASER TOOL (SHIFT+E) Erase portions of artwork ISOLATION MODE • Erase specific object in isolation mode ERASE USING STRAIGHT LINES • Hold SHIFT + Click to erase using straight lines ERASER SIZE • Hold [ or ] to increase or decrease eraser size RIGHT-CLICK MENU SHAPE BUILDER TOOL (SHIFT+M) Merge or subtract multiple shapes MERGE SHAPES • Select objects then drag through them to merge SUBTRACT SHAPES • Select objects and Hold ALT + drag to subtract SCISSORS TOOL (C) Split paths into different segments PATHFINDER TOOL Combine objects into new shapes PATHFINDER MENU • Window > Pathfinder Unite Minus Front Intersect Exclude • UNITE – Adds the component to the shape • MINUS FRONT – Cuts the area out of the shape • INTERSECT – Clips component like a mask • EXCLUDE – Component inverts the geometry SPLIT A PATH • Click points along the path to create a split

GRADIENT & EYEDROPPER TOOLS – DETAILS GRADIENT TOOL (G) Create a graduated blend of two or more colours GRADIENT OPTIONS • Window > Gradient GRADIENT TYPES Three types of gradients with different effects • LINEAR – Blend colours in a straight line • RADIAL – Blend colours in a circular pattern • FREEFORM – Blend colour using points or lines PREDEFINED GRADIENT • Open Swatch Library > Gradients RIGHT-CLICK MENU EYEDROPPER TOOL ( I ) Copy the appearance attributes of objects SAMPLE ATTRIBUTES • Click on an object to sample its attributes and then apply them to the selected object MESH TOOL (U) Multiple lines which allow colour blend WIDTH TOOL (SHIFT+W) Adjust and modify the width of stroke ADJUST STROKE • Click and hold any point along the stroke path • Use the width points to expand or contract • Stroke ends can be pulled to make points WIDTH PROFILES • Save width profiles as stroke presets • Stroke window > Add to profiles

GRADIENT & EYEDROPPER TOOLS – DETAILS BLEND TOOL (W) Blend evenly between two objects BLEND OBJECTS • Object > Blend > Make • Blend in sequential order click on objects • Click an anchor point to blend towards it • Select path endpoints to blend open paths BLEND OPTIONS Multiple blend options for an existing blend • Object > Blend > Blend Options • SPACING – Determines how many steps • SMOOTH COLOUR – Auto-calculate steps • SPECIFIED STEPS – Number of steps in between • SPECIFIED DISTANCE – Distance between steps • ORIENTATION – Orientation of blended objects • ALIGN TO PAGE – Perpendicular to x-axis • ALIGN TO PATH – Perpendicular to the path ARTBOARD TOOL (SHIFT + O) Create different Artboard pages CREATE ARTBOARDS • Click and drag to create an Artboard • Duplicate an Artboard using ALT + Drag ORGANIZE ARTBOARDS • Drag with the tool to rearrange Artboards • Use the properties panel to organize Artboards SMOOTH TOOL Control the amount of smoothness in an object SMOOTH OBJECTS • Click and drag to smooth out uneven shapes • Draw over paths to smooth them out • Smooth entire paths or portions of a path