Opinie
Description
This graphic design course will teach you advanced layout techniques and equip you with the skills you need to succeed in your graphic design career.
Whether it's a magazine spread, a subway poster, or even a Web page, nothing connects or communicates like a great layout. Layout design, the art of what goes where on a page or editorial spread, is a creative challenge for any graphic designer.
In this intensive 3-lesson graphic design course, you'll tackle advanced-level layout projects that push your design skills to the limit. You'll learn how to build strong foundations for your page design, explore creative applications for lines and shapes, and discover how to break the rules while maintaining the underlying structure of a page. Case studies will analyze carefully selected examples of layout designs considered to be classics of graphic print design. Course projects include a 4-page magazine spread, a book jacket design, and a calendar.
This graphic design course is geared to intermediate/advanced graphic design students looking to stretch out and add distinctive print designs to their portfolios. Principles learned in this class can be applied to any layout design, from print to packaging, the Web, and beyond.
Outline
LESSON 1 Structural Foundations Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, the basis of creative layout design is organization. Lesson One explores the structural foundations of layout design and how designers use grid systems to unite text, images, and other page elements within an overall visual communication. Case studies on A.M. Cassandre and Josef MYller-Brockmann explore how the masters constructed fluid desings on firm foundations. You'll learn h ow elements such as margins, markers, modules, and flow lines help to unify a page or spread. Then you'll examine applications for the common grid systems used by designers: manuscript grid, column grid, modular grid and hierarchical grid. In the exercise, you'll apply these concepts to the design of a 4-page magazine spread.
LESSON 2 Geometric Design Order is a necessary element in all design and a complement to creativity. Lesson Two explores creative applications for a geometrical approach to page composition. Classic proportional systems are explored, including such as the golden section, golden spiral, Fibonacci sequence, root 2 rectangle, and the rule of thirds. You'll also investigate how to use lines and shapes as graphic elements to create a sense of order. Lines, curves, circles, angles, bars and squares, and patterns are all explored as possible tools for structuring a layout. The lesson concludes with a discussion on the importance of balance, negative space, and strong focal points. In the exercise, you'll apply these principles to a book jacket design.
LESSON 3 Structure and Deconstruction Lesson Three looks at ways of moving beyond traditional layout structures and using a more intuitive, experimental approach. Unconventional structural approaches discussed will include contextual framing, page bleeds, layering, proximity, and hypnotic wandering. Type layout concepts discussed will include 3-D type, chunking, text columns, and the vexed question of legibility. Finally, you'll explore some Post-Modern layout techniques: freeform, surreal collage, 3D environments, fragmentation, graffiti, cutouts, overprinting, and conceptual design. In the final project, you'll select an avant-garde technique and apply it to a challenging calendar design project.
Additional Info
- Languages
- English
- Course Length
- 30.00 hours
- Duration of Access
Enrolled students have access to the class for six months. During this period, questions or assignments may be submitted at any time to the instructor. Each course lesson requires an average of 10 hours of study time.
- Instructor
This graphic design course is taught by Thom McKenna. Mr. McKenna is the Owner/Senior Creative Director of Flatiron Industries, a graphic design/multimedia firm based in the New York area. Thom has over 18 years experience in the graphic design industry, including multimedia and television work within the advertising, design and, publishing world. Thom earned a BA in Political Science at the University of Maryland. As Art Director of Emerging Markets, an international daily newspaper covering the major IMF/World Bank and Regional Bank meetings, Thom has published on-site in the following countries: Argentina, Bulgaria, China, Ivory Coast, England, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, The Philippines, Portugal, Russia, and Spain. Flatiron Industries recent clients include: AIG, Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, American College of Physicians, American Express, Berlitz International, Citibank, Computer Associates, JP Morgan Chase, J. Wiley & Sons, ING Bank, Morgan Stanley, Sports Illustrated, Thomson Financial, and The United Nations.
- Prerequisites/Audience
This graphic design course is designed for adult learners interested in building skills and portfolio for a design career. To take the course, students simply require a computer (PC or Mac), an Internet connection (56 Kbps modem or faster), and any required software. For courses with software requirements, computers must meet software manufacturers' system requirements.
- Requirements/Materials Included
To take this graphic design course you'll need Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Photoshop or equivalent programs, and basic experience in graphic design and the software packages needed for this course.
- Certification
1.5 CEU's
Sessions College is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). Certificate programs are accredited by the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools.