Graphic Design

This new online course will teach you all about Graphic Design. Build your skills, awareness and understanding of graphic design, and learn how it is applied commercially across a range of disciplines, ranging from marketing to publishing and beyond.

Do you want to know the difference between a TIFF and a GIF? If you want to know more about the online graphic design courses, whether you are looking for new career or if you work in a complementary profession, this is course for you. 

The tasks in this course will see you designing business collateral and other activities that will help you apply your newly learned skills and knowledge in real life.

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Scope and Nature of Graphic Design
   • Scope of Graphic Design
   • Where Do Designers Work?
   • Careers in Graphic Design
   • Skills Required
   • General Roles of a Graphic Designer
   • Nature of the Work
   • Art Director
   • Graphic Designer
   • Brief History of Graphic Design
   • The Language (Graphics Terminology)
   • Application Software
   • Examples of Software
2. Design Fundamentals - line, tone, colour, etc.
   • Design Elements
   • Design Criteria
   • Theories of Composition
   • Practical Devices of Composition
   • Gestalt Principles of Perception
   • Choosing Images
   • Choosing Computer Formats
3. Colour Theory and Applications
   • Colour Formats
   • Hex Colours
   • The Difference between Coloured and White Light
   • Differences in Colour
   • The Meaning of Colours - Emotional Response
4. Typography
   • How Much of an Impact?
   • Typography (Lettering) Size
   • Typography Weight
   • Typography Colour
   • Typography Location
   • Typography Styles
   • Choosing Fonts
5. Illustration - methods & techniques
   • Traditional Illustration
   • Illustration Today
   • Illustration - Methods & Techniques
   • Processing Images
   • Tonal Zone System
   • Sketching an Initial Design
   • Digital Illustration
   • Raster Graphics
   • Vector Graphics
6. Logotype Design
   • What Is A Logo?
   • Creating Logos
   • Designing Business Cards
   • Designing Letterheads
   • Designing Banners
7. Layout Design
   • Getting the Message Across
   • Effective Organisation
   • Attract Attention
   • General Guidelines
   • Key Elements & Principles of Layout
   • The Design Process
   • What Software Does A Graphic Artist Use?
8. Design Systems and the Design Industry - design briefs, how to bid for jobs, etc.
   • Significant Design Sectors
   • Primary Design Areas
   • Scope and Nature of the Graphic Design Industry Today
   • Design Systems
   • Designing to Persuade
   • Design to Inform
   • Design to Educate
   • Design to Entertain
   • What Is A Design Brief?
   • Example Layout of a Design Brief
   • Web Page Design
9. Comparative Design - lessons from other designers (lots of research)
   • Important People in The History Of Graphic Design
10. Design Project - a practical project applying everything prior to this.
    • Important People in the History Of Graphic Design
    • What Is PBL?
    • Problem Definition
    • People you work with and Mode of Interaction

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Design Tips When Putting together a Layout
Length of a line of text needs to be balanced according to size of the text. (Long lines are inappropriate for tiny lettering, but may be very appropriate for very large letters).Don’t clutter (increasing white space will make words and images more noticeable)Do not use borders, boxes, clip art excessively or inappropriately. These things can cause clutter and detract from the message of the artwork.Use less rather than more fonts.Use caps with the correct fonts (Some fonts are caps only!)Use one space between sentences rather than two (mostly)Do not over use centering, particularly with textUse ragged right or full justification (mostly)Avoid double hard returns after a paragraphUse proper punctuationReset software defaults (usually default settings are inappropriate when creating a design)Use rules of third and the golden mean to help with layoutsFonts have different weights light, normal, semi bold, bold, italic use these rather than a different font.

What do you know about Typography?
Typography involves the choosing and using of letters in the words you produce in your graphic design.
Typeface selection can be a very subjective and personal decision, that is easily affected by bias of a designer. A good designer needs to be able to adopt a perspective that is as far away from any sort of prejudice as possible; and choose typefaces that are most suited to the job at hand, and suitable for the client and the reader.

Consider the criteria you are applying?
Must be Legible (ie. The way individual letters look will determine how legible they are)Must be Readable (ie. The way different letters are arranged together will determine how readable they are)Must have appropriate impact (Letters can be legible and readable, and still not get noticed, dor example, bold, contrasting letters have more impact)