Session One
Introduction to Teaching Graphic Design with Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is an industry-leading graphics and illustration tool that you can use to quickly and easily create professional quality digital graphics for the classroom and beyond. Adobe Illustrator is vector based, so your artwork stays crisp even when you scale it up to stadium size.
Graphic Design
Graphic Design is all about communicating ideas through visual content, imagery, symbols and text. We immediately think of posters, magazines and business cards, but today the reach of graphic content and the importance of design covers all areas of human activity.
Graphic Design is not only a prominent part of our culture, but also a key medium for sharing information visually, telling digital stories and engaging an audience. Once you’ve mastered the basic principles of graphics and illustration, the possibilities for creativity are endless - both in the classroom and beyond.
Watch this video to find out more how graphic design uses words and images to convey a message:
Explaining Vectors
Next we need to know a little about the difference between vector images and bitmap images.
With bitmap (or 'raster') images like the photographs taken with a digital camera, you can only scale up to a certain size before the individual pixels become visible and the image starts to lose quality. Vector images, conversely, can be made as large as you like, as they're not composed of pixels but are rather a set of instructions for drawing the image.
Vector graphics are sometimes called Object Oriented Graphics, because every elements is made independently without affecting the other parts of the image. Individual objects can also be duplicated and resized easily.
Vector graphics are used for graphic illustration as well as graphic and logo design. They’re not suited for detailed, painted or photographic imagery. Adobe Photoshop has some vector drawing tools, but Adobe Illustrator is the app designed for creating vector work.
See image left: See the difference between a raster image compared to a vector image.
Introduction to Infographics
In Session One, we'll be creating some simple infographics using Adobe Illustrator. Infographics are a fantastic medium for visually explaining information and telling digital stories - It’s not only an engaging and fun way to tell data-based stories, but also an excellent way to involve students in research, data analysis, graphic design and creative problem solving. Adobe Illustrator is a powerful tool that you can use to create and edit professional quality infographics for the classroom and beyond.
In simple terms, an Infographic can be described as a visual representation of information or data that makes a point or tells a story. Illustrations, symbols, maps, diagrams and verbal language are all used to communicate information in a simple and easily digestible way. Common examples of infographics range from scientific illustrations of the body to route maps of underground trains
Journalists, educators and scientists have historically used infographics to explain complex information and tell stories. Below is what is thought to be one of the earliest ‘modern’ infographic examples, created by Florence Nightingale in 1858 to highlight the true causes of death in the Crimean War.
Session One Assignments
Assignment 1: Creating Infographics with Adobe Illustrator
Using Adobe Illustrator, create a simple infographic on a topic of your choice. In the live online session we'll demonstrate the tools and techniques you need to know to create your own infographic using Adobe Illustrator.
Teaching Graphics Session One Live Recording:
You can find useful information in the Session One slide deck, and in the links below.
Assignment 2: Create my Adobe Express Learning Journal
You'll also need to create an Adobe Express Learning Journal. Visit adobe.com/express/ and login with your school or classroom account.
Now watch this short video on how to create an Adobe Express Learning Journal:
Find out below how to upload your finished assignment and Adobe Express Learning Journal to the Graphics Course Padlet.
Upload your assignment to the Graphics' Padlet
Click on the Graphics course Padlet link below, login and click on the plus button in the bottom right-hand corner to add the published link to your Adobe Express Learning Journal and your session one image you created using Adobe Illustrator:
Make sure you have completed the following tasks:
- I have completed Assignment 1: Adobe Illustrator project
- I have created Assignment 2: Create my Adobe Express Learning Journal
- I have added my Adobe Illustrator png image to my Adobe Express Learning Journal
- I have added a reflection of my learning to my Adobe Express Learning Journal
- I have published my Adobe Express Learning Journal and added the link to the Graphics Course Padlet
- You can also add your Adobe Illustrator project png or jpg image separately to the Graphics Course Padlet