Graphic Design Essentials: With Adobe Software

by Joyce Walsh

Overview

Learning by doing is the best way to get to grips with new ideas, and graphic design is no different. Weaving together creative strategies and design principles with step-by-step Adobe software guidance, this unique book helps you to immediately put into practice the concepts as you're learning them so they become second nature.

Covering all the introductory topics a designer needs to know – from working with colour and layout, to editing images and designing apps – this fully updated edition of the hugely popular Graphic Design Essentials includes plenty of hands-on instruction and real-life examples to give you a thorough grounding in the fundamentals.

This new edition includes:

- Coverage of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign
- Examples of designs from the UK, US, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, China, the Middle East and Australia
- Smaller supporting activities alongside major project exercises
- New design formats, including apps and infographics
- Downloadable resources to use within the software instruction

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350075047
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/29/2020
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	968,144
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.72(h) x 0.46(d)

About the Author

Joyce Walsh is a Professor at Boston University, USA.

Table of Contents

Preface 6

1 Introduction 8

Graphic Design is Everywhere 10

Analyze Design 12

Design Analysis: Environmental Graphics 17

Introduction to Adobe Photoshop 18

Design + Software Skills 1: Photoshop Layers, Lasso, Image Adjustments 20

Major Points Summary 27

Software Skills Summary

Recommended Readings

2 The Elements of Design 28

Creating Powerful Designs 30

Design Analysis: Elements of Design 37

Color 38

Introduction to Adobe Illustrator 43

Design + Software Skills 2.1: Illustrator Drawing 47

Design + Software Skills 2.2: Photoshop Vector vs. Raster Images 52

Photoshop Filters 55

Design Analysis: Complementary Color Grids 56

Design + Software Skills 2.3: Illustrator Color and Drawing 57

Major Points Summary 62

Software Skills Summary

Recommended Readings

3 Typography 64

Identifying Typefaces and Making Hard Choices 66

Type Types: 67

Serif Style Categories

Beyond Serifs 74 Formats 78 Type Tips 69

Adobe Illustrator Type and Advanced Tools 78

Design + Software Skills 3.1: Illustrator Typography Tools 79

Design Project 1: Lyrical Layouts 84

Design + Software Skills 3.2: Illustrator Shape and Type on a Path 85

Design + Software Skills 3.3: Illustrator Pen and Fill a Shape with Type 89

Design + Software Skills 3.4: Illustrator Pen Tool, Curves, and Type on Paths 95

Design + Software Skills 3.5: Illustrator Vertical Type Tool and Convert Type to Shapes 98

Design Project 2: Slang Type 100

Design Project 3: Lyrical Layouts

Major Points Summary 101

Software Skills Summary

Recommended Readings

4 Images 102

Attracting an Audience 104

Illustration 105

Photography 108

Image Resolutions 110

File Formats 111

Acquiring Digital Images 111

Design + Software 118

Skills 4.1: Image Banks and Photoshop Good Crop, Bad Crop

Design + Software Skills 4.2: Photoshop Crop, Image Size and Resolution, Dodge and Burn 122

Design + Software Skills 4.3: Photoshop Image Adjustments, Selection Tools, Hue/Saturation 127

Major Points Summary 133

Software Skills Summary

Recommended Readings

5 Layouts 134

Capturing the Audience and Enhancing Communication 136

Path Layouts 136

Visual Hierarchy 139

Design Analysis: Path Layout 139

Introduction to Adobe InDesign 140

Design + Software Skills 5.1: InDesign Place Image and Path Layout 141

Design Project 4: Path Layout Advertisement 146

Gestalt Theory 147

Grid Layouts 148

Design + Software Skills 5.2: InDesign Grid Layout 154

Major Points Summary 159

Software Skills Summary

Recommended Readings

6 Logos 160

Simple but Complex 162

Types of Logos 164

Flexible Systems 169

Design Analysis: Logotypes 172

The Creative Process 173

Design + Software Skills 6: Illustrator Convert Type to Outlines, Redraw Letters, and Place Symbols 178

Design Project 5: Logo Design 186

Major Points Summary 187

Software Skills Summary

Recommended Readings

7 Visual Themes 188

Putting it all Together 190

Visual Hierarchy 193

Editorial Themes 194

Design Analysis: Album Cover Design 196

Design + Software Skills 7; InDesign Advanced Images, Type, and Layout 197

Design Project 6: Album Cover and Tour Poster Designs 206

Major Points Summary 209

Software Skills Summary

Recommended Readings

8 Appendix 210

Keyboard Shortcuts 212

Glossary 216

Credits 218

Color Connotations 220

Bibliography and Recommended Readings 221

Index 222

Acknowledgments 224