Affinity Designer Course Project-based Learning Experience

Learn the essential tools of the designer persona, master shortcuts and workspace navigation, organize layers with color and opacity, and prepare for project-based learning and an iPad version.

Explore creating shapes in Affinity Designer, including rectangles and circles, applying rounded corners, converting to curves to edit points, and performing boolean operations—unite, subtract, intersect, and divide—to form complex shapes.

Master smart shapes in Affinity Designer by adjusting orange control points and the top property box to control points, sides, and curves, align and edit shapes like triangles, stars, moon.

practice merging shapes in Affinity Designer by subtracting, duplicating, rotating, and rounding corners to create new shapes—from triangles and circles to stars and a smiley.

Explore the knife tool in version two to cut vector shapes, dividing them into pieces by drawing a line that exits the shape; tweak with the node tool as needed.

Master the pen tool and node tool to create, close, and fill custom shapes with curves and color, employing control points and premade shapes for efficiency.

Practice pen tool techniques in Affinity Designer by creating straight and curved lines with nodes, adjusting points, and using the option key to move control points separately.

Explore layers and effects in affinity designer, applying blur, shadows, outer and inner glow, 3d, gradients, and color overlays, while organizing, duplicating, and masking shapes to build complex designs.

Create and organize shapes and layer styles in Affinity Designer by building buttons, applying layered effects, and copying styles to other shapes with paste style, while managing palettes and categories.

Learn to use the artistic text tool to create headlines, adjust font size, apply bold, italic, and color, place text inside shapes, and create reflections with gradients.

Explore the pen tool and pencil tool in Affinity Designer, comparing control points, stabilization, and tablet use, then learn how vector brushes add texture without losing shape integrity.

Discover how the vector flood fill bucket tool in Affinity Designer version 2.1 creates vector shapes by filling enclosed areas, with edits via the node tool and geometry panel.

Explore the shape builder tool in Affinity Designer version two to unite or erase shapes using plus and minus modes, power duplicate (Command J), and create flexible vector shapes.

Master the core tools of the designer persona, use shape tools to fit and match shapes, apply smart controls on shapes like stars, and prepare for the pixel persona chapter.

Explore pixel persona in Affinity Designer to edit pixel-based graphics, erase backgrounds, and add photo-like textures within the software for richer vector illustrations.

Learn to isolate photo areas in the pixel persona using rectangle, round, and lasso selections (magnetic and standard), quick selection, refine edges, invert selections, and apply masks.

Master selection and masking in Affinity Designer by cutting out a model from stock photos and swapping in a background. Refine edges with quick and magic selection tools, masks.

Master masking layers in affinity designer by using black and white masks to hide or reveal photo areas with non-destructive edits, brushes, and gradient transparency.

Explore pixel brushes and texturing in Affinity Designer by building simple vector illustrations, applying textures, gradients, and shadows, and mastering masking and layer organization.

Create a custom brush from a selection in Affinity Designer, convert shapes to a dynamic, random, confetti-like brush with gradient colors, and apply it with shadows.

Master pixel persona in affinity designer to edit photos and textures with select, modify, erase, and mask tools, then complete a quiz and move to the iPad designer chapter.

Explore Affinity Designer for iPad OS as a full-featured iPad version with identical tools and Apple Pencil support. Learn gestures and shortcuts to move projects between iPad and desktop.

Master iPad design with touch input, pinch to zoom, two-finger zoom, and extra-finger tool alterations; undo/redo with two or three fingers, manage shapes, panels, and canvas rotation.

Explore shapes and boolean operations in Affinity Designer, uniting, subtracting, intersecting, and dividing shapes, with desktop parity on iPad and touch input using Apple Pencil or finger.

Explore transformation in Affinity Designer using finger gestures and the transformation box to resize, rotate, and move shapes, then group layers and duplicate for efficient composition.

Master the pen tool for vector shapes by placing points, adjusting nodes, deleting extras, rotating, and refining with one-finger edits and pinch-to-zoom on iPad and desktop.

Explore pencil, pen, and brush tools in affinity designer, comparing natural pencil drawing with automatic points to precise point control, and using brush for live effects and pressure sensitivity.

Learn to create a vector-based illustration in Affinity Designer, then apply pixel brush textures, masks, and blending modes to add depth and a spotlight finish.

Discover vector design with Affinity Designer on iPad, using touch gestures and Apple Pencil, while following a project-based learning track with guidance for desktop and iPad input methods.

Join this project-based warm-up in Affinity Designer to craft a night-sky wallpaper by modeling stars and a moon, applying textures, glow, and blending modes.

Design a simple typographic logo for a universal brand named Dora, exploring three concepts in Affinity Designer, using free fonts, converting text to curves, adjusting shapes, and exporting final files.

Students explore creating typographic logo options, iterating on client feedback, duplicating artboards, experimenting with color and medieval-inspired gate motifs, and exporting a two-page PDF for client review.

Finalize a typographic logo in Affinity Designer by adjusting strokes and colors, creating monochrome and negative versions, and preparing slices and vectors for client export.

Create a small set of digital stickers through a project that blends shapes, text, and emojis, adjusting color, rounding corners, rotation, and stroke for polished visuals.

Finish creating digital stickers in Affinity Designer by duplicating shapes, applying contour outlines, shadows, and gradients, grouping elements, and exporting slices with a transparent background for notes app export.

Create a two-sided business card in Affinity Designer, set up front and back in one document, apply gradient and bleeds, add Font Awesome icons, and prepare a printable pdf.

Finish the business card by updating the background to white, applying a navy color, and adding a vector qr code; export a print-ready two-page pdf at 300 dpi with bleed.

Design an icon set by building a 128-pixel icon square on a 1280 by 256 canvas, shaping a folder and a play button, and prepare ten icons with wide-stroke versions.

Learn to set up global colors and recolor icons with color swatches, using color picker to create light and dark accents, then refine shapes and export all icons as Fijis.

Finish six icons by combining circles into shapes, creating outlines, and applying global colors; use unite, subtract, and pen tools to craft clean, two-version icons, then export slices.

Design a vintage badge in Affinity Designer by building a barge-like emblem with circles, text, and a bold font, applying borders, subtractions, and control points to detail the logo.

Finish the vintage badge by downsizing and aligning elements, drawing a hammer with shapes, grouping layers, adding texture with pixel persona, mask, and export on a transparent background.

trace shapes from a photo with the pen tool, adjust points, and build a layered vector illustration with strokes, color organization, and later fill and polish.

Fill shapes with chosen colors, replace outline strokes with fills, and reorganize layers using shortcuts to manage visibility and order, duplicating the backdrop for comparison.

Continue vector illustration by refining shapes, expanding swatches, and recoloring with the color picker and global colors. Duplicate shapes to create shadows, organize layers, and prepare for texturing.

Finish a vector illustration by applying texture to individual shapes using brushes, masking, and blending modes (soft light, multiply, overlay), refining background and shadows for a cohesive final image.

Set up a full-size document with margins and bleeds, then craft a printable retro poster using rectangles, color contrast, and shapes for an ice cream theme.

design a retro ice cream poster by building shapes, textures, and gradients, duplicating and grouping elements, masking with shapes, selecting retro fonts, and adjusting for print size.

Resize the poster canvas to 1080 by 1080 pixels, duplicate and arrange elements, adjust strokes and blending, and export the JPEG for an Instagram post.

Export persona streamlines exporting multiple files in different formats and sizes by using slices and groups, presets for retina display and vector outputs, and one-click export.

Celebrate finishing the project-based learning experience, complete all projects, and practice the affinity design tools to gain practical knowledge; check the bonus chapter for Affinity Publisher updates.

Explore Affinity Photo as a Photoshop alternative, using adjustment presets, layers, selection tools, and content-aware editing to enhance and retouch images.

Learn Affinity Publisher as a desktop publishing tool for multi-page documents, linking text frames for fluid text, using master pages, and integrating stock photos with designer and photo personas.