Introduction to Graphic Design

Explore web research techniques for graphic design, grounding logos and branding in real examples, and practice evaluating corporate versus playful styles through logo iterations.

Learn how to import images into Photoshop, bring in a logo, create and arrange layers, and use the paint bucket to fill colors for effective image placement.

Learn to lay out images in Photoshop by tiling panels, using the navigator and window options, and adjusting orientation and document setup.

Discover essential graphic design tools by exploring the paint brush, paint bucket, color picker, and eraser, plus brush types, undo shortcuts, and basic document setup.

Explore Adobe Photoshop key tools by working with layers and blending modes, creating pink and blue circles with the marquee tool and paint bucket, then flatten or merge them.

Learn how to create and edit shapes in Photoshop using marquee tools, circles and squares, magic wand selections, and layer merging, then save with layers intact for future edits.

Create original logo designs in Photoshop through an extended exercise in graphic design that encourages personal style, avoids copying, and experiments with tracing, pen tools, color, and layout.

Explore how spacing, alignment, and color influence logo design by aligning text and images with guides and rulers for a clean, centered composition.

Explore how shape and dynamic form drive logo design, using spacing, grouping, color overlay, and easy edits to keep the logo lively and adaptable.

Define your logo style with simple, shape-based, one-tone designs, then use font choices and quick color iterations to tailor branding for corporate or comic clients.

Import your logo from a sketch using a scanner, preview and crop, rotate it to orientation, place it in a Photoshop document, and adjust levels to balance blacks and whites.

Learn how to ink a logo by shaping and outlining a spider illustration using shapes and paths, adjusting opacity, fills, and drop shadows for a polished vector design.

Explore refining a logo with fx in Photoshop, using color overlays, gradients, and blending modes. Experiment with bevel and emboss, shadows, strokes, patterns, and textures to create versatile, color-ready logos.

Know your client and research before executing a design to meet their needs. Learn from a logo series that shows simple, scalable marks, color variants, and watermark use.

Build a logo by shaping and subtracting elements to create a beveled, rounded form, then refine with colorway iterations. Use marquee, mask, and transform tools to fine-tune divisions and colors.

Refine the logo by fine-tuning shapes and paths with marquee selections to add or remove elements, then add orange Arial text and align outlines for a cohesive finish.

Create iterations of the logo by grouping text, organizing layers, and applying colorways with overlays, then save original, version 2, and version 3 for web-ready canvases.

Develop a logo through an extended exercise, explore poster design, and practice text and font integration, dynamic shapes, color blocks, and organized layers, with careful saving and backups.

Explore poster research focusing on layout and design elements, using Art Deco inspired silhouettes and shapes from film posters and game art, with Photoshop practice.

Analyze the layout of a poster inspired by art deco, using the Superman poster to explain how visual cues, emphasis, and composition guide viewers to the film title.

Learn how vector graphics created in Illustrator scale without quality loss, and how Photoshop smart objects preserve edges when resizing, while noting that editing may require rasterizing back.

Explore custom shapes in graphic design by using the shapes library, presets, and direct selection to create dynamic paths, fill color, and apply inner glow and drop shadow.

learn to find and load other custom shapes using the custom shapes extension, importing from online libraries, and applying them to shape paths to create original designs.

Create a speech bubble by shaping a vector path, adjusting anchor points, and applying color and glow effects. Build a reusable asset library of custom design elements.

Design icons for web sites, such as buttons and speech bubbles, using vector shapes and smart objects to ensure scalable, reusable icon libraries.

Discover how to craft unique shapes using the magic wand, marquee, and direct selection tools, convert selections to paths and work paths, and create brushes for poster design.

learn to design a retro poster by creating borders and a background, duplicating and transforming elements, applying color, shadows, and precise spacing to achieve a balanced edge detail.

Create a pet monster character in a graphic design project by constructing shapes with paths, marquees, and the pen tool, then refine with alignment, mirroring, and layers.

Add a circle and shadow to the poster design using color overlays, gradients, and drop shadow techniques, and adjust layers and borders for a centered, cohesive graphic.

Learn to apply font choices, color, and final effects to a poster, including lines, borders, drop shadows, and a dynamic layout, then export for publishing.

Export your designs from Photoshop by saving layered PSD files and choosing web-friendly formats like JPEG and PNG, with options to flatten, adjust image size, and preserve transparency when needed.

Explore turning artwork into posters through an extended exercise, and build a personal library of design elements—shapes, brushes, logos, and paths—to improve future work.

Ground your web design work in research by drafting layouts for a home page, planning assets like banners and icons, and exploring alignment, justification, color, and naming conventions, without coding.

Explore web layout alignment and justification, draft a crude web template with a banner and content sections, and iterate on button placement and spacing for scalable layouts across screens.

Organize web layouts using groups and naming conventions, keeping elements neatly in folders while ensuring consistent spacing and efficient design workflows.

Create a homepage banner by selecting a high-resolution stock image, pasting it into a new document from the clipboard, then apply color overlays, levels, and drop-shadowed bold text.

Design more website icons by building consistent button icons with shadows, color overlays, and layered shapes, converting to small objects, and refining spacing for clean, dynamic web graphics.

Create the base layout for a graphic design website by shaping a dark background, drop shadows, and a top banner. Align navigation—home, about, services, news, contact us—for a cohesive design.

Learn to design a responsive menu hover system by organizing logo and navigation groups, building dropdowns for About and News, and visualizing hover states with orange highlights.

Add and style the main content section on the home page, placing images, text blocks, and a testimonials area, while applying two-tone orange and black overlays, shadows, and centered alignment.

Add a footer content section by shaping the form area with color overlay, building an address block and about us section, and aligning text and spacing for a polished layout.

Follow an extended exercise that compares early Photoshop prototypes with refined web layouts, emphasizing client permission, homepage and content page design, clean naming, alignment, and web fonts.

Create a strong online personal brand for your graphic design portfolio by using simple, consistent branding with a logo, color scheme, and minimal borders to showcase your work globally.

Learn how to save and export finished web-ready designs from Photoshop, including flattening layers, resizing to 1000-pixel width, and saving as high-quality JPEGs for online portfolio.

Learn how to create an account with Image Shack, upload designs to a hosting service, and copy links to showcase your work on a blog.

Examine how to post images to a personal blog by obtaining direct image links and using https, while customizing banners and layout for full post control.

Create a blogger account, set up your blog, and navigate the dashboard to publish posts, monitor views and comments, and customize with a template.

Bring your personalized banner into your blog and brand yourself with the header. Upload a banner under 100 kb, 1024 pixels wide, to ensure the banner fits the blog layout.

Create your first blog post to showcase graphic design work in your online portfolio, applying branding and a banner, then publish with labeled sections like production and post production.

Design and publish your extended banner project, moving from Photoshop to blog and web posting, while explaining creative choices, using influence maps, and editing posts as needed.