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Graphic Design with Photoshop & Illustrator


Course
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Build Your Graphic Design Portfolio!

Pathway: Creative Design Stage: Intermediate
Age:  12-18 Grade (US): 8-12
Pathway: Creative Design
Age:  12-18
Stage: Intermediate
Grade (US): 8-12

In this course, students will develop and improve their graphic design skills while mastering professional design tools, such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. They will create original projects for their professional portfolio.

Students will start out learning the fundamentals of graphic design, using the Adobe Creative Suite and project-based learning. They will learn the design process, color theory, typography, and how to recreate professional media and advertisements. At the end of the week, students will have a portfolio of designs and develop a final project piece that allows them to focus on their passion and emulates a real-world client.

Course Guide

The Course Guide contains all information required to deliver this Digital Media Academy Pro course. 

 

 

Standards Alignment

This course is aligned with national and international standards for technology education. Standards include the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), International Baccalaureate, UK National Curriculum, New Zealand Curriculum, and more!

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to…

1

Articulate the core principles of graphic design and industry vocabulary

2

Explain the ways that graphic design defines the visual world around us

3

Use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to achieve their vision

4

Identify differences between Photoshop and Illustrator

5

Incorporate resources from the web into their designs

 

 

Students will create...

1

A portfolio that simulates real-world client work and incorporates personal style

2

Digital illustrations

3

Recreations of professional advertisements

4

Original compositions incorporating typography, color theory, and composition

 

Career Pathways 

Graphic Designer, Digital Marketing, Animation, Advertising, Visual Artist

Here is the course outline:

Unit 1: Getting Started with Photoshop

Learn the fundamentals of Photoshop including the interface, layers, vectors and more! Design your own movie poster to show off your new skills.

5 sections
Lesson 1.1: Welcome
Lesson 1.2: Photoshop Interface
Lesson 1.3: Photoshop Selections & Layers
Lesson 1.4: Creating a Movie Poster
Lesson 1.5: Raster vs. Vector

Unit 2: Using Adobe Illustrator

Learn to use Illustrator to draw high resolution pictures!

3 sections
Lesson 2.1: Illustrator Interface & Objects
Lesson 2.2: Illustrator Pen Tool
Lesson 2.3: Illustrator Family Crest Creation

Unit 3: Fundamentals of Graphic Design

Now that you have the tools, it's time to learn the basics of the graphic design process and put them to use by creating your very own graphic T-Shirt!

7 sections
Lesson 3.1: Design Thinking
Lesson 3.2: Color Theory
Lesson 3.3: Photoshop Double Exposure
Lesson 3.4: Visual Heirarchy
Lesson 3.5: Typography
Lesson 3.6: Adobe Dimension
Lesson 3.7: Intro to Graphic T-Shirt Designs

Unit 4: Final Projects

Unleash your creativity and start your final project

5 sections
Lesson 4.1: Design Thinking & Final Project Briefing
Lesson 4.2: Final Project – Brainstorming & Defining
Lesson 4.3: Final Project – Project Demo & Completion
Lesson 4.4: Final Project – Finishing Touches
Lesson 4.5: Final Project – Create Presentation & Show

Unit 5: Building your portfolio

Show off all of your work in an engaging and eye-catching way!

3 sections
Lesson 5.1: Portfolio Overview
Lesson 5.2: Portfolio – Resources & Branding
Lesson 5.3: Portfolio – Creation & Review

Student Showcase

Now it's time to show off your projects!

2 sections
How to Lead a Student Showcase
Student Showcase