Part 1
There will be no lessons in this module, only a module assignment. You are going to choose your own adventure.
In the previous module, we talked about different kinds of graphic designers who specialise in particular skill sets. They’ve shown you how broadly you can apply graphic design skills and hopefully have given you ideas on the type of work you need to take on to align with your interests. The first lesson task also prompted you to answer the following questions:
- What kind of job do you want to wake up to every day? What do you want to do daily?
- Which type of clients do you want to work with?
- After pinning down your interests and vision of yourself as a professional, in which areas do you think you need more growth and experience?
- What are your next steps to fulfil who you want to be as a graphic designer?
In this module, we’ll encourage you to pursue your dream and grow in your field of interest. Below is a list of recommended LinkedIn Learning courses. Choose one (or more) course from the list or any other course that interests you from LinkedIn Learning.
Part 1 of the module assignment will be to hand in the course certificate of your chosen course. Read or view extra material regarding your field of interest and use this week to submerge yourself in this field.
ANSWER:
In this Module, there is a lot of interesting fields I want to delve deeper into. The courses I have in mind are for ”Animation”, ”Branding, marketing and promotional design” and ”Fashion design”. Referring to my answers in Step 1 of Module 1, I think all of these themes can in one way or another fit into what kind of work and designer I want to be in the future.
Part 2
Part 2 (self-study)
As graphic designers communicating visually, we work primarily with pictures and words. The importance of knowledge and skills in typography can’t be stressed enough. You know by now that typography isn’t about choosing a pretty font. Using good typography adds immense strength to your design and gives power to the message.
Ina Staltz is a writer, art director, and Professor Emeritus at City College of New York. Her areas of expertise are typography, calligraphy and editorial publication design. She has written over 50 articles on design and typography, contributed to five books by Steven Heller, and authored 15 essays for Phaidon’s Archive of Graphic Design.
In the course, she will explain good practices in typography, how to develop an eye for type, and how to use it effectively. She’ll briefly discuss some topics you should already be familiar with, like serif vs sans serif, display type vs text type, kerning, tracking and leading.
She’ll even cover a bit of typographic history and trends. But, most importantly, she’ll teach you the principles of legibility, readability, and compatibility and how they should be considered when selecting and designing with type.
Course:
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/typography-hierarchy-and-navigation/welcome?u=43268076
Certificate:
MA01
Hopefully, by now, you’ll realise that the more your skillset grows in design software, the more creative you can be, and the better your standard of work is. You can have the most fantastic ideas in the world, but if you can’t translate them into a tangible design – it’s not worth much.
For this module assignment, you’ll refresh your knowledge and skillset in Adobe InDesign. Yes, another LinkedIn Learning software course – don’t sigh in weariness! This is where you must exercise self-discipline and be resilient and patient.
Don’t see this assignment as a time-consuming obstacle. See it as an opportunity to learn and re-learn essential skills in a programme you will definitely use in the industry and will be a requirement if you apply for a job as a graphic designer.
Adobe InDesign is the main programme you’ll use when working with layout design. You may be more comfortable doing layouts in Illustrator, for example. Still, InDesign is the best option when working with multi-page documents, lots of text, and different kinds of image material.
There are three course options to choose from below. Read through each description and decide which option will suit you best. Either way, you’ll benefit immensely from completing any of these three courses.
Option 1
If you feel confident in your basic skills in InDesign and just want to refresh yourself with the ins and outs, do this short course below:
Certificate: