Week_11_In Design

Adobe^® InDesign^® CC is a powerful page-design and production application that offers precision, control, and seamless integration with other Adobe professional graphics software. Using InDesign, you can produce professional-quality, full-color documents and print them using a variety of output devices, including desktop printers, high-resolution imaging devices, and high-volume color printing presses. You can also design publications for a broad range of electronic devices, such as tablets, smart phones, and eReaders, and export InDesign document in several formats, including PDF, HTML, and EPUB.Writers, artists, designers, and publishers can communicate to a broader audience than ever before and through an unprecedented variety of media. InDesign supports this with its seamless integration with other Creative Cloud components.

So, if you haven't watched the tutorial above.  It explains a lot of things you can do in InDesign in a short amount of time.   It will be here for you to refer to in the future should you ever work in InDesign again.

Designing on the Grid

Design and the process of "designing"--put simply-- is the way of visually organizing elements onto a picture plane.When creating multi-page documents, the grid is the principle way of organizing page elements. A grid divides a page into columns. An artist can follow the columns strictly, or use them as a rough guide to work within. 
The Gutenberg Bible visual example follows a very rigid grid structure: the two columns of text have the same line length.The two columns of text also have the same vertical length.

However, the grid can also be used with much flexibility. In the visual reference example of the New York Times layout from 1918, the grid is more complex and versatile. This grid divides the page into eight columns.

We will be doing two separate introductory assignments using InDesign.  One based on a strict grid structure, and one that chooses to completely deviate from the grid in its aesthetic. 

In Class Assignment:  Designing on the Grid

Follow the short tutorial here to learn about designing on a grid and the basics of master pages in InDesign

Click here to go to the assignment on the Digital Foundations Wiki


Here are some great examples of getting away from the grid and how text can drive a work in alternative ways.

Outside Assignment: 

Create a layout for a magazine article about yourself.    First, you should write a short bio about yourself.  

1.  Write a short bio to go in the magazine article.  who are you? where are you from? what are your interests?  where do you currently work/ study?   Give us an idea of who you are, what makes you tick.  You could include everything from personal interests, to things you collect, to your favorite foods.  

WHAT are you?   A photographer... a designer.... a sculptor... a painter.  What type of work do you make.  What are your inspirations, techniques, materials?  What is the style of your work?   If you aren't there yet.  Then talk about what type of work you would like to make. What you study.  What inspires you. 

2. Create an article using InDesign. Your article should be a minimum of 3 facing pages, including a cover page, and body pages that follow a master page.   You will design the layout using a grid (or you may deviate, but still use a grid to deviate from)

3. Save a header, and subheadings for image descriptions.   You will need to save these paragraph styles as "Header, body text, and image_descriptions" 

4. Your article should contain a minimum of 3 images and should use Text wrap around an bounding box and also around a shape that has a cut out background (from photoshop). 

Your article should also include page numbers on the second and third pages, but not on your.   hint: this will require that you use a master page on the sequential pages and not on the cover/title page. 

NEXT WEEK WE WILL BE: 

Something for you to think about.....

Branding and creating logos. 

Your logo is a visual representation of everything you (and your company) stands for. Think of McDonald's golden arches or the Nike swoosh-these two impressive logos embody these companies well.




There are basically three kinds of logos. Font-based logos consist primarily of a type treatment. The logos of IBM, Microsoft and Sony, for instance, use type treatments with a twist that makes them distinctive. Then there are symbol-type logos that literally illustrate what a company does, such as when a house-painting company uses an illustration of a brush in its logo. And finally, there are abstract graphic symbols-such as Nike's swoosh-that become linked to a company's brand.

This week we will be creating logos for ourselves.  Keep these simple.  I recommend working in illustrator.  Here is some inspiration and ideas.   But, please, do some of your own research.  You will create a total of three logos for your website (which we will be building next week) 

Adobe Muse Introduction from Terry White: