Unit 1 | Design & the Design Industry
Introduction
This unit introduces the design industry and process through AIGA’s elements-of-design sequence, one full class per element (Line, Shape, Texture, Color), building toward your first time in Adobe Illustrator, recreating your strongest comp.
This is the first unit of the year, when district network access and student accounts are least reliable. Lessons 1.1–1.4 run entirely on paper. No computer or network access required. The S | 1 project is the one day this unit that needs a computer lab.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Understand what graphic design is and the industries it spans
- Apply the elements and principles of design through a thumbnail → rough → comp process
- Identify a design’s audience, client goals, and communication plan
- Recreate a finished paper design in Adobe Illustrator using basic shape, line, and fill tools
Calendar of Events for This Unit
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/31 | 9/1 | 9/2 | 9/3 | 9/4 |
| 9th Grade Orientation | Icebreaker Activity | Icebreaker Activity | Icebreaker Activity | Schools Closed |
| 9/1: All Students | ||||
| 9/7 | 9/8 | 9/9 | 9/10 | 9/11 |
| Labor Day | F | 1.1 | F | 1.1 | F | 1.2 | F | 1.2 |
| 9/14 | 9/15 | 9/16 | 9/17 | 9/18 |
| F | 1.3 | State PD | F | 1.3 | F | 1.4 | F | 1.4 |
| 9/15: 30th Count window: 9/15-9/30; 9/17: End of Drop Add | ||||
| 9/21 | 9/22 | 9/23 | 9/24 | 9/25 |
| PD | S | 1 | S | 1 | F | 2.1 | F | 2.1 |
| 9/24: Unit 2 - should include ungraded Pre-Test; 9/25: Interim grades open in Infinite Campus (MP1) | ||||
Lessons
- 1.1 – Line Assignment. Guided notes: What is Design?
- 1.2 – Shape Assignment. Guided notes: Elements & Principles of Design
- 1.3 – Texture Assignment. Guided notes: Purpose, Audience & Client Goals
- 1.4 – Color Assignment. Guided notes: Communicating Design Plans
- S1 – Illustrator Recreation. Summative project
Unit Vocabulary
- Design Industry
- The field of visual communication. Publishing, branding/advertising, information design, motion graphics, exhibition/packaging, wayfinding, UX, and interaction design. That shapes how messages, products, and experiences reach people.
- Idea
- A thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action; a concept or mental impression; the aim or purpose.
- Abstract
- Existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence. The opposite of representational.
- Representational
- Relating to or characterized by depiction of the physical appearance of things.
- Ambiguity
- Uncertainness of meaning. In design, this allows an image to be read more than one way.
- Format
- The layout of a design. The surface area a composition is created in and its boundaries, such as the size of a business card or brochure.
- Composition
- A complete work of art or design, seen in total, not as individual visual elements.
- Thumbnail Sketch
- A small, quick sketch. A fast way to generate many ideas.
- Rough Sketch
- A mid-stage development of a graphic idea, more developed than a thumbnail, often shown to a client for approval.
- Comprehensive Design (“Comp”)
- The final, neatly executed rendering of a graphic idea. Short for “comprehensive.”
- Ubiquitous
- Present, appearing, or found everywhere.
- Line
- An identifiable path created by a point moving in space. One-dimensional, and can vary in width, direction, and length. Lines often define the edges of a shape, and can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, straight or curved, thick or thin.
- Shape
- The form of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external surface, as opposed to other properties such as color or texture.
- Texture
- An interwoven pattern of light and dark tones that imparts a physical quality to a surface. Rough, smooth, etc.
- Color / Value
- Color is the perceived hue of an object; value is the lightness or darkness of a tone or color (white lightest, black darkest, middle gray halfway between). (Line, Shape, and Texture were covered on Line day, 1.1.)
- Mass/Form
- The way a three-dimensional form (or the illusion of one) appears to have weight, density, or bulk, based on how it’s created.
- Balance
- The distribution of one or more elements so they visually equal each other. Unequal distribution reads as asymmetrical.
- Alignment
- The lining up of text or graphics on a page.
- Contrast
- The range of light to dark areas in a composition. Greater contrast means a greater distinction between light and dark regions.
- Unity/Harmony
- Design elements working together both visually and conceptually, with no single element overpowering the whole.
- Proportion
- The harmonious relation of parts to each other or to the whole.
- Proximity
- Elements placed near each other read as related; elements spaced apart read as separate groups.
- Repetition
- Repeating a single element multiple times across a design.
- Rule of Thirds
- A layout principle suggesting a composition is most pleasing when key objects sit at the intersections of lines dividing the image into thirds. Used to draw emphasis to important elements.
- Rule of Phi / Golden Ratio
- A layout principle based on the mathematical ratio phi, historically used in art and architecture to create naturally pleasing proportions (related to the Fibonacci spiral).
- Client Goals
- What the person or organization commissioning the design actually needs the finished work to accomplish.
- Target Audience
- The specific group of people a design is created for.
- Demographics
- Measurable traits of an audience (age, location, income, etc.) used to describe who it is made up of.
- Accessibility
- Designing so people with a range of abilities (vision, hearing, motor, cognitive) can use and understand the work.
- Project Scope
- The defined boundaries of what a project will and won’t include.
- Scope Creep
- When a project’s requirements keep growing beyond what was originally agreed to.
- Project Timeline
- The schedule of milestones and deadlines a project is expected to follow.
- Sketch
- A quick, rough drawing used to explore an idea before committing time to it.
- Specifications (“Specs”)
- The exact, measurable requirements a finished design must meet (size, color mode, file format, etc.).
- Design Process
- The repeatable sequence of steps, research, sketch, refine, present, revise, a designer follows from idea to finished work.
- Wireframe
- A simplified, low-detail layout sketch showing where content and elements will go, without final styling.
- Prototype
- An early working model of a design used to test an idea before final production.
- Iteration
- One cycle of revising and improving a design based on feedback or testing.
- Change Order
- A documented request to change a project’s scope or specs after work has already begun.
- Draft
- A version of a design that is not yet final and is expected to be revised.
- Feedback Loop
- The repeating cycle of sharing work, getting feedback, and revising in response to it.
- Style Guide
- A reference document defining a design’s consistent visual rules (colors, fonts, spacing, logo use, etc.).
- Project Brief
- A written document that lays out a project’s goals, audience, requirements, and constraints before work begins.