Graphic Design Principles Course

Lesson 1 • Principles of Design

Explains how elements are organized using balance, contrast, emphasis, rhythm, and unity. Students critique compositions using these principles.

Lesson 2 • Elements of Design

Defines the seven core visual elements: line, shape, form, space, texture, value, and color. Students identify each element in professional work.

Lesson 3 • How Humans Perceive Visual Information

Covers Gestalt psychology and pre-attentive processing as they apply to design. Establishes the perceptual framework used throughout the course.

Lesson 1 • The Color Wheel and Harmonies

Covers primary, secondary, and tertiary relationships and six classical harmony schemes. Students build palettes using each scheme.

Lesson 2 • Building and Managing Color Palettes

Teaches palette construction, tint and shade creation, and color token documentation. Students deliver a complete, documented palette system.

Lesson 3 • Color in Context and Environment

Addresses simultaneous contrast, metamerism, and environmental lighting effects on perceived color. Students adjust palettes for real-world conditions.

Lesson 4 • Color Models and Color Spaces

Distinguishes RGB, CMYK, and HSB models and explains when each applies. Grounds students in technical color accuracy before creative application.

Lesson 1 • Typeface Selection and Pairing

Establishes criteria for choosing typefaces that match tone, medium, and audience. Students pair display and body typefaces with justified rationale.

Lesson 2 • Anatomy and Classification of Type

Identifies letterform parts and maps typefaces to historical classifications. Provides the vocabulary needed for informed typeface selection.

Lesson 3 • Typographic Hierarchy and Scale

Teaches size, weight, and style variation to guide reader attention through content. Students build multi-level hierarchies for editorial layouts.

Lesson 4 • Spacing, Alignment, and Readability

Covers tracking, kerning, leading, and measure to optimize reading comfort. Students refine raw text settings to professional standards.

Lesson 1 • White Space and Visual Breathing Room

Reframes empty space as an active design element that improves clarity and elegance. Students redesign cluttered layouts using deliberate white space.

Lesson 2 • Grid Anatomy and Grid Types

Defines columns, gutters, margins, and rows and compares manuscript, column, modular, and hierarchical grids. Students select grids appropriate to content type.

Lesson 3 • Multi-Page and Spread Design

Extends single-page principles to spreads, booklets, and paginated documents. Students produce a consistent six-page editorial layout.

Lesson 4 • Responsive and Adaptive Layout Thinking

Translates fixed-grid thinking into fluid, breakpoint-driven layout logic for screens. Students sketch layouts at three breakpoints for a single content set.

Lesson 1 • Asset Management and File Organization

Covers naming conventions, folder structures, and version control for design assets. Students organize a project asset library to professional standards.

Lesson 2 • Image Editing and Retouching Basics

Teaches tonal correction, color grading, masking, and non-destructive editing workflows. Students retouch and grade a set of images to a consistent look.

Lesson 3 • Photography Fundamentals for Designers

Covers composition, lighting, and cropping decisions designers make when selecting or directing photography. Students curate and crop a photo set for a layout.

Lesson 4 • Vector Illustration Techniques

Introduces Bezier curves, anchor points, and path operations for creating scalable artwork. Students build a flat-style icon set from scratch.

Lesson 1 • Brand Color and Typography Systems

Extends color and type skills into a governed brand system with primary and secondary palettes and type scales. Students document a complete brand type and color spec.

Lesson 2 • Brand Guidelines Documentation

Teaches how to write, structure, and format a brand standards guide for internal and external use. Students produce a twelve-page brand guidelines document.

Lesson 3 • Logo Design Process and Principles

Covers wordmark, lettermark, symbol, and combination mark types with construction principles. Students develop three logo concepts and refine one to final.

Lesson 4 • Brand Strategy and Visual Positioning

Connects business goals, audience insights, and competitive context to visual direction. Students write a creative brief that drives all subsequent identity decisions.

Lesson 1 • Accessibility in Digital Design

Applies contrast ratios, focus indicators, and semantic structure to meet accessibility standards. Students audit and remediate a UI design for accessibility compliance.

Lesson 2 • Digital Advertising and Social Media Design

Covers standard ad formats, aspect ratios, and platform-specific creative constraints. Students produce a multi-format digital ad set from a single campaign concept.

Lesson 3 • Design Systems and Component Libraries

Teaches atomic design methodology and the construction of reusable component libraries. Students build a small design system with tokens, components, and documentation.

Lesson 4 • UI Design Fundamentals

Introduces interface anatomy, component thinking, and platform conventions for web and mobile. Students audit an existing app interface against usability heuristics.

Lesson 1 • Portfolio Curation and Case Studies

Teaches selecting, sequencing, and contextualizing work to tell a compelling professional story. Students write three case studies and assemble a portfolio.

Lesson 2 • Client Communication and Presentation

Covers presenting rationale, handling feedback, and managing revision cycles professionally. Students present a design concept and respond to live critique.

Lesson 3 • Design Ethics and Professional Standards

Examines intellectual property, cultural sensitivity, and ethical responsibilities in commercial design. Students apply an ethical checklist to their capstone project.

Lesson 4 • Design Thinking and Problem Framing

Applies empathy mapping, problem statements, and how-might-we questions to complex briefs. Students reframe a real-world design problem before generating solutions.