Looking Ahead

Module 3, on layout concepts for document design, overlaps the assignments for Illustrator and your training in InDesign begins this week. Keep up with the reading but, also, complete the video training in InDesign in the Training Module as soon as possible.

Preliminary Training

There are only 11 videos to watch this time, and they are located as you'll see on the TRAINING tab at Adobe TV (not Lynda.com). (The url is http://tv.adobe.com/show/learn-indesign-cs5/)

To understand what document "layout" consists of in the design field, you may wish to look ahead to the first couple online readings for MOD3:Adobe InDesign provides tools for creating pages and text w/graphics layouts, so it helps to understand how complex documents prepared for professional printing processes are set up and linked. Your best tool for comprehending how the InDesign program works within this framework may be the help pages at Adobe.com. You can access the Table of Contents at for that at:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/indesign/cs/using/WSe824490e891d80bc1e63e3d1260a97791b-8000.html

Especially helpful will be the sections on setting up grids and guide lines and creating pages and spreads at http://help.adobe.com. These 2 links  are listed on the Mod 3 tab and are required reading.

InDesign Assignments

There are three assignments for MOD3, each worth 10 points apiece, and (YIKES!) there are only 7 class sessions left after today. All 3 final assignments are due via email and on the server no later than 1pm Friday June 24.

Practice 6 in Indesign
Due this Thursday June 16
You'll take your Depth Ilustration (AI assignment #7), import it into InDesign and add some text to it to give it meaning and context. Examples will be shown in class.

Practice 7 in Indesign
Due next Monday June 20
This is involved so give yourself plenty of time to complete it! You will complete the step by step tutorial for creating a 4-page newsletter provided on the MOD2 tab. By the time you've completed this you should have a very good understanding of how InDesign functions.

Assignment 8 Concert Poster
Due Tuesday June 21
This is not a complex assignment technically, but requires a great deal of visual creativity to do well. You will create a poster (14x17 or larger) for an event of your choice (such as a music concert for your favorite band.) The art should be original and can be created in either Photoshop or Illustrator but must be finished up in InDesign so that the final version is print-ready.

Assignment 9 2-Page Magazine Spread
Due Wednesday June 22 (Last day of class)
You will study a print magazine of your choice and imitate a layout in that publication's style that could realistically appear in the magazine, using "fake text" and photos you find from the Internet. This assignment requires a more advanced understanding of effective typography.

Assignment 10 Self-Promotion
Due Friday June 24 (via email in PDF format)
Your "final" in here is to create a visual resume or other print-ready piece that will promote your skills as a designer and tell me, in addition, what you feel have become your strengths as someone who works with electronic media. The format is your choice…it can be a brochure, a two-page resume with visuals, a booklet, a poster, or anything else you discuss with me ahead of time.