From concept to execution, learn how to create designs that stand out, drive action, and help win campaigns.
Interested in joining the next Graphic Design for Organizing Apprenticeship? Learn more here
Good design is part of strong organizing. Reports on both digital and print communications consistently show that strong visual content generates more engagement. Running grassroots campaigns requires communicating effectively across many platforms, and good design can dramatically activate and broaden your base.
This 12-session Certificate in Graphic Design for Organizing will rapidly scale up your visual communications skills. From building a visual identity for your organization to applying time-tested graphic design techniques to navigating industry-standard (and emerging!) software, you will be able to efficiently create designs that inspire action. You’ll also be able to lead your organization to support distributed design by volunteers and staff who are not designers.
Curriculum
Graphic Design Tools and Technology
Software, File Formats, and Image Manipulation
- What design software to use and how to know when to use which tools, from the Adobe Creative Suite to Preview
- Work with images like a pro: editing, resizing, compressing, and styling
- Understand what the print-house is saying: bleeds, crops, packaging, color separation, Pantone inks, DPI, file formats (PDF, JPG, PNG, EPS, TIFF), RGB vs CMYK,
- How to get high-quality photos that are free, legal, and don’t look ‘stock’
- Software tips to save time and money while still creating professional designs
Canva Leveling Up – Templates, Brand Kit, and More for Non-Designers On Your Team
- Ways to use Canva to support non-designers on your team to design effectively
- Develop consistent templates for different teams
- Lock layers and allow selective editing to your designs
- Organize your folders, logos, and photos within Canva
- Animation in Canva
- Other Advanced tips and tricks
Adobe Photoshop Leveling Up
- Essential tips and tricks in Photoshop
- Canvas and image size
- History panel
- Duotones
- Isolating subjects
- Creating a focal point
- Adjustment layers
- Blending modes
Adobe Illustrator Leveling Up
- Essential tips and tricks in Illustrator
- Basics of vector design
- Typography and tracing
- Icon design
- Basics of logo design
- Shape Builder tool
Graphic Design for Organizing Approaches and Strategies
Principles and Elements of Persuasive, Ethical, and Accessible Graphic Design
- Overview of current graphic design tools and how you can learn to use them efficiently
- What questions to ask at the start of every design project, and how to go about answering them
- Key design principles of every successful design: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity, Hierarchy, and Balance
- Key design elements in your toolbox: Color, Space, Typography, Imagery, Texture, Size, and Motion
- Investigate these principles and elements at play in real digital and print designs from progressive organizations
- How to run effective, ethical, and accessible design and photography systems in your organization
- Making visual, web, and print design accessible
- Understand human psychology to improve your design and create change
Using Data and Stories in Effective Visuals
- Learn story-based strategy and how the power of narrative can enhance your designs
- Design complex information for engagement and understanding
- Integrate text, image, video, and embedded media in your designs
- Learn a range of simple to advanced open source tools to visualize your data
- What makes a successful infographic
- Common types of data visualizations
- Understand what draws your audience in and how to visually evoke emotion
- Do’s and Don’ts when designing with data
Organizational Identity Design
- Learn the three main types of logos
- An 8-step process to go from identity redesign conversation to a finished logo
- Case studies of how past progressive social movement used visual identities
- How to design for your organizational position, values, and personality
- Key questions to ask when redesigning your organizational identity
- What makes up a successful design system
- Building visual and editorial style guides that gets everyone excited
Story-Based Strategy, Design for Media Coverage, and Design for Art Builds
- Learn story-based strategy and how the power of narrative can enhance your designs
- Designing for effective media coverage of direct actions
- Understand what draws your audience in and how to visually evoke emotion
- Discuss current issues in visual communications: stereotyping cultures, accessibility, and patronizing vs. empowering visuals
- Learn how to design for art builds for your next action
Creative Process and Asset Design for Different Platforms
- Write a design brief quickly and consistently that non-designers can understand
- Understand the creative process cycle of effective design
- Include your team along the way
- Define your visual voice and tone for different social media platforms
- Integrate visual moodboards in your design process – even for rapid response campaigns
- Create assets that follow and enhance your organization’s identity
- Build a visually strong engagement campaign across platforms (social media, newsletter, website…)
- Use file management practices that design agencies employ to keep projects organized
Graphic Design for the Web
- Learn from psychological testing how humans engage with a website
- Vocabulary: Responsive, media queries, IA, UX, UI, CSS, HTML, JS, CMS
- File formats for web and image optimization for page speed
- 7 main principles of user experience to improve your website effectiveness
- Accessibility on the web: tools to assess and improve
- Typography online: size, leading, column width, headings
- The most common mistakes on organizational and campaign social media and websites
Advanced Design Psychology in Practice
- How Hick’s Law and Fitts’ Law can make us better designers
- Using the 6 Gestalt principles: Similarity, Closure and Figure/Ground, Proximity, Common Region, Focal Point
- Learn from psychological testing how humans engage with a design
- Different ways to add social proof to your designs
- How understanding mirror neurons can improve our designs
- Why people look at human faces first in our graphics
- Earning commitment for calls to action and remit envelopes
- Using goal motivation and scarcity in visual communication
