The eLearning Center for Gatlin Education Services

Take your layout skills to the next level by studying advanced concepts in page design. Students explore how to use esoteric composition and typography and color to create layout designs that attract attention and challenge the viewer. Open-ended projects provide maximum opportunity for portfolio development.

LESSON 1 Structural Foundations Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, the basis of creative layout design is organization. Lesson One explores the structural foundations of layout design—how designers use grid systems to unite text, images, and other page elements within an overall visual communication. Case studies on A.M. Cassandre and Josef Müller-Brockmann explore how the masters constructed fluid designs on firm foundations. You'll learn how elements such as margins, markers, modules, and flowlines help to unify a page or spread. Then you'll examine applications for the common grid systems used by designers: manuscript grid, column grid, modular grid, and hierarchical grid. In the exercise, you'll apply these concepts to the design of a 4-page magazine spread.

LESSON 2 Geometric Design Order is a necessary element in all design and a complement to creativity. Lesson Two explores creative applications for a geometrical approach to page composition. Classic proportional systems are explored, including such as the golden section, golden spiral, Fibonacci sequence, root 2 rectangle, and the rule of thirds. You'll also investigate how to use lines and shapes as graphic elements to create a sense of order. Lines, curves, circles, angles, bars and squares, and patterns are all explored as possible tools for structuring a layout. The lesson concludes with a discussion on the importance of balance, negative space, and strong focal points. In the exercise, you'll apply these principles to a book jacket design.

LESSON 3 Structure and Deconstruction Lesson Three looks at ways of moving beyond traditional layout structures and using a more intuitive, experimental approach. Unconventional structural approaches discussed will include contextual framing, page bleeds, layering, proximity, and hypnotic wandering. Type layout concepts discussed will include 3-D type, chunking, text columns, and the vexed question of legibility. Finally, you'll explore some Post-Modern layout techniques: freeform, surreal collage, 3D environments, fragmentation, graffiti, cutouts, overprinting, and conceptual design. In the final project, you'll select an avant-garde technique and apply it to a challenging calendar design project.