Digital Foundations: Intro to Media Design with the Adobe Creative Suite

Digital Foundations: Intro to Media Design with the Adobe Creative Suite

Released December 2008
Publisher(s): New Riders
ISBN: 9780321602602

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Book description

Fuses design fundamentals and software training into one cohesive book!

  • The only book to teach Bauhaus design principles alongside basic digital tools of Adobe's Creative Suite, including the recently released Adobe CS4

  • Addresses the growing trend of compressing design fundamentals and design software into the same course in universities and design trade schools.

  • Lessons are timed to be used in 50-minute class sessions.

    • Digital Foundations uses formal exercises of the Bauhaus to teach the Adobe Creative Suite. All students of digital design and production—whether learning in a classroom or on their own—need to understand the basic principles of design in order to implement them using current software. Far too often design is left out of books that teach software. Consequently, the design software training exercise is often a lost opportunity for visual learning. Digital Foundations reinvigorates software training by integrating Bauhaus design exercises into tutorials fusing design fundamentals and core Adobe Creative Suite methodologies. The result is a cohesive learning experience.

    Design topics and principles include: Composition; Symmetry and Asymmetry; Gestalt; Appropriation; The Bauhaus Basic Course Approach; Color Theory; The Grid; Scale, Hierarchy and Collage; Tonal Range; Elements of Motion.

    Digital Foundations     is an AIGA Design Press book, published under Peachpit's New Riders imprint in partnership with AIGA, the professional association for design.

    Table of contents

    1. Copyright
      1. Dedications
    2. In Gratitude
    3. About the Authors
    4. Introduction: read_me!
      1. Digital Foundations
      2. Bauhaus
      3. Operating Systems & Version Numbers
      4. Using the wiki
      5. Creative Commons
    5. 1. Metaphor
      1. Exercise 01: Working with folders and files
        1. Create a new folder
        2. Delete a file
        3. Files: vector vs. bitmap
      2. Exercise 02: Creating a new file in Adobe Illustrator
        1. Launch the application
        2. Define a new file
        3. The blank page and your tools
      3. Exercise 03: Creating a dynamic composition
      4. Exercise 04: Saving a file
        1. Native file format for master files
        2. Closing and quitting
    6. 2. Searching and Sampling
      1. Fair use and appropriation
        1. Fair use
        2. Appropriation
      2. Exercise 01: Advanced searching in Google
      3. Exercise 02: Searching for public domain and Creative Commons licensed content
        1. Types of Creative Commons licenses
      4. Exercise 03: Searching in stock photography web sites
    7. 3. Symmetry and Gestalt
      1. Exercise 01: Creating symmetry and asymmetry with your body
        1. Preview of the remaining exercises
      2. Exercise 02: Symmetry with passive negative space
      3. Exercise 03: Symmetry with less passive negative space
      4. Exercise 04: Balanced asymmetry
      5. Exercise 05: Asymmetry with imbalanced visual weight
      6. Exercise 06: Symmetry with patterning
      7. Exercise 07: Defining a focal point within symmetric patterning
    8. 4. Type on the Grid
      1. Exercise 01: Using guides to create a grid
      2. Exercise 02: Lines
      3. Exercise 03: Using the Type tool to create a headline
      4. Exercise 04: Creating body copy with the Type tool
      5. Exercise 05: Directing the viewer with color
      6. Exercise 06: Adjusting shapes with the Direct Selection tool
    9. 5. Color Theory and Basic Shapes
      1. Exercise 01: Hue has value!
      2. Exercise 02: Top or bottom?
        1. Creating foreground and background depth using hue and value
      3. Exercise 03: Interaction of values
      4. Exercise 04: Interaction of hues
    10. 6. Line Art and Flat Graphics
      1. The Pen tool
      2. Exercise 01: Gesture drawings on a template layer
      3. Exercise 02: Re-creating straight lines with the Pen tool
        1. Part A: Re-create the triangle with the Pen tool
        2. Part B: Modify anchor points using the Direct Selection tool
        3. Part C: Create a second shape to add dimensionality
        4. Part D: Atmospheric Perspective
      4. Exercise 03: Curves
        1. Part A: One curve
        2. Part B: Bezier handles
        3. Part C: Two curves in a row
        4. Part D: Deleting and adding anchor points
      5. Exercise 04: Curves and angles
      6. Exercise 05: Tracing an image and creating a clipping mask
    11. 7. Image Acquisition and Resolution
      1. Exercise 01: Creating a scanogram and understanding input resolution
      2. Exercise 02: A brief tour of tools and panels in Photoshop
      3. Exercise 03: Image size, file size, and resolution
      4. Exercise 04: From the camera to the computer
    12. 8. Tonal Range
      1. Exercise 01: Minor adjustments to the original file
      2. Exercise 02: Understanding the histogram
      3. Exercise 03: Adjusting the image with Levels
      4. Exercise 04: Adjusting the image with Curves
      5. Exercise 05: Targeting saturation levels
      6. Exercise 06: Sharpening the image
    13. 9. Layering and Collage
      1. Exercise 01: Using layers to create a double exposure
      2. Exercise 02: Cropping and adjusting the hue
        1. Exquisite Corpse (in two parts)
      3. Exercise 03: Creating and manipulating layers
      4. Exercise 04: Adding an adjustment to some layers
        1. Clipping masks
    14. 10. Repetition and Cloning
      1. Exercise 01: Replace part of one image using the Clone tool
      2. Exercise 02: Add Amelia Earhart to the image of the crew
      3. Exercise 03: Add a layer mask
      4. Exercise 04: Burning and dodging
    15. 11. Non-Destructive Editing
      1. Exercise 01: Using quick masks and alpha channels
      2. Exercise 02: Building an image with layers, masks, and transformation
      3. Exercise 03: Adding an adjustment layer and organizing layers with groups
      4. Exercise 04: Adding a shape layer
    16. 12. Graphics on the Web
      1. Exercise 01: From digital input to web ready
      2. Exercise 02: GIF vs. JPEG
      3. Exercise 03: Uploading to Flickr
    17. 13. Multiples—Creating Unity
      1. Exercise 01: Unity through repetition—master pages
      2. Exercise 02: Creating B-Master
      3. Exercise 03: Linking text frames
      4. Exercise 04: Creating shapes
      5. Exercise 05: Exporting a PDF
    18. 14. Multiples – Creating Tension
      1. Exercise 01: Placing text and using frame breaks
      2. Exercise 02: Working with styles
      3. Exercise 03: Using text frame options, hue, and saturation to create contrast
    19. 15. Hello World
      1. Exercise 01: Hello World!
      2. Exercise 02: Hello Dreamweaver
      3. Exercise 03: Hyperlink
      4. Exercise 04: Images
      5. Exercise 05: Formatting type
    20. 16. Files and Servers
      1. Exercise 01: Defining a site in Dreamweaver
      2. Exercise 02: File and folder management
    21. 17. Style Sheets—Separating Form and Content
      1. Exercise 01: Applying a style
      2. Exercise 02: Evaluating the code
      3. Exercise 03: Creating a new rule
      4. Exercise 04: Creating an external style sheet
    22. 18. Elements of Motion
      1. Exercise 01: Visualizing time, keyframes, shape tween
      2. Exercise 02: Adjusting the frame rate to the speed of the beat
      3. Exercise 03: Visualizing tempo
      4. Exercise 04: Basic bouncing ball
    23. 19. Pacing
      1. Exercise 01: Library and symbols
      2. Exercise 02: Instances of symbols
      3. Exercise 03: Classic Tween
      4. Exercise 04: Creating a fade
      5. Exercise 05: Animating the symbol
    24. 20. ActionScript3.0

    Product information

    • Title: Digital Foundations: Intro to Media Design with the Adobe Creative Suite
    • Author(s):
    • Release date: December 2008
    • Publisher(s): New Riders
    • ISBN: 9780321602602