Adobe Illustrator - scientific artwork & infographics

This online training will teach the tools needed to create beautiful and functional vector graphics/illustrations and develop infographics.
For Ph.D. candidates, postdocs, and staff.

Vector graphics are the main product of Adobe Illustrator and the fundamental design element for your infographics. After completing the course, you will create your scientific artwork and efficiently visualize your data in Adobe Illustrator. We will discuss the theory behind infographics design, and you will appreciate the power of color and typography in your designs. Applying the designing principles you will learn, you will understand why some designs look better and are easier to follow than others.

Learning objectives

We aim to introduce Adobe Illustrator and help you design vector graphics, graphs & illustrations. Starting from scratch, you will discover how to navigate the program, draw your illustrations and develop your infographics. You will be provided with a straightforward manual to look back on when you have a new design challenge. You will be trained to recognize a good and lousy infographic design and improve your designs with simple but necessary designing techniques.

Instructional method

The course is divided into four sessions. The focus of the first two sessions is on Adobe Illustrator. During the last two sessions, you will learn more about Infographics' design theory and the principles of good design. You will be challenged to improve, design, and give feedback to infographics. There will be a theoretical part in all four sessions, followed by assignments with the trainer's supervision and help. The activities are given beforehand, but you can always bring your designing challenge to practice. The activities in the Adobe Illustrator sessions are designed to teach you the program's tools and functions. The Infographics sessions will help you see and recognize designing flaws and enhance your designs with the knowledge you have acquired during the course. After each session, you will be given homework which you will get the chance to do during the week. Iliana will provide feedback on all assignments you hand in.

This course provides a printed manual that you can skim upfront, save time on the first session, and use afterward to refresh the theory. This allows the course sessions to focus on the tools and design principles needed to create your scientific artwork and infographics. The assignments will make you confident to design your projects at the end.

Remember that Adobe Illustrator is used for drawing illustrations and vector graphics, while Adobe InDesign is used to layout any file from a figure to a thesis book. If your goal is to layout, consider following the other course provided (Adobe InDesign - from Dissertation Layout to Poster Design)

Important

To follow the course, you need a laptop with Adobe Illustrator installed in English. Also, remember to have a mouse or a graphic tablet to work since the laptop's mousepad will make the work difficult.

Number of participants: 8 – 15