The art of choosing fonts

Fonts come in two basic varieties: serif and sans serif. Usually, they look best when there's a bit of contrast, so pairing a serif font with a sans serif font is a good way to start your design.
Take a look at some examples of serif and sans serif fonts using the links below:

• Examples of SANS SERIF fonts
• Examples of SERIF fonts

Check out this short clip which gives a few tips on design with fonts:

The five elements of a great layout

An eye-catching layout is the key to a well-designed piece! Take a look at this clip to get the hang of it...



Think about these 5 concepts when you get started with your layout:

• Proximity
• White space
• Alignment
• Contrast
• Repetition

You will also need to think about whether you have large or small MARGINS, if you CENTER, LEFT JUSTIFY or RIGHT JUSTIFY your type.

Welcome to Beginning Graphic Design - Fall 2017!

Welcome to all new students and also to those of you who are returning! In this class, we are going to learn to see the world through the eyes of a graphic designer. Many of you are probably thinking "What exactly does a graphic designer do?" Here is a short clip which answers that question; let's watch it and discuss!

Two really famous designers you should know about are Milton Glaser, who designed the I LOVE NY logo, and Massimo Vignelli, who designed the signage for the NY City subway system:

NYC Subway signage by Massimo Vignelli

The I LOVE NY logo by Milton Glaser

Welcome to SMILE Magazine!

This magazine is the result of all the hard work of the Graphic Designers in After3's Beginning Graphic design class! We've learned about typography, layouts, proofreading as well as real world software such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign. We hope you enjoy our magazine!

Proofreading makes it perfect!

Ok, so you've spent hours and hours on a graphic design project, sent it out to the printer, and the proof comes back with all kinds of typos! What happened???

It probably means that you didn't spend enough time PROOFREADING your work! This is actually harder than it seems, so take a minute to check out the video for a few tips on how to do perfect proofreading.

Then below, use the Chicago Manual of Style Proof Marks Guide to mark up your work.

Spice up your layout by mixing different font styles!

Colorful images and photos can be an attractive part of a magazine layout, but let's not forget what you can do with type! Check out this video below to see how you can "spice up" your magazine layout with interesting text combinations!

Tweaking your text in InDesign is easy!

A successful magazine layout includes well-organized, easy-to-read text. Check out the short clip above which shows you how to make a multi-column layout, handle pesky overflow text, and create a cool-looking drop cap.