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Weekly Design Exercise abbrev. DEX

/‘wiːkli/ /‘dɪˈzʌɪn/ /‘ɛksəsʌɪz/ | noun

noun: weekly design exercise; plural noun: weekly design exercises

1.Activity requiring physical effort occurring once a week, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness of your freakin’ mind.

E.”Weekly Design Exercise improves your Adobe skills and design power"

Feel free to jump into our weekly design brief and produce a mini design project. They are completely free. No catch! These exercises are The Graphic Design School’s contribution to the continuum of the design education of our design graduates, students and the design world at large. Gosh darn that’s nice of us!

Who is this for?

Whether you are a Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced level designer. There is a brief to suit you. Follow the instructions in the brief to the letter.

How do I submit my work?

Once your done upload your image to share. We may upload your image to our new Instagram page, be sure to include your Insta handle (@username) so we can credit you. If you don’t have an Instagram account, you can just type in your name. Leave your details blank if you like.

What is a good size for the images?

Please make sure your image is of good resolution, it shouldn’t exceed more than 5mb or thereabouts. png, jpeg, svg all acceptable formats. By uploading your image you are giving us permission to publish it.

Can I subscribe to this awesome concept?

If you would like to receive an email from us each week with the brief and video. Be sure to subscribe at the top right of this page. We won’t share your information or be spammy.

What if I want to go further?

If you love what we do, and think you would like to try your hand at becoming a designer. Check out our courses here.

Can I contribute?

If you would like to become a regular video contributor, let us know. Even though we offer them for free, we pay contributors. Or if there is a technique that you would really like to learn, email us a visual, and any ideas you may have.

Can I contact The Graphic Design School?

Anything else you need or want to ask contact us at: social@thegraphicdesignschool.com

Can I be a voice of TGDS?

If you want to spread the good word to your design friends feel free to share this page on social media ;)

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Week 6 Envelope Distort in Illustrator

Envelope Distort in Illustrator
12mins
Upload Yours
Design Brief:
Design a word or logo in Ai, using the 'envelope distort' effect.
beginner:
Choose any word. Combine it with a shape that matches the word.
intermediate:
Design a logo for a brand. Use one shape and one font.
advanced:
Design a logo for a brand. Combine various shapes and/or fonts.
Design Constraints:
Work in Illustrator. Colour use is limited to black and white only.
Design Goals:
The shape used for envelope distort adds meaning to your word or brand logo.
Tools & Techniques:
IllustratorEnvelope Distort
Total Time Allowed:
1/2 hour research, 1 hour and a half execution for beginner and intermediate, more for advanced.

Week 5 Paper 3D Collage

Paper 3D Collage
29mins
Upload Yours
Design Brief:
Develop a poster or past card, with a visual that looks like a 3D cut and paste paper collage.'
beginner:
Limit yourself to a few shapes to create a visual for your poster or card.
intermediate:
Add text to it that that matches your communication goal and design.
advanced:
Turn it into an advertisement that pulls your target in. create a mockup to show your design.
Design Constraints:
Work in Illustrator, you can't use Photoshop ;). Limit yourself to 1 main colour (eg. for me that is white but you can pick any colour) for the majority of the visual.
Design Goals:
Create a visual that looks as if the paper is popping out of the poster.
Tools & Techniques:
IllustratorGradientsShadows
Total Time Allowed:
1/2 hour research, 1 hour and a half execution for beginner and intermediate, more for advanced.

Week 4 Polygons Mosaic

Polygons Mosaic
28mins
Upload Yours
Design Brief:
Make a photo of your fave food for break or lunch. Take it into Ai and turn it into a polygonal vector image.'
beginner:
Choose one food item to start with.
intermediate:
Choose 2 or more food items, and add a background.
advanced:
Design several food items, also create a reflection.
Design Constraints:
Use the Pen tool to draw the polygons. Pick the colours from the original image and adjust to create colour harmony.
Design Goals:
Create a polygonal vector mosaic, still easily recognisable as your favourite food.
Tools & Techniques:
IllustratorPolygonsPen ToolEye-dropper
Total Time Allowed:
1/2 hour research, 2 hours execution for beginner and intermediate, more for advanced.

Week 3 Mockup

Mockup
13mins
Upload Yours
Design Brief:
Pick one of your designs that you are very proud of/love and create a mock-up to present your design 'to the world'. There's many mock-ups available online (free and paid), try to find one that matches your work and really gives it the credit it deserves
beginner:
Pick a 'basic' mock-up with just 1 or 2 layers that you need to adjust, to get yourself familiar with it.
intermediate:
Pick a more complex mock-up with 3+ layers you need to adjust.
advanced:
Challenge yourself. Can you create your own mock-up?
Design Constraints:
Use Photoshop and create a mock-up for work you designed yourself. Adjust your design where needed to match the mock-up and make it look correct and as real as possible.
Design Goals:
Bring your work to life and make it look like reality
Tools & Techniques:
PhotorealismSmart Objects in Photoshop
Total Time Allowed:
1/2 hour research (and get familiar with the offer of mockups), 1 hour execution for beginner and intermediate, more for advanced.

Week 2 Head icons design

Head icons design
21mins
Upload Yours
Design Brief:
Design a flat icon in Ai with a long shadow and a paper cut-out look
beginner:
Design 1 icon.
intermediate:
Create a series of 3 icons.
advanced:
Create a series of 5 icons
Design Constraints:
Use Illustrator. The colour palette contains max 5 colours. The icon should show a head (animals or persons, that's up to you).
Design Goals:
Flat Design with 3D Effect
Tools & Techniques:
Blend toolShadows in Illustrator
Total Time Allowed:
1 hour sketching, 2 hour execution.

Week 1 Hand Lettering in a Shape

Hand Lettering in a Shape
17mins
Upload Yours
Design Brief:
Type becomes an image in this DEX. Draw an animal or object (we did a furry bunny for Easter) and find a nice quote that fits the shape.
beginner:
Focus on the shape and letter.
intermediate:
Add texture and background.
advanced:
Add texture and a background to create a mock-up of your final piece.
Design Constraints:
Start with pencil and (tracing) paper, before taking to Adobe Illustrator
Design Goals:
Shape, proportions, legibility
Tools & Techniques:
Hand letteringImage traceTracing in Illustrator
Total Time Allowed:
1/2 hour research, 1 hour sketching, 2 hour Adobe execution