Intro to Graphic Design: Illustrating Badges and Icons with Geometric Shapes

In the world of social media, blogs, networks, tweets, chirps and posts, graphic icons and badges are everywhere. Have you ever wanted to design your own set of icons or badges to contribute to this visual internet wonderland? If so, you've come to the right place.

We'll focus on honing in on an idea, refining and crafting the details of a central concept before moving on to sketching. Then I'll dive into my process and show you a ton of tips and tricks for using basic geometric shapes in Illustrator to craft complex visuals in a minimal amount of space. We'll work through color palettes, details and consistency. You will complete a set of graphics that are both cohesive and individual.

What You'll Learn

• Building Ideas. We will begin exploring ideas for what you want to execute in your final project. I will share my brainstorming process with you and you will work on developing your own ideas.
• Building Consistency. We will cover basic theories of graphic design for building visual consistency, including shape, geometry, and color. 
• Building a Series. We will discuss how to create a balance of unity and variety within your badges.

What You'll Make

You will create a series of at least 6 icons or badges that focus on a central theme of your choosing– animals, robots, spaceships, buildings, food, social media, you name it! We'll execute these ideas by drawing them out with basic vector shapes as an exercise in restraint and simplification.

You'll be working with other students to refine the visuals and hone in on the best possible outcome and craft something unique for your portfolio. I'll also explain the basics of form, shape and gestalt design principles that will help take your work to the next level.

If you find this course intriguing, be sure to check out my other courses as well:

Intro to Design: Using Color Theory to Express Emotion

Intro to Design: Using Gestalt Principles to Design Unique Logos

• Introduction
• Building Ideas
• Introduction to Shape
• Drawing with Geometry
• Gestalt Principles
• Building A Color Palette
• Unity and Variety
• Advanced Drawing Techniques
• Finishing Touches