Visual Design Solutions Principles and Creative Inspiration for Learning Professionals

No matter what medium you use to deliver content, if the visual design fails, the experience falls flat. Meaningful graphics and a compelling visual design supercharge instruction, training, and presentations, but this isn't easy to accomplish. Now you can conquer your design fears and knowledge gaps with Visual Design Solutions: a resource for learning professionals seeking to raise the bar on their graphics and visual design skills. This informal and friendly book guides you through the process and principles used by professional graphic designers. It also presents creative solutions and examples that you can start using right away. Anyone who envisions, designs, or creates instructional or informational graphics will benefit from the design strategies laid out in this comprehensive resource.

Written by Connie Malamed, an art educator and instructional designer, this book will help you tap into your creativity, design with intention, and produce polished work. Whereas most graphic design books focus on logos, packaging, and brochures, Visual Design Solutions focuses on eLearning, presentations, and performance support. Visual Design Solutions includes practical guidelines for making smart design choices, ways to create professional-looking products, and principles for successful graphics that facilitate learning. Ideal for instructional designers, trainers, presenters, and professors who want to advance from haphazard to intentional design, this book will help them realize their design potential.

• Gain the knowledge and confidence to design impressive, effective visuals for learning
• Increase learner comprehension and retention with visual strategies offered by an expert author
• Serves as a reference and a resource, with a wealth of examples for inspiration and ideas
• Addresses an intimidating topic in an informal, friendly style

In four parts, the book provides a thorough overview of the design process and design concepts; explores space, image, and typography; and presents workable solutions for your most persistent and puzzling design problems. Get started and begin creating captivating graphics for your learners.

CONNIE MALAMED consults, writes, and speaks in the fields of online learning, visual communication, and information design, through her company, Connie Malamed Consulting. She has more than 20 years of experience designing learning and visual solutions for nonprofit organizations, higher education, government, and businesses. She is the author of Visual Language for Designers, the publisher of heelearningcoach.com, and the creator of Instructional Design Guru, a mobile reference app for instructional design. With degrees in art education and instructional design, Malamed energetically pursues ways to improve instructional and information graphics. You can connect with her on Twitter at @elearningcoach.

List of Figures and Tables vii

Preface xix

Introduction xxi

Part 1 The Big Ideas

Chapter 1: Like a Hand in Glove 3

Chapter 2: Think Like a Designer; You are One 11

Chapter 3: Work Like a Designer 23

Part 2 Building Blocks of Design

Chapter 4: Organizing Graphic Space 45

Chapter 5: Selecting and Creating Images 66

Chapter 6: Working with Type 102

Part 3 Power Principles

Chapter 7: Use Color with Purpose 133

Chapter 8: Establish a Visual Hierarchy 157

Chapter 9: Unify The Design 171

Chapter 10: Create Contrast 181

Chapter 11: Group for Meaning 194

Part 4 Practicing Design

Chapter 12: Show Them Where to Look 211

Chapter 13: Add Some Excitement 229

Chapter 14: Enhance Meaning 253

Chapter 15: Tell Stories with Visuals 282

Chapter 16: Make Numbers Interesting 310

References 339

About the Author 343

Index 345