Visual Design Solutions: Principles and Creative Inspiration for Learning Professionals

Capture Interest and Enhance Understanding with the Right VISUAL DESIGN

Visual Design Solutions shows you how to achieve accessible, engaging visual designs for instructional materials. Visual communication educator and learning design specialist Connie Malamed shows you how to use targeted design to create materials that make information meaningful, relevant, and memorable.

This unique guide is a learning designer′s visual design book. It approaches design from your perspective, whether you′re designing training for the workplace or creating educational materials. Malamed explains the process and principles used by professional graphic designers, with creative solutions and examples you can apply immediately. Learn to use space, images, and typography to facilitate learning. Explore solutions for eLearning, presentations, and performance support. You′ll discover practical guidelines for making smart design choices while enhancing the learning process, ways to create impeccable products, and the best methods to make your graphics more captivating.

Today′s media–savvy audiences are surrounded with high–quality visuals. Your instructional materials have to measure up. Find out how to tap into your creativity, design with intention, and produce polished work that accomplishes its purpose.

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

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.