Graphic design and art (EdTech)

Graphic design and art technologies allow developers to create artistic and graphic works digitally. These technologies allow for graphic creation, photo editing, motion graphics and animations, and other image creation, manipulation, and publication tasks.

Definition

Graphic design and art technologies are those that allow a person to create, edit, and publish graphical elements, such as images, layouts, photos, and icons. This also includes the ability to manipulate shape, color, and other visual appearance elements of a graphic.

Additional Information

Almost every educational product will have some degree of graphical elements that are in the design. Designers need to consider all of the visual and graphic elements that will be included in the content, media, and interfaces of the educational product. Additionally, designers will need to consider the overall look and feel of these elements and how they all go together in a cohesive way.

The overall layout of a document matters in both the aesthetic appeal as well as its usability and readability.

Additionally, designers can use graphic and art production technologies with learners to have them produce their own graphical elements, images, layouts, documents, or animations. Production activities such as making graphics and document layouts are a part of project-based learning and active learning approaches in general.

Common technologies for graphic and art work

• Graphic design and editing software. Graphic and photo editors allow for designers to create and manipulate images. Designers are able digitally manipulate elements of a graphic, such as the colors, brightness, contrast, lighting, image layers, size, shape. Graphic design and editing software output graphic files that can be used in other media, such as layout designs, websites, videos, documents, or printed on paper or other physical media. Common graphic design software include Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, Procreate, Adobe Lightroom, and many others. There are also substantial differences between the two types of graphic files that are digitally produced: raster (which is pixel-based) and vector (which is mathematics based) graphics.
  • Raster graphics are images in which each pixel of an image is defined with a color to generate a specific color in the graphic file, which makes it difficult to scale the image up to another size without any loss. Common raster graphic file formats are .jpg, .gif, .bmp, and .png.
  • Vector graphics are mathematically generated via defined relationships between the lines, edges, and curves of shapes in the image, which allows for images to scale up or down proportionately when needed. Vector images are used with animations to allow for smooth transformations and movements among graphic files in the animation. However, vector graphics are not able to produce high resolution images or defined photographs. Common vector formats are .svg, .ai, .dxf, and .eps.
• Layout and document design software. Layout design software is used to design documents, particularly how graphical elements will be laid out on a document, usually for printing or publication. Graphic design editing software can be used for this purpose, such as photoshop. However, specialized software specifically for document layout and design are typically used, such as Adobe InDesign, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Publisher, or even Microsoft Word. Additionally, web-based layout and document design services allow designers to quickly generate document layouts for print and distribution, such as Canva. Layout and document design software output digital document file formats such as .pdf, .doc, and .id.
• Motion graphics and animation software. Motion graphics are used in videos to make graphical elements move around the screen, transition in and out of the shot, and transform their shape and size to create an animated effect. Animation software operates similarly by having graphical elements move around a screen. Some animation software also allows for user interactions to be programmed inside an animation, such as the ability to click buttons, manipulate animated elements, and otherwise control aspects of the animation. Common animation software include Adobe Animate, Flash (although this is now outdated and largely unsupported), Adobe After Effects (for video motion graphics), Adobe Character Animator, Blender, and Cartoon Animator.
• Hand-drawn input devices and tablets. Some specialized tablets, pens, and input devices allow for artists and graphic designers to use their hands and draw directly onto a tablet, which gets digitized and translated into graphic design software. Common tablets are the iPad using the Apple Pencil, any tablet or touch screen computer using a digital stylus, the Waycom desktop digital tablet hardware, or the Huion drawing screen.
• Image and asset repositories. Multiple websites and file sharing systems exist today to allow designers to get inspiration by, use, or remix existing graphical elements for their own projects. Websites that sell or distribute digital assets allow for graphical elements to be easily downloaded and subsequently edited in graphic design software, which can cut down on developer work time substantially by not having to create all new assets.
• Scanning technologies. Although they are not an editing software, scanning technologies that convert physical items into digital images are used in the graphic design process to generate digital graphics and art.

Tips and Tricks

• All designers will need to consider the graphical elements of how their overall educational product and any documents, media, or interfaces will look and feel. Think about everything that a participant will see when interacting with the product or educational experience, which will give you an idea of the graphical elements, layouts, and navigation aspects that you should consider for your design.
• Design a general idea of how you want your product to look and feel while developing the specifications, so that these ideas can be passed on to any artists or graphic designers during the development phase if they are brought onto the project team. Consider using wireframes and mockups to communicate your ideas about the look and feel of graphical elements and layouts.
• Graphic designers need to consider which file types they should work with when developing graphics. Consider whether you will need very large or scalable images at different sizes in your project. If so, you should likely use vector-format graphics to allow for continuous smooth scaling. If you are working with photographs or videos, you will likely consider a raster format image. If you are publishing images for the web or apps and they will not need to be available at different sizes, raster images will likely be your best solution, as they are easier to produce and use.
• Consider possibilities of how you might have participants use graphic design and art programs to produce their own images and documents. Through the act of producing their own works, participants engage in active learning principles and create memorable experiences that are valuable for achieving learning objectives.

Related Concepts

• Educational technology
• Graphics
• Aesthetic
• Media and multimedia

Examples

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External Resources

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