Design and Composition In graphic design or digital photography, what makes a creative piece stand out? The answer is often composition. Composition is the assembly or construction of elements on a page or canvas. It’s the artful arrangement that attracts a viewer's eye and makes your work stand out.
In this 3-lesson, hands-on class led by Piper Nilsson, you'll develop your composition skills by analyzing everything from Grand Masters to Madison Avenue advertisements to tubes of toothpaste and working on creative projects.
On this page: enrollment details | instructor | class projects and objectives | prerequisites
Class Title: |
Design and Composition |
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Start Date: |
Classes start daily.
Enroll today and gain immediate access. |
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Class Length: |
Three months of access to class materials and instructor feedback. |
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Other details: |
Self-paced, online, 24 access to online learning environment |
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Tuition:
$803
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Class Instructor Bio:
Piper Nilsson is a graphic designer and information architect. In her four-year career for a leading Web design agency, she blueprinted sites for such global clients as MetLife, Pepsi, ETS, and Citibank. Her current projects include building an e-learning prototype for children with learning disabilities and teaching technology in New York City public schools. She received a degree in graphic design from Pratt Institute. LEFT: Image from Design and Composition with Piper Nilsson
This Nokia ad is used to illustrate the principle of Contrasting Scale in advertising. |
Class Projects and Objectives:
This online class is packed with projects and tips. Students can expect to:
- Look at design as two-dimensional shapes.
- Differentiate between positive and negative space.
- Identify the three kinds of negative space.
- Test compositions for empty and crowded space.
- Learn how to develop a strong structure for your composition.
- Use your design software or digital camera to create three compositions.
- Demonstrate your understanding of open, closed, and divided negative space in three distinct compositions.
- Experiment with placement and cropping to achieve a harmonious balance in each composition.
- Learn how to create a sense of unity with proximity, repetition, continuation, and underlying color.
- Discover how to balance compositions by color, value, shape, and position.
- Learn how to incorporate repetitive, alternating, and progressive rhythm.
- Explore how to divide a page proportionally using golden section and root 2 rectangle proportions.
- Use your design software or digital camera to create four compositions.
- Demonstrate your understanding of unity, balance, rhythm, and proportion in four distinct compositions.
- Experiment with placement and cropping to achieve a harmonious balance in each composition.
- Create a focal point with contrast, placement, and eye contact.
- Direct the viewer's eye through a composition.
- Achieve visual push and pull with overlapping planes.
- Determine the viewing distance and angle of your work.
- Use design software to create a poster design, working with given text and your own images.
- Demonstrate your understanding of creating a focal point and movement in your design.
- Learn how to integrate other design principles into your composition.
| Prerequisites: |
- Own and have basic experience with Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.
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