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A route

I want to learn graphic design.

Type, colour, layout, resolution and print, taught properly and tied to real work. 10 guides, about 50 minutes in total, in the order that gets you there.

The route, in order

  1. Six decisions that make plain type look designed.Set type that reads wellHierarchy, pairing, size, measure, leading and tracking: the numbers that make text easy to read, and where to set each one in Voidcanvas.Beginner5 minDesign craft
  2. Grids, space and a focal point.Lay out a page with a grid, space and a clear focal pointUse columns, margins and a spacing scale, align to fewer edges, give the page one focal point and control the order people read in.Beginner5 minDesign craft
  3. Palettes, contrast and colour on screen versus print.Choose colours that work on screen and in printBuild palettes with roles, make even ramps in OKLCH, pass WCAG 2.2 contrast, and know what happens when RGB colour goes to a printer.Intermediate5 minDesign craft
  4. Pixels, dpi and why images look soft.Understand pixels, dpi and why images look softHow pixel dimensions, ppi and print size relate, why images blur when scaled, what makes files big, and the size limits in Voidcanvas.Beginner4 minDesign craft
  5. The moves that separate a template from a design.How to make a design look less genericA design looks generic when nothing in it was decided: the layout came with the template, every element is the same size and importance, the colours are safe mid-tones, and the photo is used whole. Fix it with six decisions, in this order: set a real type scale so one thing is clearly biggest; let one colour lead and one accent answer it; crop the photo hard and give it a treatment; put everything on a grid with a single focal point and real margins; add texture from an actual process rather than a filter preset; then remove a third of what is left. Each move is below, with where to do it in Voidcanvas.Intermediate7 minDesign craft
  6. All of it applied to the one format everyone makes first.Poster design rules that work from across a roomA poster is seen from a distance, for a few seconds, by someone who was not looking for it. Everything follows from that. One message, not three. Type sized for the distance: capitals about 10 mm tall for every 3 m the reader stands away, and the headline two to three times that. Three sizes of type, each clearly bigger than the next. One focal point that wins by a wide margin. Margins and a grid so it looks placed, not dropped. Two colours and a neutral. Details in reading order: what, when, where, how to get in. Then two tests: squint at it, and shrink it to the size of your phone. If the headline and the date survive both, it works.Beginner6 minDesign craft
  7. The detail that most often gives a beginner away.Drop shadows that look real: distance, blur, opacityReal shadows are soft, faint, tinted and consistent. Keep opacity at 20 to 40 per cent, make the blur (Size) larger than the Distance, give every shadow in the design the same Angle so there is one light, and pick a dark tint of the background colour rather than pure black. For a product on a surface, add a contact shadow: a small, dark, tight shadow right at the base, under the soft one. A hard black shadow at full opacity is the single fastest way to make a design look amateur.Beginner2 minEditor
  8. Make and export a first design in five minutes.Make and export your first designPick a size, add a photo and a headline, and download a finished PNG. About five minutes, start to finish.Beginner3 minStart here
  9. Apply all of it to one finished flyer.Make an A5 flyer with bleed for the printerDesign an A5 flyer at 300 dpi with a safe margin, then deliver it from Studio as a print PDF with 3 mm bleed, crop marks and trim and bleed boxes set.Beginner4 minWorkflows
  10. Every term, in plain English.Glossary of design and Voidcanvas termsPlain-English definitions of the design terms and product names used across Voidcanvas, from adjustment layer to workspace.Beginner9 minReference