Designing a Typographic Poster with Illustrator

Begin by getting to know designer Steffen Wagner. He tells you about his work, his biggest influences, and the artists that inspire him to create.

Next, Steffen explains the fundamentals of typography and touches on the materials you need, like pencils and a ruler. He also teaches how to appreciate the beauty and complexity of letters and build an inspirational mood board for your project.

Now it's time to get to work on your poster. Decide on the design, typography, and symbols you want to include and draw a square grid to help you arrange them into a balanced composition. Follow your teacher through some sketching exercises to train your artistic eye and get a feel for the letters before designing your own.

Move past black and white and choose a color palette for your design. Recreate your grid in Adobe Illustrator, digitize your sketch, and brighten it up with color. Then, transfer your design to Photoshop and enhance it with some finishing touches: overlay textures, apply color contrasts, and add a range of visual effects.

Finally, see how to use mock-ups to visualize your design in a space before you print it (for example, if you want to frame it and hang it on your wall). To round out the course, Steffen explains how to apply your designs to different objects such as clothing, mugs, and cards.