In class on 1/21, we’ll talk about the digital badges mini project and the basics of Adobe Illustrator.
Here are some examples of badge sets we can look at in class. What do these badges say about the issuing organization and the person being rewarded?
- Lifescouts (thanks for the tip, Stephanie G.!)
- Blackboard Achievements
- Mozilla Webmaker
- Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado
- Purdue Passport app
- Volvo Cross Country Travels app
Chapter 2 in White Space advises us to keep asking “what will appeal to the audience?” during the planning process. (Jess Klein offers great tips for doing that, specifically in relation to digital badges.) In addition to looking at other badge designs, consider drawing inspiration from emoji, computer icons, and Facebook stickers — these are familiar visual codes for your audience of college students.
- Emoji and “shorthand visual communications”
- “The Woman Behind Apple’s First Icons”
- “Design that sticks: Meet the designers behind the mobile messaging sticker craze”
Over the next 4 or 5 days, work on design sketches in a notebook and begin pinning or tumbling images (shapes, textures, logos, etc.) that give you ideas for the badges you might want to create. Follow the brainstorming/sketching process in White Space Chapter 2.
When you have your design vision or concept firmed up, search for online tutorials that will help you accomplish what you want to create. I’m working on a Resources page, and that might be a good place to start.
A note on the Foundations of Digital Art and Design book: if you go to the publisher’s website, you’ll find an eBook for $35. Also, when I visited the site, I was offered a 35% off discount code (POP35), so that might save you money if it applies to the eBook (I didn’t try it).