In this assignment, you will use Adobe Illustrator to create two small visual signs — similar to icons from The Noun Project — to visually summarize key qualifications and skills in a job description. The idea is that these small graphics could be used as visual elements in branding or design materials.
Representing Ideas and Concepts
1. Find a current job posting or open position for the kind of job you might like to have someday. (It could be something you’re actually applying for, but better if it’s aspirational and somewhat beyond your current qualifications.) To find job postings, you can search online with specific companies, industry job boards, LinkedIn, Google, etc.
Save a copy of your selected job posting by copying the text into a Word document, taking a screenshot, or printing to PDF. You will need to submit this later.
2. Make a list summarizing five key values, skills or qualifications from the job posting. These could be concrete terms, such as videography, proofreading, or event planning, or they could be broader values such as collaboration, attention to detail, diversity, fast-paced, and so on.
2. Take your list and sketch a visual sign to represent each of those five values. Label each sketch so it’s clear what it represents. The idea is what matters; your drawing skills are not important as long as the idea comes through. (You should have five sketches, but they can all be on the same piece of paper.)
For example, in this Seattle Times job posting for an education reporter, the list could be: 1) education knowledge, 2) community engagement, 3) data skills, 4) curiosity, 5) teamwork.
3. Choose two of your five sketches and create them as polished graphics in Illustrator similar to those available from The Noun Project, a site with vectors graphics available to use with a Creative Commons license. (We might colloquially call these icons or symbols, though these instructions avoid those terms since it can cause confusion with our semiotics lesson.)
• Create a new Illustrator file with a square artboard of 1000×1000 pixels. Size is not very important in Illustrator, unlike Photoshop, since vector graphics do not become pixelated, but this will make it easier to save to the correct size later on.
• Save your Illustrator file with an appropriate file name since you will need to submit it later.
• Use shapes and tools in Illustrator to build your geometric shapes. Use tools such as the Pen, Shaper, Shape Builder, as well as the Pathfinder functions to create one united shape at the end.
• Scale your design to fill the complete artboard.
Videos covering Illustrator basics are here: Building Shapes in Illustrator
4. Export each icon from Illustrator as a transparent PNG file sized 300×300 pixels. Unlike JPG files, PNG files can have a transparent background, which makes them useful for placing on websites and within graphic design products.
- Go to File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy)
- Set the file type to PNG-24 and make sure the “Transparency” checkbox is checked.
- Adjust the export dimensions at the bottom, like in Photoshop.
This article by a UX designer describes an exercise she did for herself that is similar to your assignment tasks, so it may be helpful for thinking through the process.
Submitting Your Work
Submit the following to Canvas:
- Copy of your selected job posting in any readable format
- A photo or scan of your drawn sketches
- Your Illustrator file(s) with the two icons
- Two PNG files sized 300×300 pixels
Demonstrated Skills:
- Translation of abstract concepts to concrete visual designs
- Use of Adobe Illustrator shape tools to combine simple shapes into more complex shapes and designs
- Successful exporting from Adobe Illustrator to create vector graphics with transparent backgrounds for use on the web or in graphic design products