Scientific Visual Communication: Creating Figures using Adobe Illustrator

No, if you do not already have a Adobe software licence through your institute, a free 7-day trial version of the Illustrator software can be downloaded from the Adobe website for use in the workshop

Although the workshop does cover basic drawing functionality in Adobe Illustrator, it mainly focuses on making the most of the layer functionality within Illustrator, to create images that can easily be edited, adapted and combined to create a range of visually consistent figures. You will also be shown how to draw an image from scratch (such as the cuttlefish image at the top of this webpage) by using reference images as guides. So if you feel you are not getting the most from Illustrator, the methodologies demonstrated during the workshop should help you.

No, all that is required is a desk-top computer with a mouse, or a laptop with a mouse or trackpad. You may find it easier to use a mouse for some of the tasks, even if you normally use a trackpad, so it would be useful to have a mouse with you during the workshop.

Definitely, all software and platforms we’ll be using are available for both MacOS and MS Windows. Gill herself uses a MacBook Air to demonstrate the Adobe Illustrator exercises.

Go to the Adobe Illustrator webpage - https://www.adobe.com/uk/products/illustrator/free-trial-download.html - to download the free trial version of the software. Be sure to cancel the trial after the workshop to avoid being charged.

Yes, Gill can provide one-to-one feedback to participants during the Adobe Illustrator exercises, via the screen-sharing facility in Zoom.

Participants will need to attend the workshop live, as the session will not be recorded.

Before the workshop, you will be provided with ten guides (as pdf files) that provide step-by-step instructions for the Adobe Illustrator functionality used in the exercises, as well as for additional functionality that you may find useful. The introductory presentation shown in the workshop will not be available to participants, but you will have access to a pdf file that summarises the advice given during the workshop.

 

No you do not have to have attended Good Graphic Design to attend this workshop.  However the Good Graphic Design Practice workshop will provide graphic design guidelines that will at times be referred to in this workshop and that you can apply in practice during this workshop. 

A few days before the workshop you will be provided with ten pdf files that give step-by-step instructions to the Adobe Illustrator functionality that you will be using during the workshop. You do not need to read these guides prior to the workshop and you may find them easier to follow once you have started to use the software. However, you should have the guides available so that you can consult them during the workshop.

If you do not have access to an Adobe Illustrator licence, you can download a free 7-day trial version of the software to use in the workshop. It is recommended that you do this one or two days prior to the workshop. You will be provided with an example Illustrator file before the workshop and you can try opening this file to check that the software is working on your computer.

Good Graphic Design Practice is a presentation of good graphic design practice as it relates to scientific visual communication. The guidelines and tips described in the presentation can be applied to any kind of visual communication (a figure, slide, poster, paper, etc), no matter what software package is used to create it. Participants are strongly encouraged to ask questions and to provide examples of visual communication from their own scientific field that can be discussed during the workshop.

Creating Figures using Adobe Illustrator is a practical, hands-on session that concentrates on one particular software package (Adobe Illustrator), and one type of visual communication (scientific figures), with a particular emphasis on drawing illustrative elements for conceptual figures. If you have always wanted to try Adobe Illustrator, but don't know where to start, this workshop provides a very good entry point. The workshop describes a methodology for creating adaptable figures from scratch using Illustrator and participants get to use this method for themselves. The graphic design guidelines described in the Good Graphic Design Practice can also be applied to the figures created during this workshop. 

If you need to cancel your place on a course please do this through MyMBA.  If you cancel a course or event booking more than 30 days before the start date of the event you are eligible to receive a full refund minus an admin fee equal to 5% of the course fee that you have paid.  If you cancel a course or event booking within 30 days of the start date you will NOT be eligible for a refund.  For more information please see the terms and conditions which are available on booking.

Yes, you will receive a downloadable pdf certificate upon competition of the course