Minneapolis Public Schools

Throughout history, from the earliest carvings in stone to today’s digital designs, graphic design has been the foundation of effective visual communication. Whether you're designing a logo, building a website, or crafting a magazine layout, the right graphic design can transform your work from ordinary to exceptional. Build the skills to confidently choose the perfect graphic design for any project, creating work that is not only visually stunning but also functionally effective. The Certificate program consists of three courses: 

Typography Essentials

Unit 1

Foundations of Typography

• The history of typography: from carved stone to digital type
• Letterform anatomy and key terminology: strokes, serifs, counters, terminals, and more
• Proportions and ratios in letterform design
• How to analyze and evaluate typefaces: form, function, and personality
• Understanding font file formats and their uses (OTF, TTF, WOFF, etc.)
  • Google fonts, Adobe fonts

Unit 2

Understanding and Choosing Typefaces

• Fonts vs. font families definition
• History of typeface eras and the evolution of classifications
• Introduction to type classifications: serif, sans-serif, script, display, etc.
• Choosing a typeface: readability, legibility, appropriateness, tone, and medium
• Aligning type with message, audience, and context
• Best practices for font pairing and establishing harmony
• Sourcing and licensing fonts responsibly for personal and commercial use

Unit 3

Typographic Hierarchy and Layout

• Principles of visual hierarchy: guiding the viewer’s eye
• The three core levels of typographic hierarchy in practice
• Creating emphasis through typographic contrast: weight, size, color, case, and style
• Highlighting and emphasis techniques: bold, italic, all caps, small caps, and color
• Type alignment and consistency: flush left, centered, justified, and ragged-right

Unit 4

Formatting Text and Typesetting

• Working with grids and layout strategies to organize content
• Using column grids to structure text across layouts
• Choosing the right column configuration for print and digital
• Paragraph structure and rhythm: indentation and separation
• Precision spacing: kerning, tracking, and leading
• Managing orphans, widows, and runts
• Hyphens and Dashes: proper usage of hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes

Mastering Layouts and Grids

Unit 1

Grids & Columns: The Structural Foundation

• The importance of planning before placing: where and how to begin a layout
• What grids are and why they matter in design
• Understanding grids, columns, margins, gutters, and alignment
• Single-column layouts
• Two-column layouts
• Three-column layouts
• Traditional grid (Van der Gaaf)
• Modular grids
• Hierarchical grids
• Setting up grids in Adobe software

Unit 2

Negative Space: Designing with Breathing Room

• What negative space is—moving beyond “empty” to an active design tool
• Guiding attention and hierarchy with negative space
• Active vs. Passive Negative Space
• Internal vs. External Negative Space
• Micro vs. macro whitespace — spacing inside elements vs. around blocks
• Shortening or offsetting columns to introduce a visual pause.
• Luxurious negative space — deliberately “oversizing” margins or padding for elegance.
• Eliminating columns for dramatic whitespace blocks.
• Negative Space Geometric Shapes: Structuring Layouts for Flow and Breathing Room
• Negative Space Traps—avoiding awkward gaps and unbalanced spacing
• Minimalism and restraint—knowing when less is more.

Unit 3

Visual Hierarchy & Focal Points

• Understanding Visual Hierarchy: why some elements grab attention first and others follow.
• Creating Focal Points—scale, color, contrast, and placement to highlight key content.
• Layering Information (primary, secondary, tertiary)
• Typography as hierarchy — headline, subhead, body text
• Creating Focal Points — scale, color, contrast, placement
• Directional Cues & Leading Lines

• Proportional Guides & Composition Rules

Unit 4

Bringing It All Together: Advanced Layout Techniques

• Creating complex multi-column layouts (Column elimination, merging columns)
• Multi-page spreads and continuity of flow
• Designing for different screens
• Common layout mistakes and how to fix them

Mastering Color: Theory, Harmony, and Practical Application

Unit 1

Understanding Color Theory

• The science of color: light vs. pigment
• Additive and subtractive color systems (RGB vs. CMYK)
• Hue, saturation, and value explained
• Warm vs. cool colors and their visual effects
• Emotional and psychological associations with color

Unit 2

Color Harmony and Palette Building

• The color wheel: primary, secondary, and tertiary colors
• Color harmony rules: complementary, analogous, triadic, split-complementary, tetradic
• How to build and test a balanced palette
• Dominant, subdominant, and accent color roles
• Using neutrals, tints, tones, and shades
• Creating mood boards and palette studies
• Tools and resources for palette creation (https://color.adobe.com)

Unit 3

Color in Practice

• Applying color to layout and typography
• Using color to guide hierarchy and focus
• Color in branding and identity systems
• Color for UI/UX design and digital products
• Working with color in Adobe apps (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop)

Unit 4

Color for Accessibility and Output

• Understanding contrast and readability guidelines (WCAG standards)
• Designing for color blindness and inclusive experiences
• When Colors Clash: The Flickering Effect
• Preparing files for accurate color printing
• Screen calibration and digital color accuracy
• Common mistakes and how to fix them: using too many colors, poor contrast, etc.