Dirty Design With Draplin: Crusty Techniques to Create Truly Original Work

Get down and dirty with Draplin’s favorite crusty techniques to add a human touch to your digital designs and create truly original work. 

While legendary designer Aaron Draplin has spent most of his career creating work on the computer, he’s always been inspired by the rough quality of vintage graphics that were created by hand. In this class, you’ll learn all about how he adds that signature “scrizz” to his digital designs—and why those little imperfections can actually make your work better.

First, you’ll learn a bit about the history of graphic design, and explore some of the old artifacts and modern artists that inspire Draplin to add this crusty quality to his work.

Then, you’ll dive into Photoshop and Illustrator to learn techniques you can use to add a little grit to your work, including how to:

• Use basic tools to give your work a grainy, low-res look 
• Embrace human error to prevent your design from looking too perfect
• Use halftones to create vintage-looking images
• Take your work off the computer to get even weirder with it
• Create the look of old printmaking and design techniques right on your computer

The best part is, these techniques and ideas are super simple and accessible to designers of all levels. Whether you want to create full vintage-inspired graphics, or just want to add a little bit of crust to make your work feel more human, you’ll finish class with some new skills in your graphic design toolkit to carry forward and use to elevate your work.