Digital Collage for Editorials (Spanish, Multisub)

Create dynamic illustrations for magazines, newspapers and other publications At first glance, collage and editorial design appear to be completely unrelated art forms, even diametrically opposed: on one hand, you have the seemingly chaotic nature of collage, and on the other, the meticulously crafted structure of editorial design. That space in between is the sweet spot for editorial designer and illustrator Israel G. Vargas, who combines the two worlds with a logical balance through digital collage. His work has been featured in renowned publications like Wired and The New York Times.

In this course, learn the concepts and techniques behind creating a digital collage. Discover the expressive power this type of illustration has and its applications in publishing.

What will you learn in this online course?

Begin the course by getting to know Israel Vargas and how he found his way into editorial design and illustration. See a few of his favorite projects and the artists that inspire his work.

Before you dive into making your collage, Israel gives you a short and entertaining introduction to this compositional technique, explaining its history, how it came about, and what it’s used for.

Continue laying the foundation for your project by exploring the editorial process. Learn about the people and steps involved, as well as the aspects you need to consider when creating a collage for a publisher. Then, put together a mood board and create a sketch in Photoshop to capture your initial ideas and give your piece direction.

Build on those ideas to design a coherent composition and find out how to piece it all together into a collage. Israel gives you tips on what images to use, where to find them, and how to enhance them using Illustrator and Photoshop. Create your composition in black and white to see how the elements fit together as a whole, then discover how to bring it to life by adding colors from the selected palette.

Finally, put the finishing touches on your piece by applying filters and retouching textures, and learn how to prepare the final file for printing.

What is this course’s project? Create an illustration for an opening spread in a magazine, taking into account the layout and space for the text.

Who is this online course for? Design students and professionals interested in editorials processes, illustration, collage, and creative art direction.

Requirements and materials To take this course, you need a computer with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, as well as pencils, a notebook for sketching, and old photographs and magazines. A graphics tablet is also recommended, but not essential.