Learn how to conceptualize and create graphic elements to give personality to your brand
So you’ve got a logo. Now what? Brands are like people, with a voice, character, and their own ideals; they interact and express themselves through diverse points of contact, and a logo is just the tip of the iceberg.
In this course, Lane Cope and Sofía Vargas—creative directors and founders of Heavy, as well as being true branding buffs—teach you all the tricks to create graphics that accompany your logotype to exploit your brand’s full potential. Using a logo, learn how to design a set of patterns, typographic compositions, labels, and symbols to create a brand that’s flexible, eloquent, powerful, and able to connect emotionally with its target audience.
What will you learn in this online course?
19 lessons & 21 downloads
What will we do in the course?
1 minute, 14 seconds
Heavy branding
3 minutes, 51 seconds
Logocentric identities vs. flexible
9 minutes, 3 seconds
The fantastic world of auxiliary graphics
8 minutes, 14 seconds
Back to the bases
4 minutes, 48 seconds
Conceptualization
3 minutes, 23 seconds
What's included in this course?
Start by getting to know Lane Cope and Sofía Vargas’ work, the creative directors and founders of Heavy, who share their experience with clients around the world and their influences: books, blogs, and their favorite Instagram accounts.
Continue with an explanation of the differences between flexible identities and the logocentric ones. Analyze auxiliaries from various brands to identify styles and trends.
Next, discover some basic aspects of branding, advice on how to define your brand’s attributes, and translate them into a typographic selection of shapes and colors that complement your previously defined logo.
Once you have all the basics done, start to work on injecting life into your brand. From the planification of the necessary elements, to the sketch, and finally to digitizing and preparing your files.
Now, you’re ready to start producing a set of mockups of collateral pieces to show the graphic world what you’ve created.
Finally, Lane and Sofía give you advice on how to prepare a presentation to amaze your clients.
Recommended software & tools for this course
What is this course's project?
Design a set of auxiliary graphics, patterns, labels, and final mockups.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
For designers, illustrators, art directors, and creatives interested in branding, looking to experiment and create brands that captivate your clients and target audience.
Requirements and materials
You need basic design skills and the eagerness to experiment.
As for materials, you need pencils, paper, and a laptop with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator installed. All the materials you want to experiment with are also welcome.
Reviews
- 3 months ago
Curso bom para quem está começando na área de criação de Identidades Visuais.
- amarilaraPLUS9 months ago
Referências muito legais! Metodologia super interessante também
- 10 months ago
Great course for beginners!
- goutamPLUS10 months ago
quality & expert instructors
- 11 months ago
Adorei! A didática é muito boa ♥ recomendo
Heavy has designed for brands such as LinkedIn, Biossance, and the International Music Fair. Their favorite projects are those for start-up businesses, where the client is willing to get involved in the process and, at the same time, they have more freedom to experiment and propose ideas.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Who Are We?
- Influences
- What will we do in the course?
- U2
Auxiliary graphics: the best ally of heavy brands
- Heavy branding
- Logocentric identities vs. flexible
- The fantastic world of auxiliary graphics
- U3
The commission, conceptualization and inspiration
- Back to the bases
- Conceptualization
- Create a mood board with wave
- U4
Let's do it
- Check list
- Ideas on paper
- From paper to screen 1
- From paper to screen 2
- Typographic parameters
- Parameters in a flexible identity
- Noisy shadows without tablet
- U5
Collateral pieces and final presentation
- To give it life!
- Mock-ups that look like photos
- Rocking Presentation
- FP
Final project
- Your own set of auxiliar graphics and applications
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
PLUSIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
You’ll learn how to develop comprehensive brands, create flexible visual identities, apply visual communication strategies, and design editorial and collateral pieces—including illustration, typography, and professional mockups.
This course is designed for those with basic graphic design knowledge who want to dive deeper into branding, visual identity, and editorial design—making it ideal for intermediate-level learners.
You’ll need basic graphic design skills, familiarity with tools like Illustrator and Photoshop, and a computer with these programs installed.
By the end, you’ll be able to create visual identity systems, develop heavy brands, design online portfolios, craft creative editorial pieces, and professionally present proposals to clients.
A heavy brand is one with a strong personality and meaningful content that creates an emotional connection. You’ll learn to build one through consistent visual identity, copywriting, and visual strategies.
Yes, the course covers applied analog illustration techniques and their digital conversion, along with integrating illustrations into branding and editorial design.
You’ll learn to identify and apply Art Deco and Art Nouveau features in packaging design, adapting these styles to modern, minimalist concepts.