Core Courseware Components
2ND EDITION
A highly visual introduction to the elements and principles of design.
Connecting to Design introduces students to the core elements and principles of two-dimensional design through a clear, easy-to-follow framework. It builds a shared visual vocabulary that applies across graphic design, interior design, industrial design, animation, fashion, film, game art, and more.
Visual & Accessible
A bite-sized format and consistent illustration style make design concepts easier to understand, compare, and remember.
Cross-Disciplinary Application
See how each concept appears across a wide range of creative fields, not limited to a single discipline.
Clear Connections
The book’s “form and content” framework helps students connect what they see with what a design communicates.
LOOK INSIDE
See How the Book Works
The selections shown here are excerpts from Connecting to Design. This preview is not meant to show entire chapters, but to give you a clear sense of how the book is structured, how the ideas are introduced, and how the visual examples and video support the learning process.
Consistent Visual Language
Throughout the book, the illustrations use a consistent visual world — the same context and the same frame of reference — so that each new concept can be understood without distraction. The subject matter builds upon itself, allowing one element or principle to change at a time, helping the reader clearly see how each design decision affects meaning, mood, movement, and visual impact.
Form and Content
Connecting to Design is built around a simple and consistent teaching method: each concept is introduced through form and content. Form, the visual structure, followed by content: what the design communicates, how it feels, and why those visual choices matter.
Integrated Video Examples
Selected concepts include embedded videos that extend the lesson, showing visual relationships that are easier to understand in motion. These clips deepened comprehension.
Clear, Accessible Learning
The intent of this sampling is to show how the book teaches design in a clear, accessible, and connected way. Rather than overwhelming the reader with unrelated images, Connecting to Design keeps the visual language consistent so the focus stays on the concept being introduced.
INCLUDED WITH COURSEWARE ACCESS
The companion website extends the learning experience beyond the textbook by showing how each element and principle appears in real-world design.
Students can explore examples from graphic design, interior design, industrial design, animation, fashion, film, game art, and related fields.
The example shown here demonstrates how the element of line is analyzed through a media arts and animation example. Each element and principle is explored across multiple creative disciplines, helping students see how the same design concepts apply in many different visual contexts.
Real-World Examples
Cross-Disciplinary Insight
Deeper Understanding
Images on Commentary on Design are selected to illustrate specific design concepts for teaching, study, commentary, critique, and analysis. Third-party materials remain the property of their respective rights holders.
MEDIA ARTS & ANIMATION
A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008)
Aardman Animations
Predominant Lines: Psychic, Thick to Thin, Radiating, Even Weight, Parallel, Implied, Opposition
This image demonstrates a strong and expressive use of line. The psychic line created by the character’s implied gaze immediately connects us to her, while the radiating lines of her dress create movement, energy, and excitement. The thick-to-thin quality of the dress lines adds personality and a feminine flair.
In contrast, the even-weight, parallel lines of her umbrella feel more orderly and structured. The vertical homes in the background create an opposing line relationship with the horizontal picket fence, giving the scene a sense of stability. At the same time, the strong implied lines formed by the flowerbeds and pavers lead our eye through the scene and contrast with the curving lines of the figure. Together, these line relationships create contrast, energy, motion, and visual drama. Clearly, this character is meant to make an entrance!
Commentary on Design
The sample materials below use line as an example to show how the courseware resources support teaching, learning, and assessment.
Lecture Slide Deck
INCLUDED WITH COURSEWARE ACCESS
Ready-to-use lecture slides introduce each concept with clear visuals and key takeaways to help guide class discussions.
Instructor Resources
INCLUDED WITH COURSEWARE ACCESS
Downloadable worksheets, assignments, and rubrics help you reinforce key ideas, guide practice, and assess student understanding.