Adobe Illustrator - scientific artwork & infographics 2025

COURSE DESCRIPTION & GENERAL INFORMATION
This training teach you the tools of Adobe Illustrator needed to create beautiful & functional icons/vector graphics/illustrations. You will learn to lay out and style an infographic based on simple design principles. You will appreciate the power of color and typography in your designs and learn to combine them. By the end of the training, you know why some designs look better and are easier to follow. You will receive a printed manual with the theory to refer to at any new design challenge.

Course dates:
29 April from 9.30 am to 14.30 pm (5 hours) ONLINE
6 and 13 May from 9.30 am to 14.30 pm (5 hours) ONLINE
20 May from 10.30 AM to 14.30 pm (3,5 hours) FACE-TO-FACE
Location: Utrecht (20 May)
Language: English
Study hours: We recommend at least 25-30 hours of study and practice
The costs for this workshop are € 325,- per person.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
You will learn to navigate Adobe Illustrator, draw illustrations, and develop infographics (figures, posters, etc.). In the first two sessions, the focus is on Adobe Illustrator. The last two sessions focus on the principles of good design and how to design powerful scientific artwork. You can work on your existing posters and figures in the course and improve them.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD
After each session, you will be given homework, which you will get to do during the week. Iliana will provide feedback on all assignments you hand in. The assignments are given beforehand, but you can always bring your design challenge to practice. The sessions focused on Adobe Illustrator are designed to teach you the program’s tools and functions. The Infographics sessions will help you see and recognize design flaws and enhance your designs with the knowledge you have acquired during the course. The sessions are recorded, and the recordings will be provided to the participants who actively follow the course.

OBLIGATIONS
You need a laptop with Adobe Illustrator installed in English to take the course. A mouse or a graphic tablet is also highly recommended. Since part of the course is online and the sessions interactive, a microphone and a camera are mandatory for participation. If you plan to miss parts of the course, don’t hesitate to contact Iliana directly and ask about the possibilities (info@agilecolor.com). The platform used for the online sessions is Microsoft Teams.

TRAINER
Iliana Boshoven-Gkini (1981) has a BSc in Plant Sciences and two MSc in Landscape architecture, Floriculture, and garden design. After completing her studies, she worked independently as a graphic designer (2012) (AgileColor design studio | AgileColor.com). She focused, among others, on helping PhD students design their thesis books and scientific artwork. For more than 20 years, she has followed courses in painting and composition and has been an artist. She has an affinity for the use of color. From 2015, she taught Adobe Illustrator, Infographics, Photoshop, and InDesign courses at Wageningen and Utrecht Universities. She further gives guest lectures/trainings/workshops on numerous other occasions. Since 2019, she has been a certified teacher in the Netherlands (CRKBO, Centraal Register Kort Beroepsonderwijs) and a certified Adobe Instructor for Creative Cloud Design & Layout Solutions. She lives in Koedijk Alkmaar, with her husband and three children.

Group size: 10 participants

This training is only for ARC CBBC PhD's or Postdocs