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The Basics of Design
Layout & Typography
Aims & Objectives
To introduce and demonstrate the key principles of
design.
To develop understanding of terminology to help with
the analysis of graphic designs.
To research graphic designs and graphic designers.
To discuss how to put the principles of design into
action.
Principles of Design
The four things you need to know before
starting:
Audience - who you want to hear your
message
Format – of the page or design
Constraints - time, budget, format
Principles - of basic design
Principles of Design
Principles of Design
The most iconic, well-known and attractive designs are startlingly simple. Take these logos, for instance:
SPECIAL SKILL:
TYPOGRAPHY
SPECIAL SKILL:
SEDUCTIVE
CONNOTATION
SPECIAL SKILL:
ADAPTABILITY
SPECIAL SKILL:
CONCEPT
(DYNAMISM)
Principles of Design
The six key principles of design are:
Emphasis – keeping your main message clear, both in terms of the layout and the typography.
Contrast – visually stressing the difference between the different elements on the page.
Balance – grouping information in a logical way, leaving a clear and pleasing effect.
Alignment – drawing connections with different elements e.g.graphics, images, shapes and lines.
Repetition – where all the elements meet, they need to unify and ‘feed into’ the main message.
Flow – how the design ‘leads the eye’, starting with the simplest point that Western readers tend to read from left to right.
Terminology
The following is some of the most important
terminology that you will come across in design. Try
to use both the principles and these terms when
analysing and creating your designs:
Visual Hierarchy – splitting information into primary,
secondary and tertiary message.
Focal point – the part of the page that is most emphasised.
Accent – Any other points than the focal point that influence
the key message, too much of which can ‘cloud’ it.
Terminology
Thumbnail – a quick, exploratory sketch that act as the
visual proof of a thinking process. Thumbnails that you quite
like become Roughs before choosing your favourite and
polishing it up as a Comp (comprehensive).
Body Copy – the small type that carries most of the
information in a design.
Dead Space / White Space – space that represents an
unwieldy ‘gap’ vs. space that contributes to the aesthetic flow.
Serif / San Serif – a ‘serif’ is the parts of letters that stick out
and are often flowing type whereas ‘sans serif’ is without
serifs and look more blocky.
Leftfield – not expected or prepared for (often have an
unclear purpose; seen as quite ‘quirky’)
Inspiration
Graphic design is a huge and expanding field that grows alongside the power of the web and commercial business. There is therefore lots of inspiration to find. Begin by picking one of the following designers and researching their work. Whichever you choose, try to identify some of their most celebrated designs and what styles, principles or techniques they appear to excel with:
David Carson
Paul Rand
Alan Fletcher
Katherine McCoy
Saul Bass
Neville Brody
Giambattista Bodoni
Chip Kidd
Milton Glaser
Adrain Fruitger
Inspiration
For further inspiration, try the following links:
25 Graphic Designers to follow
46 Greatest Logos of All Time
10 Great Infographics
12 Documentaries every graphic designer should see
Brilliant words of advice from 14 Great Graphic Designers
And, for a dose of reality:
The 25 Worst Things About Being A Graphic Designer Today
EmphasisKeeping your main message clear, both in terms of the layout and the
typography.
1. What are the primary, secondary and
tertiary focal points?
2. Special effects
EmphasisKeeping your main message clear, both in terms of the layout and the
typography.
3. In pairs or groups, discuss how to improve the
following designs
ContrastVisually stressing the difference between the different elements on the page.
1. What two changes to this page have
had the most effect from a design
point of view?
2. If you were to attempt to create a
two-word logo purely in MS Word,
what might you do to help it stand
out?
ContrastVisually stressing the difference between the different elements on the page.
3. How can you improve the contrast between elements
in this menu?
4. How has the contrast improved here?
BalanceGrouping information in a logical way, leaving a clear and pleasing effect.
1. Without re-sizing anything, how might you create a
greater sense of balance with this flyer by re-
arrangement?
BalanceGrouping information in a logical way, leaving a clear and pleasing effect.
2. Don’t just fill up the page. Use the
space wisely. How might you re-size
and re-style this flyer?
3. See how this image complements itself
on each side.
AlignmentDrawing connections with different elements e.g. graphics, images, shapes and
lines.
1. Load up InDesign as shown. Why is it set up like this?
2. How might you re-position the text and graphics to
greater effect with this poster?
AlignmentDrawing connections with different elements e.g. graphics, images, shapes and
lines.
3. Here are some different alignment effects.
Click me
RepetitionWhere all the elements meet, they need to unify and ‘feed into’ the main
message.
1. How might you make better use of the egg symbol for
these pages?
RepetitionWhere all the elements meet, they need to unify and ‘feed into’ the main
message.
2. How do these font changes work? Are they effective?
RepetitionWhere all the elements meet, they need to unify and ‘feed into’ the main
message.
3. What has
improved
here and
what could
be better?
FlowHow the design ‘leads the eye’.
1. What technique is this known as in Photoshop?
2. Why doesn’t this work?
FlowHow the design ‘leads the eye’.
3. Explain why the text
has been grouped in
this way and what
contributes to the flow.
Aims & Objectives
To introduce and demonstrate the key principles of
design.
To develop understanding of terminology to help with
the analysis of graphic designs.
To research graphic designs and graphic designers.
To discuss how to put the principles of design into
action.
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