The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Graphic Design

1. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Graphic Design By Judson Birkel

2. What is Graphic Design? • Communication through the use of text and image. • An exciting process that turns raw marketing and promotion ideas into printed and electronic tools. • Good graphic design makes information more understandable and more appealing.

3. Who is my audience? Who you’re addressing will effect the type and style of piece you design. • Employees • Customers • Volunteers • Community Members • etc

4. What is your purpose? You need to decided what you want your piece to accomplish. • Generate new business • Reconnect with old customers • Garner support for a legislative issue • Raise money for a charity • Etc.

5. Find Examples • Look at what others have done that you like. • Create a Swipe file (a collection of examples of good work you’ve come across). • File away styles you like and images that inspire you.

6. Brainstorm • Sketch out symbols (look up words in symbol dictionaries such as www.symbols.com) • Figure out the 5 W’s • Who • What • Where • When • Why

7. Vector vs. Raster • Vector based images are created mathematically using a drawing program resulting in crisp clean lines. Easily scalable. Illustrator is an example of a vector based program. • Raster based images are represented as a collection of pixels. They don’t scale well. Photoshop is an example of a raster based program.

8. Design Elements • Point – A single spot on a page • Line – Show Direction • Shape – circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles used as building blocks. • Form – Three dimensional Perspective • Tone – Lightness and darkness • Texture – The character of a surface • Color – Primary, Secondary, Tertiary. Adds impact and interest to objects and design. • Letterform – text.

9. Design Principles • Balance – Symmetrical or asymmetrical • Contrast – size (big vs. small) and color (complimentary colors) • Cropping – Selecting elements of design we want the user to see • Hierarchy – Size, weight, and scale adding emphasis to objects. • Scale – Size of an object in relation or other objects in the design • Proportion – Pleasing ratios to the human eye (3:2, 5:2, 8:5, 1:1.62) • Pattern – repetition of elements

10. Strategies and Tools • Size – making your design the right size for what you’re making. • Substrate – print your design on something other than paper. • Be prepared to step away from convention!!!

11. Type vs. Font • Type – all characters in a typeset • Font – Describes each character

12. 4 Major Typeface Categories • Serif – Typefaces with “tails”. Easiest to read on paper. (Times New Roman) • Sans Serif – Typefaces without tails. Easiest to read on computers. (Arial) • Decorative – Fancy Letters that can be difficult to read. (Comic Sans) • Script – calligraphy or handwritten Used for formal announcements. (Brush Script)

13. Visual Perception • Rule of Thirds – Divide a page into 3rds from left to right and from top to bottom. Where lines intersect is where the strongest locations to place focal points are. • Make design elements appear in order of importance. • Hierarchy can be ranked by position, size, scale, weight of type, or color of image.

14. Color Harmony • Use a color scheme based on analogous colors • Analogous = 3 tertiary colors that are side by side on the color wheel. • Use a color scheme based on complementary colors. • Complementary = direct opposites on a color wheel. • Note – A color can be percieved differently based on the background color

15. Color Theory • Value: lightness or darkness of a color. • Hue: the pure color itself. • Primary Colors – Red Yellow Blue. • Secondary Colors – Any combination of 2 primary colors

16. Paper Selection • Weight – How thick a sheet of paper is. • Texture – The actual feel of the paper.

17. Image Selection • Photographs – Best at showing subject matter • Suggest mood and style, enhancing overall reaction to your design • Illustrations – Great at showing added information that photographs alone can’t do.

18. Photography • Subject – Photo should match the idea you’re presenting. • Sizing – avoid distorting an image. Have a good resolution. • Cropping for Effect – Shift focus • Filters and Effects – Creating emphasis through color manipulation and collages.

19. Illustration • Technical – Present a true-to-life look at a product or process • Stylistic – Drawings and and paintings created using a variety of techniques, styles, and media. • Photo Realism – Looks almost like photographs • Scratchboard – scratches off the color of a board • Cartoon • Line art – Pen and Pencil Drawings • Etc.