Graphic Design Mid Term

(Basic Principles of Design) Contrast

Avoid elements on the page that are merely similar. If they are not the same, make them different

(Basic Principles of Design) Repetition

Repeat visual elements of the design throughout the piece

(Basic Principles of Design) Alignment

Every element should have a visual connection to another on the page

(Basic Principles of Design) Proximity

Related items need to go next to one another

Aesthetics

Gives your piece a “personality” or style through the use of:

• Contrast

• Repetition

• Alignment

• Proximity

Things to avoid

• Using too many fonts

• Type over photos

• NO attention to detail

• Using poor quality images

• Design that isn’t geared toward the audience

Type

Type is the building block of any design. When used well, it can draw the viewer's attention. When used poorly, it can turn the viewer away

Serif

Has tails. Larger box of texts is better with this font

Sans Serif

Has no tails. Sans means without. Great for bulleted lists

Font specifics

Fonts are arranged in families. In a font family, there may be different weights. There may be light, medium, heavy, bold, italic, etc.

Size

The most obvious way to create contrast in type

Weight

By using different widths, like bold styles

Legibility

The ease with which type characters can be read

Things that impact legibility

• Typeface used

• Serif, sans serif, ornamental, etc

• Weight and variation of typeface used (italic, bold, etc)

• Caps or upper/lower

• Size of typeface

• Leading

• Column width used

• Color or black and white

Readability

The ease with which a sentence or phrase can be understood by the reader. (complexity or ward choice and phases used)

Knockout Text

Can be used to make something stand out

Justification

The type is even on both sides and looks even on both sides

Leading

The space in between a line of type. Think of it in terms of single spacing, double spacing or triple spacing when you write a paper

Kerning

The space between letters. You can increase or decrease it to make words fit on a line of text more perfectly

PMS (Pantone Matching System)

A system used to guarantee color matching from the printing press to print

4 ways to use color wisely

• Use color sparingly

• Avoid too many colors

• Use colors to communicate-not decorate

• Select colors to convey an image

RGB (Red, Green, Blue)

Used for online, broadcasting and A/V related use.

CMYK (Cyan Magenta, Yellow and Black)

The colors are coverlapped by the printer

HEX

Hexadecimal color. Many used for online