1.5 Elements & Principles, Typography and Photographic Composition

Line, shape, form, space, color, texture, and value

What are the Elements of Design?

Contrast, hierarchy, repetition, typography, space, white space, balance, emphasis, and movement.

What are the Principles of Design?

They are rules or guidelines for organizing and arranging the elements of design effectively

What are the Principles of Design used for?

Gestalt principles

The grammar of visual communication. They explain how people naturally group and understand visual elements.

Proximity

The Gestalt principle that objects that are close together seem related.

Similarity

The Gestalt principle that objects that look alike should be grouped together.

Continuity

The Gestalt principle that means the eye follows lines or paths smoothly.

Closure

The Gestalt principle that means the brain fills in missing parts of an image or design

Figure/ground

The Gestalt principle that separating the subject from the background.

Common fate

The Gestalt principle that means objects moving together feel connected.

Visual hierarchy

The way elements are grouped and arranged so the viewer can easily understand the message of the design.

Kerning

Adjusting the space between specific individual letters.

Leading

the vertical space between lines of text.

Tracking

Adjusting the spacing evenly across an entire block of text.

Legibility

Means whether you can physically read the text, like if the text is too pale, too small, or physically hard to see.

Readability

Means the text can be read, but it may not be comfortable or easy to read.

serif, sans serif, script, and display.

What are the four main categories of type?

serif font

A font that has decorative strokes at the ends of the letters.

sans serif

A font that is simple and has no decorative strokes at the ends of the letters.

script

A font that is elegant and imitates handwriting.

display

A font that is highly stylized and eye-catching.

Aspect ratio

The orientation or shape of an image, such as landscape, portrait, or square.

Proportion

The relationship between the height and width of an image.

Use the Crop Tool, select the image, and go to the Options Bar

How can you see or change the aspect ratio in Photoshop?

16:9

What aspect ratio is widescreen format?

1:1

What aspect ratio is square format?

4:3

What was an older video aspect ratio used by previous generations of computers.

Rule of Thirds

A composition guide that helps place the focal point slightly off-center along the grid lines.

foreground

The part of the image closest to the viewer, like a person standing in front of a building.

midground

The middle area between the foreground and background, like a street or trees behind a person.

background

The part of the image farthest from the viewer, like the sky, mountains, or buildings in the distance.

Depth of field

How much of the image is in focus.

Wide depth of field

Which depth of field means everything is in focus, including the background.

Shallow depth of field

Which depth of field means some parts of the image are out of focus, often the background.

White balance 

A setting that adjusts the warmth or coolness of an image so white areas look neutral and colors look accurate

Print

What is EPS mainly used for?

Web graphics

What is SVG mainly used for?