An Introduction to Graphic design

Definition

The term graphic design can refer to a number of artistic and

professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and
presentation.

Various methods are used to create and combine symbols, images

and/or words to create a visual representation of ideas and
messages.

Slide 2
All the pictures below are examples of Graphic Design

Slide 3
When people need to necessarily express something, usually with
an aim towards promotion or information dispensing, the focus
becomes how best to do it.

Graphic design was born of art and technology (printing).

Slide 4
What does a Graphic Designer do?

When he gets a graphic design job, be it a poster design, book design,

web design, advertising, he has to start with asking himself the
following fundamental questions:

What is the objective of the communication

What needs to be said first and then next and then after that?
(levels of hierarchy)
How do you want the eye to flow through the page?
What is the tone of voice?
Who are you speaking to?

Slide 5
Fundamental Question 1:
Objectives of the communication

What is the information that needs to be passed on? When the

audience reads your book/webpage/ad what’s he supposed to get
out of it?

An advertisement and a newspaper have different objectives of

communication.

Slide 6
Fundamental Question 2: What needs to be said first and
then next and then after that? (hierarchy)

Once you have figured out what the objective of your

communication is you’ll want to think about what needs to be
said first and foremost and what it should be followed by.

Slide 7
Fundamental Question 3: How do you want the user’s eye
to move around the page?

The hierarchy mentioned above, along with elements like color,

contrast, size etc, will automatically make your viewers eyes go
through the page in a certain way. This can be manipulated as per
your intention.

Slide 8
Fundamental Question 4: Who are you speaking to?

You have to be very sure about this as different people need to

be spoken to differently, just the way it is in real life.

Slide 9
Fundamental Question 5: What is the tone of voice?

Only once you have got the above figured out can you think
about the more external elements of your piece of work.

Slide 10
The solutions to these questions are tackled using the graphic
designer’s tool kit.

Slide 11
Broadly speaking, the following tools are available to him/her to
solve the aforementioned issues:

Point

Line
Space
•
Form •
•
Pattern Size
•
•
Texture
•
Typography
•
•
Color
•
Image
•

Slide 12
Point

A point is the fundamental particle of graphic design.

Slide 13
Slide 14
The Line

Line is any mark connecting two points.

Slide 15
Slide 16
The Shape

Anything that has a width and a height is a shape.

Slide 17
Slide 18
Pattern

Our tendency to make meaning an order will find a pattern in things.

Slide 19
Slide 20
Texture

Texture is the look or feel of a surface. You can add richness and
dimension to your layouts with texture. Visual texture creates an
illusion of texture on a printed publication or web page.

Texture can create mood and personality

Provoke emotion

Slide 21
Slide 22
Space

Space is the distance or area between or around things.

Space separates or unifies, highlights, and gives the eye a visual rest.

Slide 23
Slide 24
Size

Size is how large or small something is.

Size is very important in making a layout functional, attractive,

and organized.

It shows what is most important, attracts attention, and helps to

fit the layout together.

Slide 25
Slide 26
Type

Typography is one of the most important tools for a graphic

designer.

Typography can take you back to a different time, set a mood, set
a tone of voice, organize pages, create unity between objects etc.

Slide 27
Slide 28
Color

Color in layouts can convey moods, create images, attract

attention, and identify objects.

When selecting colors for a publication or a web page, think

about what you want the color to do and what is appropriate for
your purpose.

Slide 29
Slide 30
Image

Image is an essential part of graphic design.

Images can be of basically three kinds; Photographs, Illustration

and paintings.

Images can be interpreted in many ways and cultural differences

should be kept in mind when ‘reading’ an image.

Slide 31
Slide 32
Miscellaneous examples of usage of graphic design

Slide 33
COMPOSITION : The use of the PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

While using the tools we spoke about a designer that keeps in mind
some principles of design that aid him in composing his work.

These principles are:

Balance
Rhythm
Emphasis
Unity

These principles of design help you to combine the various design

elements into a composition.

Slide 34
Balance

Balance refers to the distribution of visual weight in art.

Visual weight may not be a 50-50 distribution on both sides of the page.

All the quadrants in the picture at left are balanced. Clockwise

from left, they are Symmetrically, Asymmetrically, Horizontally
and Diagonally balanced.
Slide 35
Each element on a layout has visual weight that is determined by
its size, darkness or lightness, and thickness of lines.

All the images above are balanced.

Slide 36
Rhythm

Rhythm is a pattern created by repeating elements on a page in an

expected manner.

Repetition (repeating similar elements in a consistent manner) and

variation (a change in the form, size, or position of the elements)
are the keys to visual rhythm.

Slide 37
Slide 38
Emphasis

Every page needs a focal point.

Emphasis is also known as dominance in graphic design. It is the

first thing the eye sees.

Emphasis is used to create a hierarchy of what should be most

important on a page.

Slide 39
Slide 40
Unity

Unity helps all the elements look like they belong

together.
Readers need visual cues to let them know the piece is
one unit.

One should be consistent with fonts, sizes, styles,

headers, footers etc.

Slide 41
Slide 42
COLOR THEORY

In traditional color theory, these are the 3 pigment colors that can
not be mixed or formed by any combination of other colors.

Red, Yellow and Blue are called Primary Colors.

All other colors are derived from these 3 hues.

Slide 43
Secondary Colors are colors formed by mixing the primary
colors.

Green, Purple and Orange are formed by the mixing of the

primary colors.

Slide 44
Tertiary Colors are colors formed by a primary and a secondary
color .

That's why the hue is a two word name, such as blue-green, red-
violet, and yellow-orange. 

Slide 45
Why do we need to know this?

Knowledge of Color harmonies and complimentary colors aid us in

composition.

Harmonious Colors are colors

that sit next to each other on
the color wheel.

Complimentary Colors are

colors opposite each other on
the color wheel.

Slide 46
Use of color
harmonies

Use of
complimentary
colors

Slide 47
Color against different colors

One color may look different against different colors.

Red appears more brilliant against a black background and somewhat

duller against the white background. In contrast with orange, the red
appears lifeless; in contrast with blue-green, it exhibits brilliance.
Notice that the red square appears larger on black than on other
background colors.

Here the smaller rectangle on the left appears

to have a redder tint

Slide 48
Color Symbolism

The communicative properties of a color can be

defined by two categories:
Natural associations and Psychological (or cultural)
associations.

The color green can stand for both nature and Islam.

Slide 49
Color and corporate ID

The psychological aspect of color is the main rationale behind its

use in corporate ID.

The other reason is that color is the first thing we perceive in any
graphic element.

Slide 50
Statement :

Science and Technology has always defined aesthetic.

Slide 51
When streamlining and aero dynamism was introduced to
planes and motor-vehicles, it was automatically translated to
fridges, furniture, clocks and fans too.

Slide 52
The Bauhaus aluminum stool with a perforated seat that
was originally made to make the stool lighter to carry, inspired
a ‘modern’ aesthetic that is even used today.

Slide 53
When diagonal typesetting was made possible with the advent
of new typesetting technology, (previously type could only be set
horizontally) it became one of the fundamental qualities of an art
movement called futurism.

Slide 54
Screen sizes have increased and therefore white space. Layouts
on the web can breathe better.
Because of more space large type has also become popular.

Slide 55
Ajax and Flash etc enable multiple content in the same space so
visual clutter is greatly reduced. Widgets are very popular.

Slide 56
Sans serif fonts, originally associated with modernity, and
greatly used in web design because of better rendition on low
screen resolutions, are slowly giving way to more and more serif
faces because screen displays have become much better.

For example Georgia and Cambria are very popular now in web
design.

The New York times, Boston Globe and some of the best
designed sites in the world use Georgia as one of their major
fonts because of its readability and character.

Also, now newer web technologies don’t limit you to the default
web fonts.

Slide 57
The New York Times and the Boston Globe

Slide 58
Because of the search engine mechanism, text to graphic ratios have
increased.

Plus with current web use there is lots of surfer generated content.

Due to this type hierarchy as a design element is extremely important

in web pages.

Designers have been getting very creative with the way they use type.

Slide 59
Sites like Digg, Delicious and Technorati have to organize large
amounts of text creatively.

Slide 60