Infographic: The 10 Commandments Of Color Theory. 100 Most Creative People 2014. Design Principles: Space And The Figure-Ground Relationship. Advertisement If you see graphic design as a process of arranging shapes on a canvas, then you’re only seeing half of what you work with. The negative space of the canvas is just as important as the positive elements that we place on the canvas. Design is an arrangement of both shapes and space. To work more effectively with space, you must first become aware of it and learn to see it — learn to see the shapes that space forms and how space communicates. This is second part of a series on design principles for beginners.
The Figure-Ground Relationship The gestalt principle that applies most to space is that of figure-ground. The figure-ground relationship is also complementary. “White space is to be regarded as an active element, not a passive background.”— Jan Tschichold Figure-Ground Relationship. Consider the three panels in the image above. In the third panel, two of the black lines have been removed. Stable, reversible and ambiguous figure-ground relationships. Closure. Old Guard Summary.
Bezier Curves and Type Design: A Tutorial | Learn - Scannerlicker! When I am asked to calibrate a typeface or logo, or when someone asks me for help with their typefaces, one of the most common problems I find is bad Bézier curve design. And every single time this happens, it’s not people’s fault: they just don’t know better. And there’s that heart-stabbing situation when someone pings and says “Hey, I just finished this font, can you have a look and see if something’s missing?”
And I feel obliged to say, with grief, “You have to redesign it all over: it’s poorly designed, bézier-wise”. So, in order to save some people from this hassle, in advance, read along. 1. First of all, we should understand that each desktop publishing software is going to compile the font files in it’s own way. Flash IDE, for example, is notorious for wrecking curves. Some programs, like 3D applications, simply break the curve into several facets. 2.
I know, I know, geek stuff. And for the visual type of guy, here’s an image: Let’s count the number of points needed for each circle: So What’s the Big Deal with Horizontal & Vertical Bezier Handles Anyway? | The Australian Graphic Supply Co. 17 Apr Have you ever seen Illustrator progress shots from your favourite designers and wondered how and why their bezier handles are so obsessively arranged? We’re hoping to shed a little light on this seemingly unnecessary process. Note: this tutorial assumes a solid grasp of Illustrator & the pen tool. Until recently, I definitely belonged to the What’s the point of that? Here’s a piece of lettering we created to play around with for this tutorial: Here’s an outline preview ( ⌘Y) in Illustrator: Note: To preview your own beziers like this you may need to turn on the “Show handles…” option highlighted below in Illustrators’ Preferences ( ⌘K).
Notice all the bezier handles (save for a few strays; we’ll get to those later) are neatly locked to the horizontal or vertical plane. It reduces your node placement options That may kinda sound like a bad thing, but it’s really handy. Node placement That’s the secret sauce right there. See an overly simplified diagram below in Fig. 04. …and others. 271 Years Before Pantone, an Artist Mixed and Described Every Color Imaginable in an 800-Page Book. In 1692 an artist known only as “A. Boogert” sat down to write a book in Dutch about mixing watercolors.
Not only would he begin the book with a bit about the use of color in painting, but would go on to explain how to create certain hues and change the tone by adding one, two, or three parts of water. The premise sounds simple enough, but the final product is almost unfathomable in its detail and scope. Spanning nearly 800 completely handwritten (and painted) pages, Traité des couleurs servant à la peinture à l’eau, was probably the most comprehensive guide to paint and color of its time.
According to Medieval book historian Erik Kwakkel who translated part of the introduction, the color book was intended as an educational guide. The irony being there was only a single copy that was probably seen by very few eyes. It’s hard not to compare the hundreds of pages of color to its contemporary equivalent, the Pantone Color Guide, which wouldn’t be published for the first time until 1963.
4 Tips On Creativity From The Creator Of Calvin & Hobbes. Bill Watterson, the creator of the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes, is famously media-averse. He's given two interviews, total since he retired his strip in 1995. Reporters have staked out his home in Ohio to no avail. The man just prefers not to be a public figure. But in the documentary Stripped (which you can buy or rent on iTunes), Watterson not only gives an interview, he drew the art for the poster—the first Watterson cartoon to be published in nearly 20 years.
Stripped features interviews with just about every major cartoonist still alive, including Cathy Guisewite (Cathy), Bill Amend (Foxtrot), Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Jim Davis (Garfield), Mort Walker (Beetle Bailey), and a host of web comic artists, including Kate Beaton (Hark, A Vagrant!) , Matt Inman (The Oatmeal), and many more. Watterson is the creator of one of the most beloved pieces of comic art, and most of his fans have probably never heard him speak before. 1. 2. 3. 4.