The Basics of Graphic Design Graphic Design Graphic design is the process of creating the appearance of a publication, presentation, or web site in an attractive, logical manner. When done successfully, it attracts attention, adds value to a message, enhances readership and readability, simplifies, organizes, provides selective emphasis, and creates unity. Steps in the Graphic Design Process: Analyze the audience. Determine the purpose of your message. Decide where and how your message will appear (whether it will be a printed publication, presentation, or web site). Establish goals. Organize text and graphics. Choose an appropriate format and layout. Select appropriate typefaces, type sizes, type styles, and spacing. Add and manipulate graphics. Proofread Refine and fine-tune. Creating Effective Layouts Layout Guidelines A layout is the arrangement of type and graphics on a printed publication, presentation, or web site. General Guidelines for Layouts: Consider their interests, reading levels, background, etc. Organizing Layouts
The Elements of Graphic Design Review Over the past few weeks we’ve been taking an intensive look at the elements of design—the basic building blocks of graphic design and composition—through real world examples. It’s great to know the theory, but applying it is where all the knowledge comes together to form a successful design. I presented them in the order I originally did on Creative Curio in the first few posts here. When I initially chose the order, I did it from what I thought was the least complex to the most complex. We started off with line. Graphic design element number two was shape. The design element of space can be a simple concept to understand, but not very easy to master. Size and scale are lumped into the same category and it is difficult to talk about one without the other, but they are not the same thing. Texture is a fun element to experiment with and use to bring realism to your designs. Value, in my opinion, is the least considered element of design. What do you think is the most forgotten element?
Designer’s Favourite Fonts & Why Posted on 23'09 Jun Posted on June 23, 2009 along with 100 JUST™ Creative Comments I sent out a tweet (follow me) asking my followers (and Facebook Friends) what their favourite font was and why – these were some of their replies… what about you? For the record, at present, my favourite is Gill Sans as I find it so versatile, especially when working with other fonts. Times. Simple, but not boring, and timeless. Via @Carmabella Via Adrian Lujan (Facebook) Franklin Gothic Book Regular. Via Dylan Lee Hodges (Facebook) I really love the clean lines of Franklin Gothic family mixed up with classic letter forms of Adobe Caslon. Via @BridieMacdonald Via Barbara Culinas (Facebook) Other than Helvetica, it’s Gotham , because it’s clear, it stands out and modern… Applicable on small sizes too. Via animate_me Totally into GOTHAM right now. Chris Skinner (Facebook) Gotham, purely because I’m Batman in disguise. Via David Airey (Facebook) Via @simikken I would say Philosopher. Via @bixtin Via @artbyjaz Via @edMaga
Must-Learn Photo Manipulation Tutorials You’ll Enjoy Checking Out Tutorials July 17, 2011 As requested, here are some of the best photo-manipulation tutorials online. These tutorials are great, not just because the final products are good, but because you can use one or more of the theories you’ll learn from them to create your very own masterpieces. It is not often that you can actually mix and match certain techniques on Photoshop, but we’re pretty sure you’ll find a few here that you can make use of any day. So here they are, some of the most helpful photo-manipulation tutorials to aid you in learning Photoshop further. How to Create a Steampunk Style Illustration in Photoshop Make an awesome steampunk photomanipulation in Photoshop. View Tutorial Money Style Illustration in Photoshop Create money-styled illustrations out of your own photo. Spirit Dove Manipulate photos to create the illusion of a dove bursting out from a female’s body.View Tutorial Painting Liquid Figures See how Jennifer Cirpici transformed a lady into water in 12 steps.View Tutorial
What makes a good logo? Posted on 27'09 Jul Posted on July 27, 2009 along with 385 JUST™ Creative Comments What makes a good logo? A good logo is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic, simple in form and conveys an intended message. There are five principles that you should follow to ensure that this is so… An effective logo is (in no particular order): SimpleMemorableTimelessVersatileAppropriate 1. A simple logo design allows for easy recognition and allows the logo to be versatile & memorable. While in college in the mid-70′s an instructor introduced me to the K.I.S.S. 2. Following closely behind the principle of simplicity, is that of memorability. You may be interested to see some examples of bad logo designs. Surprising to many, the subject matter of a logo is of relatively little importance, and even appropriateness of content does not always play a significant role.This does not imply that appropriateness is undesirable. 3. An effective logo should be timeless – that is, it will endure the ages. 4.
3D Typography Tutorial using Xara3D and Photoshop Tutorials May 27, 2011 3D typography has become very popular. You can see countless of such artworks in many media. It is largely used for advertisements and many form of entertainment. There are many ways on how to create a 3D text design and the methods are just accessible to everyone – programs like 3DS Max, Cinema 4D, Maya, Blender, etc. All we need is creativity and a bit of patience in learning to execute ideas into 3D. Xara 3D Step 1: Open Xara 3D for the base text. Step 2: Select the Text Options Button (Alt+T) to type in your Text and click Ok. Step 3: Set the design to plain text by clicking the first X button on the lower left side of the window. Step 4: You can notice that the rotation angles are indicated on the lower right corner. Step 5: On the right panel, select Extrusion Options and change its Depth to 60. Step 6: On the Bevel Options, select Curved on the list and choose Round. Step 7: On the Shadow Options, uncheck Shadow to turn off the effect. Step 8: Step 9: Step 10: Step 11:
48 Funny Print Ads that’ll Keep You Laughing...and Buying Inspiration August 20, 2011 Though hundreds of Print Ads are made each year to promote various products, not many can be considered successful based on the response of both the critics and the general public. People have seen so many advertisements that they’ll be quick to blast unoriginal or overused concepts. They also expect witty and powerful copy. Something that has been present for a lot of successful print ads is the element of humor. Dulcolax: Rats “It works.”View Source Gatos: Car “One life for a biscuit.”View Source Gold’s Gym: Facebook ” What you leave out of Facebook, put it into Gold’s Gym.”View Source Polo Mints: Eskimo “Polo The mint with the hole”View Source Baygon: Cockroach View Source Purina Bark in the Park: Tree View Source Pringles Hot & Spicy: Hot air balloon View Source Mais Printing House: Tattoo “Avoid disappointing results.”View Souce Calgary Zoo: Cavegirl “Go back in time. Good Night Mattress: Thief “Fall asleep easily.”View Source KISS FM 97.7: Father Softlan Ultra: Rugby
Using Lines: Real World Examples The very first posts here at Creative Curio were on the elements of design: line, shape, space, size, texture, value and color. I thought it was time to revisit the elements, look more closely at them and study how good design uses them, in order to improve our own uses of the elements. Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what makes good design good, or bad design bad. It really helps to deconstruct it in terms of the elements. How to use lines in your designs: create texturedefine spaceemphasizeproduce a moodindicate motionshow perspective Kenstar Air Coolers: Hammock This Kenstar ad is using lines to create a mood. And notice how the lines don’t have to be straight! Line also defines the shape of the hammock; there is no solid area of color that holds this function like you might usually see. Similar to the lines in this composition creating the shape, they also serve as a texture. Skoda: Daddy This Skoda ad’s hand drawn look says many things about the mood they are trying to create.
A Plea From 16 Most Overused Fonts – Inspiration Bit Every typeface ever designed was created to serve a certain purpose with a specific mood or tone. In addition to the individual traits of each font and its family, there are only two kinds of types — display and text. Display faces, known for their decorative features, are meant to be used sparingly and in bigger sizes, they are illegible otherwise. Text faces are great for extensive amounts of readable copy, they commonly sport a conservative no-frills look. The greatest honour any type could achieve is to have its face loved and recognized by people. We realize that not all of us were crafted in an equally beautiful way — some of us turned to be a classic work of art, while others are simply tools to express one’s thoughts or communicate a message. So next time you see any of our 16 faces in your software’s fonts list, skip it and experiment with another, find a more suitable type for your specific project needs. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Hey, how about this font—it looks interesting? 6. 7. 8.