OUGD404 - Design Principles - 10 Things...

What is Graphic Design?

A long and lasting debate.

There are many answers to this question, and there isnít a wrong one. Graphic design is what you do with it. However this is what graphic design is for me.

Graphic design has one purpose and that is to communicate. It is a clever combination of visual aesthetics and science. Graphic design is a massive variation of media ranging from anything regarded as imagery or 
anything that has been designed with a purpose to persuade, advise, inform or communicate to a specific audience.


What is the point if there is no legibility?

If graphic design is used to communicate a message to a directed audience then what is the point of it if it isn't understandable?

Legibility is an extremely important aspect of graphic design as it has to be legible to understand it, and has to be understood to communicate the intended message.


The two colour modes.

In graphic design there are two main colour modes: RGB and CMYK.

It is dependent on what you are working on in regards to which mode must be used. If the design is being created for screen based media, such as websites or blogs then the colour mode should be RGB. This is because RGB is a colour mode consisting of three different light wavelengths: red, green and blue. This is an additive colour mode which the more wavelengths involved, the more colour value it has leading to white. 

If the design is being created for print based media like flyers and posters then the appropriate colour mode would be CMYK built up on the four fundamental inks cyan, magenta, yellow and black. This is an subtractive colour mode in which the colour slowly moves to black when more inks are used.


Complementary colours.

When you observe the colour wheel, you will notice that colours have opposites, these opposites are called complementary colours. 

They are called this because when they are close to each other or placed near each other, one will make the other appear more intense and brighter, most of the time make them uncomfortable to look at. 

These should never be used together whilst designing unless the objective is to make the audience feel 
uncomfortable whilst looking at it.


There are four categories of fonts.

The groupings to categorise fonts are block, gothic, roman and script. 

Block and Script fonts are typically used as header fonts to grab attention of a viewer and at a larger scale than the body copy as they aren't normally legible at smaller sizes. Whilst Roman and gothic fonts can be used at any size and remain legible in an appropriate context.

Each font category can be identified by the following elements: 

Block fonts are generally a lot chunkier than other fonts, they have a stronger and bigger weight with smaller bowls, this makes them less legible therefore inappropriate for body copy. Script fonts are very decorative in an aesthetic sense and need to be used very carefully in context. Roman fonts are complimented with serifs and follow the rules of Times New Roman and similar fonts. Gothic fonts are 
generally sans serif fonts that can also be used as both header and body in appropriate contexts.


Understanding pantone.

The pantone matching system needs to be understood by any graphic designer. It is extremely important when communicating with both printers and clients what exact colour is wanted. It must be identified with a code found on a pantone swatch and used throughout work.


The three fonts rule.

In one piece of design, the use of fonts must be minimised as much as possible. If you use one font, the chances of it matching with the rest of the font will be 100%. 

The more fonts you use, the more you complicate and clash the design. The maximum amount of fonts on one piece of design should be three in context, unless the aim is to use as many as possible found in some pieces of designs.


Units.

Units are a very important part of graphic design and it is fundamental to understand the uses of different units and how to convert them appropriately.

For example, there are 12 points to a pica and 1 point is 1/72 of an inch.

It is also helpful to remember the dimensions of popular paper sizes such as A3 and A4.


Anatomy of type.

All graphic designers should know the anatomy of type. 

Knowing the elements of type is important to know to give graphic designers the freedom and knowledge of typography with which they have the ability to create their own typeface consistently without flaws.


Layout.

Layout may seem to be just bits and pieces of visual information placed in a pretty way to get the message across to an untrained eye.

But all graphic designers should know the science of symmetry, scales and compositional grids. 

An example would be a rule of proportions and ratios, the Fibonacci sequence.



I began my thumbnail designs for my 10 double spreads and did three variations of each spread.

After I finished that, I chose my favourite of each and then started planning them out by and and then digitally.

After trying two variations of one double page spread, I wasn't happy with the outcomes I was coming out with.


I tried a different way of looking at the aesthetics and enjoyed the design better as well as doing something different. This will be followed with the rest of the spreads.

After it was all finished, I decided to send it off to LULU publishers so I could continue with the other briefs set over the holidays.

One day before the hand in, the book still hadn't arrived so I asked Phil for advice and was recommended to make it myself.

I'd never made or bound a book before so it wasn't the easiest task after most people had gone home already but after a few problems with the printer I managed to set up the print job in InDesign appropriately, and after the amount of times I did it I have it burned into my memory.

I used antique white stock and bound it with staples that were then covered with the book cover using the same stock but inverting the colour contrast.

The lulu book arrived the morning of hand in so I included that as well, in my opinion I prefer the one I made personally so I am glad I learned and I can adapt the skills I learned for my future briefs.

OUGD404 - Design Principles - A Study Of Colour

Contrast Of Hue.

• Formed by the juxtaposing of different hues. The greater the distance between hues on a colour wheel, the greater the contrast. 
• On a white background, blue would stand out the most, as, seen in tone, it's got the darkest value. 
• On a black background, yellow stands out the most, as it has the lightest tonal value. Red almost blends in, as it's the mid tone. 
• Use black and white very carefully in Graphic Design, as it cancels out colours.
• High contrast colours, RYB, when placed together all fight for attention.
• The contrast of hue and tone are having an impact on our ability to read words.

Contrast of Tone

• Formed by the juxtaposition of light and dark values. This could be monochromatic. 
• The Rods in your eyes differentiate tone. 
• Monochromatic is the tone of one colour, not just greyscale. 
• In greyscale, the primary colours are the lightest, the darkest and the mid tone, when the colour wheel is desaturated.
• Tonal Spectrum, white round to black.
• White and Black on 50% are equally legible, even though the contrasts are extreme, as they're both the same distance from 50%.
• The same principle can be applied to colour. (Example, Red on Orange)

Contrast Of Saturation.

• Formed by the juxtaposition of light and dark values and heir relative saturation.
• Grey background with blue on, we would say the blue shape is blue.
• However, when we add a more saturated blue, the original blue shape looks let saturated, and not really 'blue'.
• This process can be repeated, contrasting more and more, until we get the primary blue, absolute blue, and the rest become very desaturated, looks paler, greyer, duller. etc.
• The same process can be applied to other colours, and tints. (for example, adding white)
• Contrast of Hue, Tone and Saturation, all work in this sense.

Contrast of Extension

• Former by assigning proportional field sizes in relation to the visual weight of a colour. Also known as the proportion. 
• Assigning different subjective values to colours, certain colours have certain weights.
• Blue would appear the heaviest, as it's the darkest, Yellow would appear the lightest, as it's the lightest, and Red would be the mid tone. 
• We have have less Violet, and more Yellow to have a visual balance. 
• In relation to this, we can have less Yellow and more Violet, and we see a stand-out balance.
• If we talk about imbalance, one of this colours is going to jump out. (see slides)
• Using stripes of violet creates an imbalance, and it's easier to look at a block of violet. 
• However, then these stripes are spaces out across a bigger area of yellow, your field of view increases, and it become almost easier to look at.It affects our ability to see those colours accurately. 
• Hierarchy - spacial quality also applies, as it would with type.
• High contrast colours, always, jump out at you. 
• Small amounts of colour, with large amounts of colour work better. Don't use the same amount of colour. 

Contrast of Temperature

• Formed by juxtaposing hues that can be considered "warm" or 'cool'. 
• The warmest colour would be something which sits in the red-orange area
• The coolest would be in the blue-green area.
• In-between we have colour which movie from the warm to the cool, and vice-versa, on both sides. 
• Taking a mid red and pushing it towards violet, you're making it cooler. 
• However, this makes the red look more orange, making it look warmer.
• If you add a more orange red, it makes the original red look cooler, and the violet look even cooler.
• However in contrast this makes the orange look warmer. 
• The middle section, which is a flat colour, appears to look like a gradient (see slide)
• If you place colours of the decreasing temperature, next to each other in a gradual pattern, it looks like a gradient. 
• We can see the (above) colours are separate colours, with black bars in-between them, but when the black is taken away, it's a gradient. 

Complementary Contrast

• Formed by the juxtaposition complementary colour from a colour wheel of perceptual opposites. 
• Red and Green are complete opposites on the colour wheel, and putting those two colours together looks almost painful.
• Desaturating the blue and the orange in this image, and it becomes a complementary contrast, these two colours are fighting of attention.
• Yellow and Blue and equidistant from the green so when Yellow and Blue stiles are applied, they look better. However, Blue has a similar tone to Green than Yellow, so it's easier to look at.
• If you invert the background, the blue becomes difficult to look at, the the Red becomes calm, it's not fighting for your attention. 

Simultaneous Contrast

• Formed by the boundaries of colours which perceptually vibrate. 
• Bright Yellow, with Bright Green ontop of it.The longer you stare at it, the yellow begins to turn slightly more orange.
• When you put certain colours next to each other, they start to vibrate.
• Putting Yellow on grey, there's a hint of violet, then with blue and grey, there's a hint of orange. 

Fred's Optical Illusion:

• Having Yellow on Violet works, however, it doesn't always work in reverse. 
• Having a small almost of Yellow on Violet works, but not when uses repeatedly.
• Yellow is trying to impose it's complementary on our field of vision, to stand out the most.
• However, optical illusions, putting the same colour on two different colours, makes the original colour appear to take the form of stop different colours, based on the simultaneous contrast.
• Using background the make the foreground appear differently. However, if they're joined together, you can see that the colour does not change. 
• You can also, by staring at a black dot, burn an invert of the surrounding image onto your retinas. 

Red Object Experiments:

• On Yellow: Darker Tone, Different Hue, More saturated, Warmer temperature, High extension, not much of a complementary contrast, slightly blue background
• On Green: Darker Tone, Different Hue, More saturated, The red looks warmer, in comparison, high complementary contrast, blue fade on the green.
• On Red: Darker Tone, Similar Hue, more saturated, It looks warmer, and the background almost goes towards a violet colour, whereas the envelope goes more orange, Low extension contrast, low complementary contrast, as they're the same colour, more or less, it makes the area around it look violet. 
• On Orange: Darker Tone, different hue, however, it's not too substantial, around the same saturation

All objects created on cinema 4d for software practice as well as contextual colour studying.