“When principles of design replicate principles of thought, the act of arranging information becomes an act of insight.” ~Edward R. Tufte
Design is a delicate balance between theory and aesthetic sensibilities. The more you practice the theory behind the elements and principles of design, the more it will become second nature to apply proper design principles to your own work. Your knowledge of how to create, fix, or critique a design will drastically improve.
Gestalt and the Principles of Graphic Design
“The sum of the whole is greater than its parts” is the idea behind Gestalt theory. It is important to understand each element and principle separately, but even more important is how each element and principle of design work together to create a cohesive overall design.
You will employ the Elements and Principles of Design as well as Color Theory in all projects from this point forward. You will be graded not only on how well you implement the elements and principles in your design, but on how well you explain your use of them in each design.
Resources
Elements of Graphic Design Review | Elements and Principles of Graphic Design Basics | The Principles of Design | The Elements of Design | Classic Color Schemes | 60-30-10, or How Many Colors? | Color Theory Introduction | Colour Lovers
Typographic Poster Design
You will be designing several different posters with a typographic focus. The first required poster design will be a Classic Typeface poster. Further details on the project can be found on the poster design project page.
“Simplify, simplify.” ~Henry David Thoreau
Nothing truer to design than Thoreau’s quote. Great designer’s don’t agonize over what to add, but what to take away. Effective design communicates the message to the audience as simply as possible. The bane of beginning designers and especially teenagers is that they want to fill every inch of space. They want to show off all the fancy tools that they learned to use. They want to add “flare” (please don’t get carried away with the flare tool). White space is GOOD.
Now that you are more comfortable with Illustrator let’s take another look at logo design. I wasn’t too excited about many of the designs. I didn’t stress enough the importance of typography (kerning, tracking, and leading) or two of the important principles of design (contrast and alignment).
11/03
“Good artists copy, great artists steal.” ~Pablo Picasso
Before you begin any new design project you need to do research. Who is your audience? Also, look at what other designers have done. Almost every design is derivative of something else at this point. All of the experiences you have had, all of the things you have seen, factor into your designs. You have been bombarded by visual imagery your entire life and whether consciously or subconsciously you have seen design elements that you have liked. You incorporate them into your designs.
You are just taking things one step further and consciously looking at designs for things that you like and can incoporate into your own designs. The key thing is how you reinterpret and combine different design elements into your own unique design.
Visit the Inspiration page (*hint* look under Resources). Look at the logo designs from other designers. What do you like? What elements can you reinterpret in your designs? Also, on the Resources page there is a section with links to logo design blogs, logo design information, etc.
Also, you need to organize your files. I am going to be checking your computers soon to see if you are using folders and naming things properly. If you are not, it will be -120 on your participation grade.
Visit the logo project page for more information.
Developing a logo is an important step for any company. This one simple graphic will represent a company and give the public a first impression of who that company is. You will be designing a corporate logo for your new design company.
Getting Started With Illustrator
New Document and Screen Mode Options | Panels, Saving Workspaces, and Help | Changing System Preferences | Where and How to Work (Learn to Scroll and Zoom In or Out with the Shortcuts)
Getting Started With the Design Process
Before you start a new design project, your first step in the design process is to do research. Make sure you know your audience! Solid research reduces design time. Find out what your client wants. ALWAYS look at what other successful designers have done and see what you can incorporate into your design. Look under Morgue. *hint* Perhaps you can find some inspiration there. Google is your friend, perhaps you can use it to search for inspiration.
LogoType Letterforms
Using Illustrator, design a visually interesting logotype that integrates your two (or three) initials into a unified design. Your design must be black and white (one letter black, the other white, on a white background). You may only choose from these fonts: Garamond, Arial, Helvetica, Baskervile, or Times New Roman. You may incorporate either serif or sans serif, uppercase or lowercase, bold or light, italics or roman, etc. Focus on contrast. Check Designing With Type Project 5: Logos for examples.
Two Line Logotype
Setting the Stage | Getting Started
You may also want to refer to Intro to Illustrator and Illustrator Basics and Drawing Tools if you don’t understand something in Illustrator.
Your task is to create at least five logotype designs for your design business. Choose a career in design (i.e. Web design, graphic design, photography, etc.) and base your logo off your chosen career. You are to use typography as your main design element. Remember to use contrast and NO MORE than TWO fonts.
Check these 25 Logo/Identity Designs from Valhalla High School students to see some examples of what other high school students have done.
“There are now about as many different varieties of letters as there are different kinds of fools.” ~Eric Gill
Typography is the single most important aspect of design and is often the weakest area of a designer’s skill set. Typography isn’t just for print designers. Web designers, while having fewer typographic choices, still must master typography and motion graphic artists can easily lose their message in films, animations, etc. with poor typographical choices.
Before we get started exploring typography, we need to set up the color space in Adobe Creative Suite. We will be setting up the color space a bit differently to what you would see in a professional print shop in order for our designs to look best on the equipment we have in class. Please setup your color space and change your preferences and settings.