Lesson Introduction

1 to Graphic Design

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to
1. visualize what graphic design is; and
2. discover the tools that will help you create graphic design projects.

Let’s Get Started!

What Is Graphic Design?

According to John McWade, a prominent designer, teacher, and author
since 1985, graphic design means “to plan the visual presentation of a thing.
Design is about how it looks, but there is more, because how it looks cannot
be separated from what it says and does.”

When planning for graphic design, the goal is to make a material look good
and appealing. To do this, you need to understand the art, the element, and
the principles of design. Art refers to the product of a designer’s creativity. In
graphic design, you can create a lot of products, like posters, logos, brochures,
magazines, newsletters, infographics, slide presentations, and other forms
of art. Element refers to the different components in your design, like lines,
shapes, colors, texture, size, value, and space. The principles of design are all
about rules, standards, and guides. They give the designers a direction on their
design. The principles cover balancing a design, and using contrast, repetition,
harmony, variety, and more. Understanding the art, element, and principles of
graphic design leads to an appealing and engaging material.

But more than its appearance, every material should have a message
to convey. The very reason a material is created is to send a message and
to provide information. It was not created merely to attract attention or to

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display its beauty. Graphic design is not just about the looks, but it is also about
the imparted messages and information. This means that as you produce
colorful and appealing materials, you also have to make sure that you are
communicating your message or information correctly.

You may have seen graphic design materials that are colorful and are
really attractive, but if you would check closely, you would then realize that
there is something wrong with what they are trying to communicate. For
example, imagine a brochure that promotes a hair grower. The layout of the
brochure is perfect, the colors are vibrant, and the layout is smooth. The text
information is also well-edited, not too short and not too long. The images
used also fit the brochure except for one, a photo of a doctor who promotes
the hair grower. There is nothing wrong with having a doctor as an endorser;
in fact, doctors are credible professionals. But the problem is the doctor
has thinning hair and is almost bald. Think about it. Would anyone buy a hair
grower being promoted by a person with less or no hair at all?

 Let’s Do It!

Let us analyze a material to understand graphic design further. Below is

an image used for a cover of a magazine. The name of the magazine was
cropped and the subjects’ faces were blurred.

The magazine has a

beautiful cover. The colors
applied are attractive and the
fonts used complement the
overall image. Also, the
effect of a photograph with a
background of the same photo
that is reduced in opacity is
effective. The mother and
her baby are both pleasant to
look at. There is just one
problem. Let us analyze it.

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 Observe that the cover title is about breastfeeding. The photo of the
mother and her daughter positioned in a breastfeeding-like posture is perfect.
But did you notice the earrings and the necklace the mother is wearing?
There are too much of them and they are big in sizes. Now, check the photo of
the baby. The mouth of the baby is wide open. If any of the mother’s dangling
earrings would get loose, there is a great possibility that the baby would
swallow it and would get choked. In fact, when breastfeeding, accessories
that may become a hazard both to the mother and the baby should not
be worn.

To conclude, what we have here is a wonderfully designed magazine

cover with a poorly executed photo of the subjects.

Tools in Graphic Design

There are several hardware and software available for graphic design.
These tools make editing images and doing layouts easier. These tools assist
you in making creative layouts, but you are still responsible in creating a
beautiful and an effective graphic design.

The Hardware
Let us talk about the hardware first. Not all computers are built for graphic
design. Netbooks, for example, are for surfing the Internet. Some desktops
are good only for
office work, like data
encoding or word
processing. In graphic
design, the higher the
specifications of the
hardware are, the more
functional it is. So it is
best to have a good
knowledge of the
basics on hardware
for graphic design.

All-in-One PC

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 Look for a computer with a good processor. There are two leading
manufacturers of processors: Intel and AMD. Intel offers i3, i5, and i7
processors, which are on the 10th generation. The higher the number of the
processor, the better it can perform. The equivalent in AMD processors are its
FX and Phenom series.
Your installed system memory, RAM or random access memory, is an
important factor, too. Nowadays, most computers come with a minimum of
4 gigabytes (GB) of RAM. Deciding to add more RAM will definitely boost the
performance of your computer.
Another consideration is the graphic card. It also has RAM. This is separate
from your system RAM, which is used for non-graphics-related gaming
operations. The more RAM your card has, the more computations it will be able
to make and the better graphics you will get. Note that the minimum required
RAM is 1 GB. NVIDIA is currently the most popular manufacturer of graphic cards.
Most desktops and laptops come with a 500 GB-or 1 terabyte (TB)-hard
drive. In graphic design, your files are at least ten times bigger than ordinary
files. The bigger the capacity of your hard drive, the more graphic design
materials you can store and work on.
Having an optical drive (DVD-writer) would be practical, too. Although
flash drives are more popular nowadays, having an optical drive has advantages
to offer. One is if you need to submit or distribute a file, you can write it on a
CD or DVD. Also a blank CD or DVD is very cheap in price. Therefore, having
an optical drive is beneficial because you need not share your flash drive and
worry that you will never get it back or that it gets infected with a virus.
Another important piece of hardware is the monitor. Graphic designers
should have the best monitors. This is where they look at their designs.
They should be able to see the correct colors being displayed so that they
can produce an accurate output. All monitors being sold today are capable
of displaying a million colors so this should not be a concern anymore.
Likewise, consider the viewing angle of the monitor. The viewing angle is
the maximum angle at which you can view the screen without losing
the brightness or color shifts. What you see on your screen when you sit
in front of it should also be the same when you sit slightly to your right or
left side. Look at the specifications of your monitor and consider a viewing
angle of not less than 140°. A monitor that is at least 19” in size is preferred.
All monitors being sold now in the market are the energy-saving, low-power-
consumption, crisp, and light-emiting diode (LED) screens.

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 An uninterrupted power supply (UPS) should also be considered. Power
interruption might happen while you are working and if you are not able to
save your graphic design work, it spells much trouble. Choose a UPS device
that will give you enough minutes to save your work and shut down your
computer properly. You would not want to start again an unsaved work or to
miss a deadline.

The Software
The software are as important as the hardware. The two work together
in graphic design. Most graphic design software require minimum
specifications of hardware or they will not run at all. There are lots of
graphic design software. Some are free; but most need to be purchased.
Some can only be accessed online, while some can be installed in your
computer. The best graphic design software are those that have a wide set
of versatile tools and include several features. For beginners, one that
offers the basic features will be sufficient.

Logos of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign

For graphic editing and image manipulation, Photoshop is widely used

by professionals and has become the most popular graphic design software
in the design industry. If you need to edit photos, Photoshop is the right
software because it includes various unique filters, special effects, and tools.
Photoshop is a raster editing program. It means it uses pixels for images. (We
shall study more about raster images later in this book.) There are, of course,
alternatives to Photoshop, like Gimp and Affinity Photo.

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 On the other hand, if you need to create illustrations, Illustrator is the
right tool. It is a vector-based software. The images you create with it can
be scaled up or down without losing the quality. (We shall study more about
vector images later in this book.) It is the best choice for creating logos
and clip arts that need to be printed or displayed at different sizes. Some
alternatives to Illustrator are Corel Draw, SVG-Edit, and Inkscape.

When creating a text-heavy material, you should use a desktop publishing

software like InDesign. It is designed for making multi-page layouts, like
magazines and books. It is also best for brochures and manuals. The images
created from other software, such as Photoshop and Illustrator, may be imported
to InDesign. Common alternatives to InDesign are Scribus, QuarkXpress,
and Publisher.

 Let’s Do It!

If the computer is running slowly every time you are working on a graphic
design project, you may wish to know the specifications of the computer
and see if it needs an upgrade. In Windows 10, press the Window key + R to
go to the RUN command. Type “msinfo32” and hit the Enter key or click the
OK button.

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 This will display the system information of your computer.

The System Information tab opens in a two-pane view. The left pane
contains the entry System Summary, which includes the Hardware Resources,
Components, and Software Environment. To see the details of any category,
click the + sign beside the category name to expand the list and then click
the desired subcategory. The right pane will show the details.

In the System Information tab, you can also see the programs installed
on your computer.

Let’s Remember!
• Graphic design means to plan the visual presentation of a material.
Always make sure that your visuals complement the message and
information of your material.
• Art refers to the product of creativity, like posters, logos, brochures,
magazines, newsletters, infographics, slide presentations, and different
forms of digital art.

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 • Element refers to the different components in your design, like lines,
shapes, colors, texture, size, value, and space.
• The principles of design are all about rules, standards, and guide.
• The factors that affect the performance of your computers in doing
graphic design are the processors, memory (RAM), and graphic cards.
• It is necessary to have a big storage as graphic design files are at least
ten times bigger than ordinary files.
• A good monitor allows you to see the correct colors in a graphic design
work before printing.
• A UPS device allows you to save your work in case a power interruption
occurs.

Let’s Test Your Knowledge!

Essay
1. What is graphic design?

2. Discuss the art, element, and principles of design.

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 3. Differentiate Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign according to their use.

Let’s Test Your Skills!

A. Analyze the Tree Planting campaign poster provided below. Look at

the design and the message. Do they complement each other? What
works in this design? What does not work?

B. Practice checking how much system memory (RAM) your computer

has, including the graphic card RAM if available. A lagging computer may
need a RAM upgrade.

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 Lesson Introduction to a Graphic
2 Design Software

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to
1. identify a graphic design software;
2. familiarize yourself with the different components of a graphic design
software; and
3. create a new file and apply settings according to its purpose.

Let’s Get Started!

The User Interface

We have discussed the different graphic design software from our previous
lesson. As a review, we have learned that there are many types of software
available for our graphic design projects. Note that learning how to use any
of these software is essential in graphic design. In this book, we shall be
using Photoshop as it remains the top choice in the design industry. This book
suggests Photoshop versions CS5, CS6, or CC. Do not worry if you are using
a software other than Photoshop. Our lessons will be using the tools in
Photoshop which are also common and available in other software, like
Gimp. So it will still be easy for you to follow along.

A trial version of Photoshop is also available at www.adobe.com,

should you decide to install it at home.

In school, check with your teachers if Photoshop or any other graphic

design software has already been installed in the computer. If not, ask for their
help to install one so you can start working on our lessons.

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 Open Photoshop. Below is an image of one Photoshop user interface
(UI), the workspace. We have added descriptions of the tools that will be
used in the lessons. There shall be more discussions of these tools in the
coming lessons.

Menu Bar
Options palette
Toolbox

Click this triangle for

more tools inside

Palettes

The Menu Bar contains the list of options available to the user, such as
opening and saving files, making a selection, filters, and 3D options. Right
below the Menu Bar is the Options palette which provides more design settings
depending on the tool selected. Go ahead and start exploring each option.

The Toolbox or Tool palette contains all the wonderful tools of Photoshop.
The tools are intuitively represented by icons, like the big letter “T” for the Type
tool and the magnifying glass for zooming in and out. Clicking the small
triangle at the lower right corner of each tool reveals more tools. Again,
whenever a tool is selected, the menu in the Options palette changes to
the related options for the selected tool. Try clicking the small triangle on one
of the tools in the Tools palette for more tools.

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 Aside from the Tool palette, there are two dozens more palettes available.
Palettes can be hidden, revealed, moved, grouped, and organized depending on
what your preference is. The different palettes can be found using the Window
menu in the Menu Bar. Some of the commonly used palettes and the ones
we will be using in our lessons are Layers, Adjustments, and History. We shall
discuss more of them in the coming lessons.

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Creating a New File
Every new file created is equivalent to a new design project. It is important
that you know beforehand what type of design project you will be creating. You
need to know its dimension or size. Also, you need to know if it will be printed
or posted on the Internet, or if the image will be used for a video presentation.
Not all design projects are created the same and equal. A design project
intended for the web may not look the same when printed. Images not intended
for wide screen video format may get scaled horizontally when displayed.
There are lots of other problems you might encounter if you start in the wrong
foot. Thus, knowing the purpose of your design project will be crucial for your
final output.

The New Document dialog box in Photoshop

 Let’s Do It!

Open Photoshop.
Create a new file using
the Menu Bar or the
shortcut, Ctrl + N, on
your keyboard.

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 The dialog box for creating a new file or project will pop up.

The Name refers to the name of the design project. If you missed
entering a filename, do not worry, for you will be prompted to enter one
once you save your file.

The Preset contains the different settings for every design project.
Available are the settings for print, photo, web, mobile, and video. By
choosing the Preset and Size, the fields Width, Height, Resolution, and Pixel
Aspect Ratio are automatically filled out for you.

The Width and Height refer to the dimensions of your design project. There
are different units of measurement, namely inches, millimeters, and pixels.
You can enter a customized value for Width and Height.

Resolution refers to the number of pixels to be used on your design

project; the greater the resolution, the better the quality. Resolution will be
fully explained in another lesson.

The Color Mode will affect the number of colors available for your design
project. Color Mode will be discussed more on another lesson.

15
 Background Contents refers to the color to be used as your background
for your design project. You can also choose a transparent background if
you need to.

For this lesson, go ahead and try creating a new design project. Below is
a screenshot using the preset setting for a photo. This setting will create
a 2R landscape photo. Just click the OK button when you are done.
You do not need to save your design project yet.

Let’s Remember!
• The most common components of the Photoshop User Interface (UI)
are the Menu Bar, the Toolbox, and the Palettes.
• Creating a new file is equivalent to creating a new design project.
• Know beforehand the purpose of your design project so you could
apply the correct settings.

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 Let’s Test Your Knowledge!
Essay
1. Describe workspace and the basic components of Photoshop.

2. Describe your new project in Photoshop if the settings below are

applied.

17


Let’s Test Your Skills!

A. Open Photoshop. Using the Window menu in the Menu Bar, load the
following palettes.

• 3D
• Color
• History
• Navigator
• Swatches

Here is how each

palette looks for
your guide.

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B. Create three new design projects in Photoshop. Choose one preset for
print, one for the web, and one for video. See the screenshots provided
below as sample presets.

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 Lesson
Working with Layers
3

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to
1. discover what layers are;
2. work with layers; and
3. apply the effects and blending modes.

Let’s Get Started!

Understanding Layers
Layers are one of most
powerful features of Photoshop.
Every graphic designer should
know how layers work. Layers
are individual elements stacked
together on a single file. For
example, one layer may contain
text, another layer, an image, and
another layer, a photo.

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 The text, image, and photo on individual layers form one final design. The
design can be a poster, an infographic, a slide, and many more.

Three layers
One final design

One advantage of using layers is you can easily replace or edit an element
on your design without affecting the other elements. You can also rearrange
the stacking position easily. For example, an element on the background can
easily be placed in the middle or in front. Rearranging happens in the Layers
palette. Layers in the uppermost stack are the ones that appear in front of the
design. Layers at the bottom are the ones that are behind the design.

Layers edited
and arranged
One final design

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 There are many other things you can do with the layers aside from
changing its order. You may group or ungroup them. You may also apply the
effects and filters individually. You may adjust their opacity and fill. Moreover,
you may apply a layer style, and you may also set different blending modes.
All these may be done using the Layers palette.

blending modes

opacity and fill

effects

Looking at the Layers palette, it is easy to identify the type of content a

layer contains.

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 The “T” icon below indicates that this layer contains text.

The highlighted layer below is the adjustment layer. The chain indicates
that the layer mask is linked to a layer. The layer mask is symbolized by the
circle inside a square icon. We shall discuss the layer mask in other lessons.

The image below shows the layer that contains a smart object, which is
represented by a small square on a folded paper-like icon. Smart objects are
useful for nondestructive editing. We shall be discussing and using smart
objects on some of our design projects in this book. Again, the chain indicates
that the layer mask is linked to a layer.

As the lessons progress, you will become more familiar with the layers
and the Layers palette. Understanding the layers is one of the most important
Photoshop skills that every graphic designer should develop. So every aspiring
graphic designer should dedicate ample time studying about the layers. This
book would be very helpful as most of our designs will make use of various
layers. By putting into practice the use of layers, you will become more
familiar with them and master them in a short period of time.

 Let’s Do It!

Open Photoshop and create a new file.

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 Use a preset that is applicable to design projects for the web. Follow the
provided screenshot as your guide.

To create or add new layers, just click the Create a new layer icon in the
Layers palette.

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 A new layer will be created. To rename the new layer, just double-click on
the name of the layer and it will be highlighted.

Make sure to type an appropriate name. For example, if it will contain a

circle or a square shape, then name it as circle or square.

Another way of creating a new layer is by using the Type Tool from the Tool
palette. Click on the workspace and a new layer will be created.

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 Whatever you type is also automatically used as your layer name.

We shall have more practice in using the Type tool in other lessons.

It is advised to create a group of layers to provide organization and for

easy navigation. To create a new group, just click on the Create a new group
icon. You can insert layers inside a group by dragging them on top of the
grouped layer.

You can also select all the layers that you would like to group by selecting
them and then pressing Ctrl + G on your keyboard. To ungroup, just press
Ctr + Shift + G keys on the keyboard while the group is selected in the
Layers palette. Name the group the same way you named the layer.

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 To delete a layer or group, you can simply select the layer or group that
you wish to delete and press the Delete key on your keyboard or the Trash bin
icon in the Layers palette.

Layer Styles and Blending Modes

The layer styles and blending modes in Photoshop are really cool effect
tools that provide more room for creativity and give more excitement to every
designer. By experimenting the correct and appropriate combination of layer
styles and blending modes, the designers can really create wonderful design
projects.

A layer style refers to one or more effects that can be applied to a layer
or group of layers. It means that you can combine different effects to a single
layer or to a group of layers. You can access the layer style at the bottom of
the Layers palette by clicking the FX icon in the Layer Style dialog box. A list
of available styles to choose from will then appear.

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 You can use the preset styles provided in Photoshop or you can create
your own custom style by adjusting the settings. Here are the sample layer
styles applied on the same image.

• Drop Shadow

• Gradient Overlay

• Bevel and Emboss

• Pattern Overlay

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• Stroke and Outer Glow

• Inner Shadow

The blending modes allow the designers

to combine or blend layers and will result in
an effect that the layer styles alone cannot
provide. There is a long list of blending
modes which you can access in the Layers
palette.

We shall make use of blending modes

in some of the design projects in this book.

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 Here are the sample results of blending two layers together.

• Difference • Divide

• Hard Light • Luminosity

• Multiply • Subtract

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 Let’s Do It!
Open Photoshop and create a new file. Use the following preset as your
guide.

Using the Type Tool, type the word “Graphic Design.” Here are the settings
used in the example below.

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 Now, you can apply some layer styles. Try a combination of drop shadow,
stroke (white), and bevel and emboss. The result should be similar to this.

Here are the adjustments in the layer style dialog box for drop shadow.

For bevel and emboss—

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 For stroke—

Now, let us try some blending modes. Search for any image with a white
background on the Internet. The photo below will be used for the next activity.

Import the photo from the File Menu of Photoshop, using the Place
command.

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34
37
 Once inserted, just press the Enter key on your keyboard to place your
image. Here is how it should look.

The word “Graphic Design” is being partly covered by the photo. Now, apply
some blending modes.

Here is the result with a multiply blending mode.

Here is the result when the color burn blending mode is used.

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 Try experimenting with the other blending modes and see the result with
your own work.

When you are done, save your work by clicking the Save As button in the
File Menu.

The default file format for Photoshop is the Photoshop document (PSD)
file format. Save your work using this format after giving it a file name.
The Photoshop document (PSD) file format will retain all the layers of the
design project. In the example below, the design project is saved as “graphic
design.psd.”

Keep your file for we shall use it in another lesson.

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 Let’s Remember!
• Layers are individual elements stacked together in a single file.
• Layers may contain a graphic, photo, or text.
• Layers can be grouped or ungrouped. Filters and effects can be applied
on layers, their opacity can be adjusted, and different blending modes
can be used on them.
• Layer style is one or more effects that can be applied to a layer or a
group of layers.
• Blending modes allow designers to combine or blend layers.
• PSD, which stands for Photoshop document, is the default file format
for Photoshop that keeps all the layers in the design project intact.

Let’s Test Your Knowledge!

Essay
1. Discuss the importance of understanding layers.

2. What are layer styles? What layer styles can be found in Photoshop?

37
 3. Describe the blending modes. Cite some blending modes that are
available in Photoshop.

Let’s Test Your Skills!

A. Open Photoshop. Create a new design project by using any preset

available. Do the following:

1. Create three layers and name them image1, image3, and image4,
respectively.
2. Rename image4 to image2.
3. Rearrange the layers by placing image1 on the top of the stack,
followed by image2, and then, image3.
4. Group the layers and name it as image group.
5. Delete image3 inside the image group folder.

B. Open Photoshop. Create a new layer and type any word. Apply any layer
style that you prefer. Then, import an image with a white background
and apply some blending modes. Show your teacher the result. Here is a
sample output for your guide.

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File Format and Color Modes
Portable Document Format (PDF)
Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)
Tagged Image File Format (TIFF)
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG, JPG,
JFIF)
Portable Network Graphics (PNG)
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF_
Color Space
Color Space
Generic Color Model
Selection Tools
The selection tools are what you will use to select portions of an image to edit. While each
of these tools are for selection, they differ in how they go about selecting, and their levels of
sophistication vary.
Move Allows you to position contents, selection and/or layers of your image by dragging it
with your mouse.
Rectangular Marquee You can select rectangular portions of an image with this tool.
Lasso This selection tool allows you to draw your own freeform outline of what you wish to
select. This works best for those areas that don't qualify as shapes.
Quick Selection This tool is used like the lasso tool except it works best on an area with
clearly defined edges. You drag the mouse and the outline "snaps" to the edges.
Crop This tool allows you to select a portion of the image and get rid of everything not
included in the selection. It is useful for getting rid of backdrops you don't want, such as
photobombers.
Eyedropper This tool samples a color in the image you are working on and matches it to
one in Photoshop. It is useful if you want to retouch part of an image but can't tell which
color to use.

Each icon in the Tools Panel also houses other tools. To see these tools, click and hold any
one of these icons and a list will appear displaying the alternate options.
Rectangular Marquee Tool Elliptical Marquee Tool, Single Row Marquee Tool, Single
Column Marquee Tool
Lasso Tool Polygonal Lasso Tool, Magnetic Lasso Tool
Quick Selection Tool Magic Wand Tool
Crop Tool Slice Tool Slice Select Tool
Eyedropper Tool Color Sampler Tool, Ruler Tool, Note Tool, Count Tool

Editing Tools
The editing tools are found below the selecting tools on the tools panel. Naturally, they all
have different functions related to editing an image. You can do simple procedures like
draw or erase or perform more complex tasks like dodging and burning -- manipulating the
exposure of selected areas -- that will make for studio quality prints and creative visuals.

Spot Healing Brush Tool Corrects blemishes in the image like dust specs and blends the
final image
Brush Tool Paints on the image, allows you to select size of brush area as well as color
Clone Stamp Tool Copy pixels from one part of the image and recreate elsewhere
History Brush Tool Kind of "unpaints" the edits you made; this brush will revert the
selected parts of the image you drew on back to the original form
Eraser Tool Erases pixels from the image, exposing the layer below the image you are
working on, or the blank sheet if no layer is there
Gradient Tool Creates a blending of foreground and background colors in the image
Blur Tool Makes parts of the image blurry; useful when creating a selective focus
Dodge Tool A useful tool for brightening dark areas of an image; the Burn Tool (nested
within the Dodge Tool) darkens bright areas of an image

As with the Selection Tools, there are other tools with similar functions nested within each of
the default Editing Tools on display.

Spot Healing Brush Healing Brush, Patch, Content-Aware Move, Red Eye
Brush Pencil, Color Replacement, Mixer Brush
Clone Stamp Pattern Stamp
History Brush Art History Brush
Eraser Background Eraser, Magic Eraser
Gradient Paint Buckets, 3D Material Drop
Blur Sharpen, Smudge
Dodge Burn, Sponge

Creation Tools
Unlike editing tools that manipulate objects that already exists on the image, those under
creation tools allows you to add various objects onto your image
Pen Tool Creates vector paths and shapes which can be duplicated and manipulated to
create complex selections, masks and objects
Horizontal Type Tool Allows you to add horizontal text to your images
Path Selection Tool Allows you to select an entire path or sub path.
Rectangle Tool Allows you to draw vector and pixel-based rectangular shapes and outlines

Viewing Tools
There are two tools that assists you on viewing various part of your images on your work
area
Hand Tool Allows you to pan to various parts of your images, assuming the current view
exceeds your work area
Zoom Tool Allows you to magnify or shrink your current view of your image on the work
area