LIVING IN

THE IT ERA
 MODULE 6:
IMAGING AND DESIGN
FOR
SOCIAL IMPACT
Overview
The graphic design concepts are almost like building blocks. Each layer is on top
of each other before you have the base to create something unbelievable — whether
you're creating a logo, website, or a unique picture. The basic principles of graphic
design comes with different fundamentals to consider. In this module, we will explore
some of it for us to be able to create a good design.

Lesson 1: Graphic Design

Fundamentals
Objectives
At the end of this module, you should be able to:
• Understand the basic concepts like colors, typography, images;
• Understand the principles and techniques of design using applications (whether open
source or proprietary) to develop contents for social campaigns; and
• Discuss the importance of having a good design to communicate visually.

What is Graphic Design?

Graphic Design is a process in which we use typography, images, colors, icons
and other illustrations to communicate visually. This term was first coined by William
Addison Dwiggins on 1992 as he called himself a “graphic designer”. However,
graphic design is a thousand-year-old craft which dates back to ancient cave drawings.
In today’s era, we use graphic design not just to communicate visually but also to having
good user experience (for software developers) and also to boost/improve one’s
emotions (with the use of colors). The fundamentals of graphic design varies from
PowerPoint presentations, web/mobile applications, posters, logos, and even paintings.

The basic elements of graphic design are the following:

• Lines
• Shapes
• Form
• Texture
• Balance

Line
A line is a kind of shape which connects two or more points. It is also considered
as one of the essential element of graphic design. Lines can be thick, thin, curved, or
jagged.

Figure 1 shows the different styles of a line.

Figure 1 Styles of lines

Lines can be used and commonly found in drawings or illustrations, textures or

patterns, as well as on text composition – whether to give emphasis, divide or organize
content, or to guide the viewer’s eye. Impacts on lines also differs based on their
attributes.
These attributes include:
• Weight
• Color
• Texture
• Style
 Figure 2 Lines used in patterns

Source: Eshelman, K. (2012, August 21). Retrieved July 25, 2020 from
http://galatiak12art.blogspot.com/2012/08/linedesigns.
html

Shape
A shape is a two-dimensional external boundary of an object. Any object outline
that has height and width can be considered as a shape. Together with lines, they form
the foundation of your design.
There are two (2) major categories of shapes in design:
• Geometric – these are regular and mathematical shapes.
• Organic – these are freeform shapes.

Figure 3 shows the different examples of geometric and organic shapes.

Figure 3 Example of geometric and freeform shapes

Source: Lewman, L. (2018, February 18). [Digital Image]. Retrieved July 25, 2020, from
 https://www.slideshare.net/LeahLewman/elements-of-art-shape-88242623

Shapes can be used in organizing or dividing contents, create illustrations, and in adding
interest to one’s work/design.

Figure 4 Using shapes in a poster design

Form
A form is a three-dimensional shape. Shadows, perspective, depth, and
sometimes texture creates a form. Without these attributes, a form is just a shape or
series of shapes. Plain images/objects and flat designs can be enhanced by adding
shadows or lightings to create an illusion of a form. It also gives the object a sense of
place.
Figure 5 shows that a ball, if you make it two-dimensional is just a circle .

Figure 5 Difference of a form and a shape

Texture
Texture refers to the physical quality of the surface of an object in an artwork or
design. It also refers to how an object look or feels like. An object might be smooth,
rough, shiny, hard, or soft. It can be in 3D (real texture) or 2D (visual texture). Texture
adds depth and visual interest to the flat images or objects.

Texture can be used for:

• Establishing visual value or a focal point in an artwork.
• Having contrast within a design
• Making an artwork visually balanced.

Figure 6 Real texture (left) and visual texture (right)

Balance
Visual balance is the creation of visual equilibrium by relating elements such as
line, shape, color, space or form in terms of their visual weight. Basically, there are two
kinds of visual balance:

1. Symmetrical balance. From the name itself, symmetrical balance, which

includes radial symmetry is when both two sides of a piece are equal. If you fold your
artwork or piece into two or if you put an imaginary line between your artwork, each
half is identical or visually similar to the other half.

Figure 7 Symmetrical design example

2. Asymmetrical balance. Both sides of your composition does not contain
the same elements but contain almost the same visual weight.

Figure 8 Asymmetrical design example

Lesson 2:
Branding and Identity
Branding and identity can be found everywhere. Look around you, you may see some of
your personal items, product packaging, documents, or some sort of advertising. All of
them have one in common – identity.

Branding is simply what people thinks about you, your company, your product or your
service. For example, we think of Albert Einstein as the epitome of intelligence, and that
is how he was branded.

Identity or visual identity is the visual representation of a brand. It can be in a form

of image, choice of color or typography, and many more. For example, we quickly
recognize the company and its service but just looking at its logo, typeface, or color
combinations. Let’s cite one example. We can easily associate the school by simple
looking at their color combination. For instance, if we see colors red and maroon, we
can easily connect it with PUP, or red and green for UP.

Branding and identity are not just for products and services, we can even apply it to how
we work or what type of output we produce. For example, the use of bright and bold
colors are often associated with the famous painter, Vincent Van Gogh.
Lucidpress (2018) enumerated the seven steps to creating a brand identity design:

1. Establish clear purpose and positioning. Recall why you or

your company exists, who your target audience are, and what makes you or your service
unique from your competitors.
2. Conduct thorough market research. Having a deep analysis on
your target audience on what their personalities are which will lead you to the next step.

3. Get a personality. Based on your research, determine your brand’s

personality. Brand personality make a huge impact on the visuals of your marketing
materials.

4. Create a polished logo. In creating your logo, it should be simple,

scalable, and memorable. Observe the logos of famous companies like Amazon,
Google, and IBM. What do these logos have in common?

5. Create an attractive color pallete. Your color pallete should be

simple and contain one to three primary colors. Once you have established your color
pallete, you may play with their color family. For example, if you choose blue as you
primary color, you may use sky blue, baby blue, and other colors under the blue family
to support your primary color.

6. Select professional typography. When selecting fonts, it is

important to consider these things:

a. Do not make it fancy. Fancy typefaces only make your text confusing.
Example:

b. Don’t mix fonts/typefaces. Do not mix fonts or typefaces in a word or

sentence as it may give mixed interpretations to your audience.
Example:

c. Mix contrasting fonts/typefaces. This is not similar to the above item.

This means you may use serif typefaces for your product title and sans serif for the
subtitle.
Example:

7. Choose on-brand supporting graphics. Your brand identity should have

a visual library that include icons, images/photographs, design assets, and other
supporting graphics.
 Lesson 3: Layout and Composition
Layout and composition are the building blocks of design. These two focus on the
arrangement of your objects or elements on your design. You’re good texts, images, or
other elements in the graphic will turn to waste if your layout is not well-composed.
We might be confused sometimes in using lay out instead of layout. Please take note that
these two are not the same.

Lay out is a verb phrase which simply means to arrange something, while layout is
a noun which means how things are organized.

There are five basic principles of layout and composition:

1. Proximity
2. White Space
3. Alignment
4. Contrast
5. Repetition

Proximity
Proximity is the process of placing related elements together. Elements that are not
related to that group should be separated to show that these elements are not related to
that group. Take family reunion as an example, you are grouped by family, and anyone
who don’t have any relationship to your family should be separated. In design, block
texts or graphics that are related should be grouped together to make your design easier
to understand.

Figure 9
Sample
design which
shows the
division of
related
elements.

White
Space
White space
is not literally
the white spaces that you found on the design but rather the negative space between
lines, paragraphs, and element on the design. In his article Importance in White
Space in Design, Pratik Hedge described white space as:
“White Space in design composition is same as use of Silence in a musical composition.
Without proportionate use of Silence, music is unstructured; some may call it noise.
Similarly, without White
Space, design is unstructured and difficult to consume.”

There are two types of white space:

• Micro white space. Mini spaces between paragraphs, lines, menu items, or
other elements in a design composition.

• Macro white space. Large spaces between contents and elements.

How important is white space in design?
Hedge (2017) listed some of the importance of white space in design.

1. Improved comprehension. Spaces between lines in a paragraph makes the

content legible and easily scanable to the readers/viewers.

Figure 10 White spaces makes the content more readable.

2. Focus and attention. Macro white spaces help guide the viewers to the
focus area in the design.

Figure 11 Screen grab from Apple website

3. Increased interaction rate. If used wisely, white space in design helps

the viewer to get the message quickly even without looking at the instructions. Take a
look at Google’s homepage UI. White space helps the viewer to get the message, which is
to search.

Figure 12 Screen grab from Google homepage

4. Guide the user through local grouping. White space helps you
to achieve the proximity of your design.

5. Branding and Design Tone. Let us look back at the steps of brand
identity design, the way how are you going to apply white spaces in your design helps
you create your own brand’s personality.

6. Creates a breathing space for users. A lot of people believe that

in design, one must maximize the space by putting contents on it. However, this might
make your design stuffy. Having enough white space makes your eye rest, helps us
breathe and not to be overwhelmed with the information.

Figure 12 Making design with breathable space (right) is better than stuffy design (left)

Alignment
Alignment helps designers to organize different elements in their composition.
This is similar to the alignment that we see in MS Word or other productivity tools.
Effective use of alignment give your composition a definitive structure and a creative
balance. Alignment may be left, centered, right, or justified.

Contrast
 Contrast means one element is opposite to the other element. This does not only
apply to colors, but to typeface and size of elements as well. Contrast helps you to catch
the viewer’s eye, create a direction, or giving emphasis to something. For example, if you
use dark color for your background, you should use light color for your foreground; or if
you use different test style to give emphasis on your content.

Figure 13 The use of different text styles to create contrast.

Repetition
Repetition simply means to use of the same typefaces, color palettes, or other
elements to achieve consistency in your composition. This create unity in your
composition or make your projects connected to each other. For example, if you create a
PowerPoint presentation, you should use only the same color palette or text style in all
of your slides.

Lesson 4: Typography
Typography is the art of arranging texts that makes it readable and appealing to
the viewer. It involves font style, typeface, and text structure.
Some people often misuse the term “font” as typeface. So, let us explain first the
difference between font and typeface.

Font refers to the variation of weights of a typeface, while typeface refers to the text
style. Font also refers to the format or storage mechanism of a text like .otf and .ttf. For
example, Arial Narrow, Arial
Black, and Arial Rounded are fonts under the Arial typeface.
“Typeface is to font as song is to .mp3” – Nick Sherman
Table 1 shows the difference between a font and a typeface.
Table 1 – Difference between font and typeface
 Font Typeface

Types of Fonts
Fonts can be categorized into three:
• Serif
• San Serif
• Display

Serif
Serif fonts are fonts that have little strokes called serif on each end of the letter. They
are typically used in formal or traditional projects. Examples of typefaces with serifs are
Times New Roman, Baskerville Old Face, and Californian FB.

Figure 14 Serif in letter T (in circles).

Sans Serif
Sans serif are fonts with no extra strokes. Sans serif simple means “without
serifs” as sans is a French word for without. These fonts are normally found in mobile
phones, and computer screens. Examples of this type are Calibri, Arial, and Roboto.

Display
Display fonts are sometimes called as fancy or decorative fonts. It can be script,
black letter or all caps. These type of fonts are used in special occasions like invitations,
titles, or posters. Examples of display fonts are Advertising Script, Bangers, and Forte.

Choosing a font or typeface

Whether you are new or old in graphic design, one dilemma that most graphic designers
experienced is on what fonts or typefaces are they going to use. One mistake that
beginners commit is the misuse of fonts or typefaces. In choosing a font/typeface, it
should portray the message that you want to say to your viewers. In design, fonts and
typefaces do matter.

Figure 15 shows the different interpretations of these notes with the same message but
using different typefaces.
 Figure 14 Serif in letter T (in circles).
Credits: digitalsynopsis.com

There are typefaces are that overused and outdated like Comic Sans, Papyrus,
Jokerman, and Curlz MT. Though there is nothing wrong in using them, these typefaces
are being discouraged to use.
In choosing typefaces on your design, limit yourself to one or two per project, and you
may play with their family of fonts for emphasis or contrast. You may combine serifs
and sans serifs, display and serifs, or display and sans serifs.

Lesson 5: Color
Colors are very essential to your compositions. One may use a combination or one or
more colors.
It may be our instinct to choose color but there is a science behind it, called Color
Theory. Color
Theory describes how different colors contribute to each other and how they appear as
they are mixed into other color schemes. Before we proceed to different color schemes,
let us go over some terminologies used in color.

• Hue. Refers to pure, vibrant colors.

• Saturation. Refers to the intensity of the color. It ranges from black and white
(or grayscale) to vibrant color.
• Value. Refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. For example, from light blue
to dark blue.

Color Schemes
Of course, we can still remember the lessons about color during art lessons. We have
primary colors, then secondary colors and tertiary colors. A circular diagram of these
colors is called a color wheel

(Figure 15). Using this wheel, we can create our own color scheme or combination.

Figure 15 The color wheel

Credits: aekikuis – Color Wheel Worksheet

Monochromatic Color Scheme

This color scheme only focuses on one color, and often using variations by incorporating
saturations or values. For example, if you chose the color blue, then you may have other
colors under the same color family like sky blue, baby blue, navy blue, or dark blue.

Figure 16 Example of monochromatic color scheme

Credits: Patiwat Sariya
Achromatic Color Scheme
This color scheme only revolves on using desaturated colors like black, gray, and white.

Analogous Color Scheme

Analogous color scheme selects a group of three colors that are adjacent in the color
wheel.

Figure 17 The analogous color scheme

Credits: aekikuis – Color Wheel Worksheet

Complementary Color Scheme

These are colors that are direct opposite to each other in the color wheel. Usually, a
combination of a primary and secondary colors.

Figure 18 The complementary color scheme

Credits: aekikuis – Color Wheel Worksheet
Split-Complementary Color Scheme
Split-complementary color scheme uses the colors on both sides of the opposite color.

Figure 18 The split-complementary color scheme

Credits: aekikuis – Color Wheel Worksheet

Triadic Color Scheme

This color scheme uses colors that form an equilateral triangle. It may be a combination
of primary, secondary, or tertiary colors.

Figure 19 The triadic color scheme

Credits: aekikuis – Color Wheel Worksheet

Tetradic Color Scheme

Also known as double complementary. This color scheme uses two pairs of
complementary colors.

Figure 20 The tetradic color scheme

Credits: aekikuis – Color Wheel Worksheet

Understanding Color Profiles

Whenever we open an image editing application or buy a printer ink at the store, we
may observe labels like RGB or CMYK. So, what are they? They are color profiles that we
need to consider if we create designs.

• RGB. This color profile consists of Red, Green, and Blue. You should use this profile
for design that are intended for screen displays.

• CMYK. This color profile consists of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (Black). If
you have a printer in your house, you probably see these colors as inks. This profile is
intended for designs that are to be printed.

Lesson 6: Image
Images are not just limited to photographs, it also includes graphics, and other
illustrations. Having images on your composition makes it appealing to the eyes of your
viewer. Take magazine as an example, imagine that your favorite magazine contains no
image. You do not want to read it right?
That is the power of images – they are not just decorations on your composition.
Finding and placing the right image is not a difficult thing as long as you know what
kind of image you are going to use in your composition. Do you remember using clip
arts on your project designs?
If yes, then I encourage you to not use it today as we are over with the clip art era.
Stock photos are now popular in any project.

Most people are now relying on stock photos as they are free or sometimes cost less.
There are various stock image websites all over the internet. The only thing that you
need to do is to choose pictures/images for your composition.

Figure 21 A screen grab of Pexels – A stock image site

Credits: pexels.com

Image File Types

There are different file types of images, and they are grouped into two categories: vector
and raster.
• Vector. It is a type of image that does not lose its quality when zoomed in. Your
image will not be pixelated when enlarged.
• Raster. Opposite to vector, raster images become pixelated when enlarged.
• Vector Image File Extensions
• Encapsulated Postscript (EPS). This vector format are designed to
produce high-resolution graphics for print. Being a universal file type, EPS files can be
opened in any design editor.
• Adobe Illustrator Document (AI). Most preferable and commonly
used image file type by designers. If you want to create a vector image, AI is one of the
best tool for you.

Raster Image File Extensions

• Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPG or JPEG). This file type is the most
commonly used image file type. Since this is a raster type of image, JPEG images are
known for their “lossy” compression. Meaning, the image quality decreases when being
enlarged.
• Portable Network Graphics (PNG). This file type is known for having a
transparent background. Images in this type are commonly used in web documents.
• Graphics Interchange Format. This file type is known in its animated form. You
can find them in social networking sites as posts or comments. GIFs are often used in
web pages as can load quickly due to its reduced file size.

Online Videos to Watch:

• https://youtu.be/YqQx75OPRa0
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8KoAHCwnMQ
• https://youtu.be/sByzHoiYFX0
• https://youtu.be/MELKuexR3sQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65WjYDEzi88
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK86XQ1iFVs
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFf9jBs2yfU
References / Sources:
• https://www.slideshare.net/LeahLewman/elements-of-art-shape-88242623
• https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/designelements.jpg
• https://99designs.com/blog/tips/graphic-design-basics/#4
• https://faculty.washington.edu/farkas/dfpubs/Farkas-Farkas-Graphic%20Design-
Ch11Principles%20of%20Web%20Design.pdf
• https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/graphic-design
•http://www.wcs.k12.mi.us/cousino/wcsart/art%20foundatons%20site/
texture.html#~:text=T
exture%20refers%20to%20the%20surface%20quality%20in%20a%20work%20of
%20rt.&text=Some%20things%20feel%20just%20as,called%20visual%20or
%20implied%20texture.
• https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-balance-in-art-
182423#:~:text=Balance%20refers%20to%20how%20the,not%20seem%20heavier%20
than%20another.
• https://writingexplained.org/layout-or-lay-out-difference
• https://www.edgee.net/the-principles-of-graphic-design-how-to-use-
proximityeffectively/#:~:text=The%20principle%20of%20proximity%20is,give
%20structure%20to%20a%20layout.
• https://www.portlandlocalist.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-design-of-your-email-
newsletter
• https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/beginning-graphic-design/typography/1/
• https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/complete-guide-color-in-design
• https://blog.hubspot.com/insiders/different-types-of-image-files

Assessment/Exercises
Using the fundamentals of graphics design, enumerate and explain the elements on this
image that needs to improve and be able to create your version of this design.