ASSESSMENT 2

WRITTEN ASSESSMENT / PROJECT

Question
1 What is negative space, and how it is important in document design?
Negative space or the white space is the area around the design that is blank. The
positive elements of the design are the subject of the design while the blank is the
negative space.
When in any designing the negative space is utilized properly it gives a sophisticated
look to the design. Just think of a high end cosmetic product that has a striking
combination of white background with colors. It’s the striking difference that will
attract its viewers and that is the power of negative space.
The negative space makes the overall design clear to the viewers. It gives every
element of the design some space that makes them distinct in the cluster of so many
other elements. If it is not there then multitude of so many other elements may
become distracting and the focus may be missed.

2 What are three essential elements to consider when preparing

document for printing / publication?
Trim marks
Trim marks, or crop marks, show the printer where to cut the paper. For a standard
layout, such as a business card or poster, trim marks are small lines located in each
corner of the document. One line shows the horizontal cut, and one shows the vertical
cut. Since you don’t want these lines to actually show up on your printed piece, trim
marks are placed outside of the final visible, or “live,” area.
When working in graphics software such as Illustrator, you can set your trim marks to
be shown on screen and automatically placed in your final document export, such as a
PDF. If you have downloaded templates from a printer, the trim marks will often
already be included.

Trimmed page size

The trimmed page size is the final intended size of your pages, after being cut along
the trim marks. This size is important to supply to the printer because it will determine
what machines will be used to print your job, which will affect the final cost. When
starting a project, the size you create your document at in a graphics program is the
trimmed page size.

Margin or safety
Just as images that should bleed should extend beyond the live area of your layout,
images that you don’t want to risk getting clipped should stay within a margin,
sometimes referred to as a “safety.” Again, consult your printer for these
measurements. Just as with bleeds, you can set up guides to help stay within your
margins.

3 What effect (influence) does the selection of different type faces have on
a job?
Readability is Central to Engagement
Thirty-one percent  of your web page visitors leave within seconds, deciding your
page isn’t an easy route to the information or service they need. Readability is key to
audience engagement–if a web page’s lettering is too small or words are often broken
by hyphenation due to mishandled line length, very few people will have the patience
to continue. The colors and color contrasts you choose, the number of times you
change fonts or even font weights, and the typeface itself also contribute to whether or
not a web surfer slows their paddle and stays with your page. When it comes to
readability and typeface, there are few hard and fast rules, but just keep it simple. Use
as many typefaces as you need, but as few as possible. Shift colors and weights
mainly for headlines or subheaders. Body copy tends to be size 10 – 12.12.

Varied Uses for Various Typefaces

Because serif and sans serif fonts encourage different kinds of reading, they’re used
in different formats, for different purposes. Serifs, slight projections off of the letter,
draw the eye horizontally and help the eye differentiate between letters, making the
process of reading less taxing, especially for denser content. Sans serif, which lacks
serifs (hence the “sans”), is best used for direct, precise communication like headlines
or short pieces of copy. Due to major pixelation differences between print and online
formats–books have 1,000 dots per inch, desktop screens have 100–sans serif’s more
stripped down simplicity is often better for legibility in online material while serif is
better for printed material.
4 What is meant by consistency of design?
Consistency is a key principle in life and in design. Without it we can’t get far. Even
the mightiest of problems will fall if you keep hacking it everyday!
Consistency is one of the design principles that we like to violate frequently. I am also
guilty of doing that and I am not proud of it. Going all creative and artzy can easily
break this design principle.
Consistency is one of the molecules of the Design DNA. Consistent design is intuitive
design. It is highly useful and makes the world a better place.
In short, usability and learnability improve when similar elements have consistent
look and function in similar way. When consistency is present in your design, people
can transfer knowledge to new contexts and learn new things quickly without pain.

5 How is contrast important in a well designed document?

The key principles of design are: contrast, hierarchy, alignment, balance, proximity,
repetition, simplicity and function.
Whatever work you produce be it for a magazine, poster, website or advertisement,
the principles of design should be considered.
A good designer will keep these principles and guidelines in their toolkit and will
consciously use them to develop their ideas.
Contrast occurs when two or more visual elements in a composition are different. In
design we use contrast to generate impact, highlight importance, create exciting
graphics and create visual interest and dynamics.
Context is integral to contrast. We may think that the chosen visual object in a
composition says something about itself but it is more often the visual
elements around it that give it it’s meaning.
Contrast creates interesting relationships between the visual elements. It can push
elements away, connect them or complement them. Without contrast, visual elements
can be meaningless.

6 Explain each of the following terms in relation to document design.

Proportion Proportion refers to the relative size and scale of the various
elements in a design. The issue is the relationship between
 objects, or parts, of a whole. This means that it is necessary to
discuss proportionin terms of the context or standard used to
determine proportions.
Contrast If we look for definition of a contrast, we’ll find out that
contrast is a visual difference used for distinguishing a certain
object (or objects). Contrast is often used in different areas of
design, but sometimes seems too complex to master. It isn’t
surprising at all: usually beginners learn about the basics of
color contrast and that’s that.
However, smart use of contrast can benefit both a designer and
a client. Today I’m going to tell you more about perks of
contrast, its types and how it’s made.
Similarity Similarity (also known as Invariance): The human eye tends to
build a relationship between similar elements within a design.
Similarity can be achieved using basic elements such as shapes,
colors, and size.
The human eye tends to perceive similar elements in a design as
a complete picture, shape, or group, even if those elements are
separated. The brain seems to craft a link between elements of a
similar nature. Then, we perceive them in a relationship with
each other, separating them from other elements in a design.
Human eyes are good at filling in “gaps” or connecting “dots”.
It happens naturally.
Order Hierarchy refers to the order in which elements are viewed or
“order of importance”. This is the crowning principle
of design and which all other principles work towards
supporting.
Balance Balance is the distribution of the visual weight of objects,
colors, texture, and space. If the design was a scale, these
elements should be balanced to make a design feel stable.
Balance is the distribution of the visual weight of objects,
colors, texture, and space. If the design was a scale, these
elements should be balanced to make a design feel stable. In
 symmetrical balance, the elements used on one side of the
design are similar to those on the other side; in asymmetrical
balance, the sides are different but still look balanced. In radial
balance, the elements are arranged around a central point and
may be similar

7 Describe what a style guide is, and what is normally includes.

A style guide is a document that provides guidelines for the way your brand should be
presented from both a graphic and language perspective. The purpose of a style guide
is to make sure that multiple contributors create in a clear and cohesive way that
reflects the corporate style and ensures brand consistency with everything from design
to writing.
A key benefit of any style guide for your organization is that it creates cohesion
among marketers in your business. If you were to leave up the visual representation of
your organization open to individual interpretation, chances are you would get a very
mixed bag of results. A guide will create cohesion, direction and clarity for all
marketing decisions in your organization. A visual style guide will help the creation
and upkeep of your website, look and voice of your social media accounts and much
more from blogs to ads.