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Beginners Guide To Design 2020 FINAL

The document is a beginner's guide to design, covering fundamental elements such as line, shape, form, texture, balance, and color. It emphasizes the importance of typography, including font choice, legibility, and readability, as well as layout design principles based on Gestalt psychology. Key design concepts like alignment, margins, and the use of grids are also discussed to enhance overall visual communication.

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Emilly
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18 views75 pages

Beginners Guide To Design 2020 FINAL

The document is a beginner's guide to design, covering fundamental elements such as line, shape, form, texture, balance, and color. It emphasizes the importance of typography, including font choice, legibility, and readability, as well as layout design principles based on Gestalt psychology. Key design concepts like alignment, margins, and the use of grids are also discussed to enhance overall visual communication.

Uploaded by

Emilly
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Beginners guide to design

Jake Otto, art director, Lindsay Stanford, graphic designer


Fundamentals of Design
! Line
! Shape/Form
! Direction
! Texture/patterns
! Balance
! Color
LINE
A line is a shape that connects
two or more points.
LINE DIRECTION
! Horizontal
! Vertical
! Diagonal

Photo courtesy of NASA


Photo shevisual.com Photo chasematt.com
SHAPE
A shape is any 2-dimensional area with
a recognizable boundary.

Geometric Organic
Signs Symbols Abstract art
FORM
When a shape becomes 3D, we
call it a form.
TEXTURE/PATTERNS
Texture is the physical
quality of a surface.
BALANCE
Balance is the equal
distribution of visual weight
TYPES OF BALANCE
! Symmetrical
! Asymmetrical
RULE OF THIRDS
Color
! Primary/Secondary
! Hue
! Saturation
! Value aka Tint and Shade
PRIMARY/SECONDARY
HUE
It's basically just another
word for color.
SATURATION
Refers to intensity or
whether the color appears
more subtle or more
vibrant.
VALUE
Value has to do with how
dark or light the color is,
ranging from black to white.
Typography
Fonts and stuff
Font or Typeface?
Font or Typeface?
Typography
Every font has a unique style — personality, history
and function. These styles can be used to evoke an
emotion, feeling and an era.

Choice of typeface should be driven by the goal of the


overall piece and can drive the effectiveness of the piece.
Typography
Cohesiveness of the typeface with the layout as well as
the subject matter is important.

First, understand your audience, your theme and your


desired impact, then find a combination of fonts that
meet that criteria.
Typography
More fonts =
/ better design.
It’s best to use a maximum of three fonts any design
project, and two is often even better.
Typography
More fonts =
/ better design.
Too many fonts creates a
bizarre creature with too many
personality’s, unable to
function as intended.
Legibility and Readability

What’s the difference?


Legibility and Readability
Legibility is the ability to identify and distinguish
between the different letter forms of a font.
Legibility and Readability
Readability has to do with the level of ease and comfort
the audience has reading it.

Readability is of greater concern when working with


longer blocks of text versus headlines or titles.
Alignment
Alignment refers to the invisible axis your text runs
along and how it fits in the text box.
Alignment
Alignment
In the western languages, we
read left-to-right and top-to-
bottom, so the default choice
and natural preference will be
left justified. We find this to be
the most comfortable for eye
movement.
Alignment
Alignment
Alignment
Alignment
Alignment
Alignment
Margins
Margins act as visual buffers. The amount of margin you use
affects the comfort level for the reader.
Margins
Margins
Margins
Layout Design

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”


– Aristotle
Layout Design
Gestalt thinking

The theory is that the human brain makes sense of the world. It
does so by grouping several elements together to form one
whole, instead of several separate objects.
Layout Design
5 Principles from Gestalt psychology
! Similarity

! Continuation

! Closure

! Proximity

! Order
Use a Grid
Use a Grid
Use a Grid
Use a Grid
Hierarchy
Hierarchy
Hierarchy
Hierarchy
Hierarchy
Use Boxes
Utilize Whitespace
Scale and Balance
Scale and Balance
Scale and Balance
Scale and Balance
Thanks for joining!

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