10
basic principles of graphic design.
by filip oskarsson
welcome
My name is Filip Oskarsson and i’m studying Crossmedia Digital Producer at Handelsakademin located in Gothenburg, Sweden. The education is basically about visual communication in different platforms, like printed billboards, banners on the web and social media. And when we speak about communication, we usually speak about graphic design and different layout solutions. For me, graphic design is about simplicity. Less is more. I like it when it has a clean look, without too much stuff surrounding the text. Just simple and easy for the reader to get the message. I am now going to show 10 different elements that is important to know about when you want to learn the basics of graphic design. They are in no particular order.
enjoy!
color
Color plays a major part in the correct reflection of your brand. This visually obvious yet subtle application has a significant impact on the way a brand is perceived by the public. Color plays a vital role in design and everyday life. It can draw your eye to an image. Sometimes it can trigger an emotional response. It can even communicate something important without using words at all.
line
Lines are the most basic of all the elements of design. Lines can be long or short, straight or curved. Lines can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal. Lines can be solid, dashed, thick, thin or of variable width. The endings of lines can be ragged, blunt or curved. As an element of design, lines can stand alone or be part of another graphic element. They are one of the building blocks of graphic design. Lines are versatile. They can communicate emotion and information.
space Space can be used to both separate and connect elements in a design. Wider spaces separate elements from each other and narrower spaces connect elements to reveal relationships between them. Overlapping elements maximizes their relationship. By controlling and shaping space in our designs, we create rhythm, direction, and motion. We create design flow through our use of space.
shape
Shapes are at the root of graphic design. They are figures and forms that make up logos, illustrations and countless other elements in all types of designs. Shapes help the designer to add interest or organize elements of a design. They are not strictly ornamental, either, as shapes can have symbolic meanings, invoke feelings, or be used to direct the eye to the most important information.
contrast COLOR
TONE/VALUE
SIZE/SHAPE
Contrast is more than just opposites like black and white or large and small. In fact, contrast is an important design principle that should be a part of every project. Why? Contrast helps organize your design and establish a hierarchy—which simply shows which parts of your design are most important (and signals viewers to focus on those).
repetition
Repetition is simply the process of repeating elements throughout a design, or several pieces of design collateral to give a unified look. You can think of it as adding consistency to a design. However, as you can see, i did use repetition on some elements in this brochure, but on some of them i didn’t. That’s up to you as a designer.
alignment
Alignment (like the name suggests) is all about organizing elements relative to a line or margin. This doesn’t have to be a literal line in your design; in fact, it’s usually an invisible margin implied by the way your design is arranged. The two basic alignment principles are edge alignment and center alignment. Each is essentially a different way of utilizing an invisible line.
proximity
The principle of proximity is simply the process of ensuring related design elements are placed together. Any unrelated items, should be spaced apart. Close proximity indicates that items are connected or have a relationship to each other and become one visual unit which helps to organise or give structure to a layout.
typography
abc
value
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing (leading), and letterspacing (tracking), and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning).
Value refers to dark and light. Value contrasts help us to see and understand a two-dimensional work of art. This type can be read because of the contrast of dark letters and light background. Value contrast is also evident in colors, which enables us to read shapes in a painting.
contact me:
wanna ask me something about design, my school or just say hello, contact me at linkedin.com/in/filip-oskarsson