Graphic Design A Beginners Guide Lena Busby This book was created using Adobe Indesign CS5, Adobe Illustrator CS5, and Adobe Photoshop CS5.
Table Of Contents Chapter 1: Design Principles Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Rhythm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Contrast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Emphasis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Chapter 2: Design Elements Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Shape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Chapter 3: Color Theory Color Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Key Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Additive Color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Subtractive Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Process/Spot Color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Achromatic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Monochromatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Complementary Colors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Analogous Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Table Of Contents Chapter 4: Typography Type Anatomy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Type Cases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Text Spacing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Text Sizing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Text Weights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Type Classification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Chapter 5: File Types File Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Chapter 6: Raster Vs. Vector Raster Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Vector Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Advantages and Disadvantages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Bit Depth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Clip art and Stock Photography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Chapter 7: Resolution Resolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Terminology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Enlargement/Reduction Formula. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Input Resolution Formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Resampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Chapter 1 Design Principles
Design Principles There are certain aesthetic guidelines that one should keep in mind when producing a design. Balance, Rhythm, Unity, Contrast, and Emphasis will be covered in this chapter. A helpful acronym to remember these principles is B.R.U.C.E.
helpful acronym to remember the principles of design is B.R.U.C.E.
B.R.U.C.E
s asi mph t ras ont y nit hm hyt nce ala
A
Balance Balance creates visual comfort in a design. By being aware of the placement of all elements on a page, and the negative space (white space or unused space) that surrounds those elements. There are two types of balance asymmetrical, and symmetrical.
Symmetrical- Mirrored Halves Symmetrical designs are recognized as more formal. They can be folded in half and both sides will appear as mirrored images. Elements in a symmetrical design use rhythm and proportion to convey order. Designs made with symmetrical layouts give a sense of less movement and more rigidity than those that have an asymmetrical design.
T
he Yin-Yang symbol is an example of perfect symmetry
Asymmetrical- Without Symmetry Asymmetry is considered informal and has fewer limits than symmetrical designs because both halves do not
PG. 8
have to mirror one another. Not mirroring your layout can create a more energetic and lively design. This being said, there is an appropriate and inappropriate time to use this type of balance. You wouldn’t necessarily want to use an asymmetrical design for a graduation ceremony invitation, though for the graduation party an asymmetrical design may work perfectly. What is comes down to is what looks good on the page and conveys the proper attitude, or message
S
ymmetrical
A
symmetrical
Rhythm Rhythm sets the pace of a layout. Is the layout fast paced and young, or slow and more reserved? One can create different rhythms by using repetition of similar elements. By moving elements closer or farther away, the rhythm of a layout can be sped up or slowed down. By overlapping elements and scaling them you can establish a rhythm of how close or far away elements appear.
B
y moving elements on a page closer the image on the left seems to be moving faster than the image on the right. The image on the right has a slower pace because of the negative space surrounding the elements.
PG. 9
Unity Unity is one of the most important principles to remember when designing, especially when creating several documents that go together, such as a stationery package. Unity shows that elements are connected and helps viewers recognize the pieces of a whole. Using the same fonts, colors, and alignments consistently throughout a layout will give it a cohesive feeling.
T
his is an example of a basic stationery package. Consistency is seen in the repetitive colors, fonts, and logos.
Grids Using a grid can be helpful when attempting to create a unified document. Using similar grids on all pages of a document creates unity by categorizing information into logical order.
F
irst make a grid by pulling guides from the rulers in the design software.
PG. 10
S
econd align your design elements to the grid in a logical way.
F
inish by turning off the guides and previewing the design.
Rule of Thirds The rule of thirds keeps elements in a layout in areas that will create the highest level of interest . They also give you a very basic grid to begin with.
F
irst divide the sides of an image by three.
S
econd pull guides from the rulers in the design software to create grid.
F
inish by checking to see that the highest points of interest fall at the intersections of the grid
Contrast Another way to bring interest to a layout is to use contrast, which are elements within a layout that are vastly different. An example would be a circle with smooth edges and no corners; and a rectangle with flat edges and four corners combined together in a layout. Using dark colored objects on lighter backgrounds, and vice versa is another way to bring interest to a layout through contrast. Playing with contrast can give a very impressive results in a layout, because the striking difference in elements catch the viewers eye.
PG. 11
Emphasis When one sets out to create a design, the highest points of interest and importance should be decided early on. This is done because those elements will need to be emphasized the most. By creating emphasis for an element, that element will stand out more in a layout. Drawing a viewers eye to a starting point in a layout and leading their eye through a hierarchy from the most emphasized elements down to the least emphasized element. To bring emphasis to an element it can be made large, made to contrast with its surroundings, or any other effect that will set it apart from the rest of the layout. When giving an element emphasis always remember that less can be more, sometimes emphasis needs to only be given to an element in one way. Find the way that has the best result and stick to it.
L
arger elements will have higher interest.
E
lements with different colors than a group will have more emphasis.
PG. 12
PG. 13
Chapter 2 Design Elements
Design Elements Design elements are the different pieces that can be create in a layout. They are the building blocks of everything that will appear visually on your page. The elements that will be outlined in this chapter are; Line, Shape, Mass, Texture, Space, Color, and Typography.
Line A line is a series of connected points that stand out from their background. Essentially a line is the edge of an object, this means that all objects are made up of lines. There are two types of lines that make up all objects, rectilinear and curvilinear. Rectilinear lines are straight and give a layout a more rigid, industrial, and cold appearance. Curvilinear lines are curved and are associated with more organic material. The proximity or overlapping of lines creates texture. Crosshatching is a common way artists give flat objects depth and shape.
Shape All of the elements on a page are made of shapes, ether organic or geometric. The basic shapes generally included in design software are circle, square, triangle, polygon, and star. Other shapes can be created from manipulating these basic shapes. To create more organic shapes, free formed objects
PG. 16
with curved edges can be used in a layout. It is important when designing to consider how shapes interact with one another on the page.
Mass In science we learn that mass is how much gravity pulls on any given object. In design it is similar. The mass of an object in a layout is how much the object seems to weigh on the page. Does it appear to be the heaviest object on the page, or the lightest? How important is it to the message of the design? Darker colors, and thicker strokes can give objects a heavier appearance in a design.
PG. 17
Texture The texture of an object is how it feels when touched. Texture can be created from the building up or taking away of material in arts such as sculpting. Though when working on flat paper, or the computer screen texture must be achieved in other ways. The trick is to create the appearance of texture where there is none. Experiment with the overlapping of lines, patterns, and images to create different textures.
Space There are two types of space, positive and negative. Positive space is the active portions in a design. Positive space is generally within the edges of an object. Negative space is sometimes referred to as unused space, but it is just as useful and important as positive space. Place images on a page to make use of all space.
PG. 18
Color Without color our layouts would be drab and lifeless. With the three primary colors an infinite amount of other colors can be created. So there is no excuse to create designs that is only black and white. Unless the final design is meant to be printed in only black and white. Color will be discussed further in the next chapter.
PG. 19
Chapter 3 Color Theory
Color Theory As mentioned in chapter two, color brings life to a design. Whether working with color for production on screen or in print there are some guidelines to keep in mind.
Key Terms Hue — generic name of a specific color that distinguishes it from all others. Ex: Red, Green, Orange Saturation (Chroma) — Relative brightness of a color, or its intensity Value — The lightness or darkness of a color. A color plus white is a tint; while a color plus black is a shade. Primary Color — The primary colors in the additive color model, red, green, and blue. Tertiary Colors — Colors create by mixing a primary and secondary color.
Additive Color The additive color wheel is based on light, which makes it ideal for production on screen. Wavelengths of red, green, and blue are combined in different percentages to create the widest range of color. This color space is called RGB and is how most designs start out.
A
dditive Primaries
PG. 22
A
dditive Secondaries
A
dditive Tertiaries
Subtractive Color Unlike additive color that is based off of light, subtractive color is based on pigments. This is because subtractive color is used in printing. All designs that are made to be printed have to be in CMYK, which is the subtractive color space. Instead of emitting light at different wavelengths, subtractive color absorbs and reflects light. The subtractive primaries cyan, magenta, and yellow are created by subtracting the additive primaries wavelengths from light.
A
dditive color is based on light.
S
ubtractive color is based on pigment.
Process/Spot Color Color reproduction in CMYK is very hard to achieve. This is because the inks have to be mixed every time they run out. Many designers will use a spot color so that a color can be reproduced consistently in all publications. Spot colors are inks that have been premixed. Pantone is the leading spot color producer, and the design standard in America. Because spot colors are expensive to print with, companies tend to use only one or two. Generally the spot colors are used on the company’s logo because the logo is the representation of the company and needs to be reproduced consistently. To use spot color a designer chooses a color out of a swatch book to see how that ink will appear in print. Then that color is located in a swatch library within the design software
PG. 23
being used. For publications that will not use any spot colors, CMYK equivalents of the spot colors will be used. These colors are made up of CMYK percentages, and are known as process colors.
S
ample of Pantone swatch library in Adobe InDesign.
P
antone 320 U CMYK breaks:
C= 100 M= 0 Y= 31 K= 7
Achromatic Achromatic designs only use shades of black, white, and grey, and are ideal for publications in gray scale.
PG. 24
Monochromatic Similar to achromatic designs, monochromatic uses only one color, as well as the colors shades and tints.
Complementary Colors Complementary color schemes use colors that are directly opposite one another on the color wheel. The Christmas colors red and green are an example of complementary colors.
Analogous Colors Analogous color schemes use colors that are located next to each other on the color wheel. Using similar colors can create harmony in a design, but one color needs to be dominant to avoid confusion. Many sports teams use Analogous color Schemes for their uniforms.
PG. 25
Chapter 4 Typography
Typography Many times the images and graphics in a design are not enough to deliver the desired message. This is why typography is so key. Typography is the visual representation of language, therefore as much thought that goes into the design of a piece should go into the type. When a design is done the type should lend itself to the design, becoming part of it but still being legible.
Type Anatomy Before learning about different typefaces one should know the basic structures that typefaces share. Everything from the individual pieces of letters, how those letters sit on a line, and even how letters and words are spaces there is quite a bit of terminology in typography. The following illustrations show the basic terminology needed to know about typography. Ascender — Letters that ascend beyond the meanline. Cap Height — The Height of the capital letters. Meanline — Halfway between the baseline and cap height. x-Height — The height of x, sitting on the baseline. Baseline — The imaginary line that text sits on. Descender — Letters that descend below the baseline.
Abcdefghijkxyz T
he x-height is not always exact and varies some with different characters.
PG. 28
B
elow are the names of individual pieces of characters according to Andrew Mundi’s Principles of Design.
Type Cases UpperCase
lowercase
Small Caps
I
nitial
C
aps
PG. 29
Text Spacing Spacing is very important for legibility when it comes to type. If letters become too close together, or too far apart they can cause strain on the eyes or become illegible. Kerning, Tracking, and Leading are the basic types of spacing.
PG. 30
Text Sizing Type is measures in points, picas, and inches. Seventy two points make up an inch. Six picas are in an inch, and twelve points make up a pica. E-gauges are used to measure the size of type that is printed on a page.
E E 72 pt.
84 pt.
Text Weights Full fonts have several different type weights, they are shown below.
PG. 31
Type Classification There are six different font families, some vary slightly while others are vastly different. Below is listed the six different font families.
Roman Serif Roman Serif fonts have curved strokes at the top and bottom of the ends of the letter strokes, called serifs. This font family is mostly used in body copy because the organically curved serifs are easier to read.
Sans Serif Sans Serif fonts do not have serifs. The end of the letter strokes are blocky, and give a heavier appearance to text.
T
he body copy of this book is in Century Gothic which is a Sans Serif font.
PG. 32
Slab Serif Slab serif fonts have strokes at the end of the letter strokes that are thicker than other font families. Because of these thicker strokes these types of fonts are best used at larger point values, and as display type.
Script and Cursive Script and cursive fonts look like handwriting. It is important to note that in cursive fonts the individual letters do not connect, while characters in script fonts do connect. These fonts can give a design a more delicate or formal feel. They can be hard to read at smaller point sizes because of there thin stroke weights.
Edwardian Script ITS 20 pt. Chaparral Pro 20 pt. Bickham Script Pro 20pt.
PG. 33
Blackletter These types of fonts resemble calligraphy and are sometimes referred to as gothic fonts. Like cursive and script fonts, these fonts do not work well at small point sizes. They should be used as display type and to give a design some old English charm.
Display Display fonts also known as decorative fonts are highly ornate or themed fonts. These types of fonts have to be used carefully. Only use them if they fit seamlessly with a design and to give a novelty feel to the design.
Curlz MT 20 pt. stencil 20 pt. Lane-Upper 20pt.
PG. 34
PG. 35
Chapter 5 File Types
File Formats BMP (.bmp) — This file format is not acceptable to designers for print or for web. TIFF (.tif) — This is a file format used in Photoshop that has loss less compression. Loss less compression means that a file will lose no quality once it is saved. TIFF is used as the main output format with raster images that will be printed. PSD (.psd) — This is the Photoshop native file format. It is always a good idea to keep an unflattened version of a file in a PSD so that is easy to go back and edit it. JPEG (.jpg) — This file format is used to save raster images for web, because it has a smaller file size than a TIFF or PSD. The smaller file size makes for faster download and upload times. JPEG uses lossy compression to make the files smaller by discarding some information, therefore losing some image quality. GIF (.gif) and PNG (.png) — The GIF and PNG formats are used for web because of their small file size and flat color. These files also keep their transparent backgrounds when posted to the web. PNG is the preferred file type because it has a smaller file size than GIF. EPS (.eps) — This format is used in Illustrator for output to print, and in Photoshop for files that contain spot colors. Text should be outlined when this file type is used in Illustrator. AI (.ai) — This is the Illustrator native format. All files created in Illustrator should start out in this format, and be kept so that the file can be changed in the future. Type should stay editable in an AI file. Text should be outlined once converted to an EPS file. AIT (.ait) — This is an Illustrator template. It is a good idea to save templates for files that are created often, such as business cards and letterheads. SWF (.swf) — This file type is used for Illustrator files that will be used for web, animation files.
PG. 38
WMF (.wmf) — Windows Metalife File, may contain vector and bit map information. INDD (.indd) — This is the InDesign native file format. INDT (.indt) — This is the format for templates made in InDesign. It is helpful to make templates for file types that are created regularly. INX (.inx) and IDML (.idml) — These file formats enable a designer to save InDesign files back to earlier versions of InDesign. IDLK (.idlk) — This file type only shows up when an InDesign file is in use. It makes it where no one else can open a file, so that two people will no alter a file at the same time. QXP (.qxp) — This is the QuarkXPress native file format. QPT (.qpt) — This is a QuarkXPress template file. PDF (.pdf) — This file format is preferred by many printers because text and color profiles can be embedded directly into a document. This file type can be viewed with Acrobat Reader that is a free download from the Adobe website. PDF/x-1a — When a client does not give a specific PDF type to use this type is the best to use. All images will be converted to CMYK and Spot color information will be retained. PDF/x-3 — In this PDF file type all color profiles are maintained though transparencies are flattened. This type of file should only be used in color managed workflow. PDF/x-4 — This file format is the newest type of PDF that will be supported by more in the future. This file type has live transparencies and managed work flows.
PG. 39
Chapter 6 Raster Vs. Vector
Raster Images Makeup Raster images are made primarily in Photoshop. These images are pixel based, which means they are made up of tiny squares of color. Each square is a pixel, and is one solid color. If the raster image is a high enough resolution the pixels are not seen by the human eye unless enlarged, and the colors in the image appear to flow into one another. This is why raster images are referred to as Continuous tone images.
Resolution Raster images are resolution dependent. This means that the images cannot be scaled larger without loosing image quality. The number of rows and columns of pixels makes up the page size. The resolution of a raster image is measured in ppi, or how many pixels there are in a square inch. A high resolution image should have 300 ppi at least, and 600 ppi is needed for large prints such as posters. 72 ppi is standard for web images.
F
ile Size = 880 KB
Z
oomed in at %500. Notice the Jagged edges where the pixels are beginning to show.
PG. 42
Vector Images Makeup Vector images are made up of lines and points and created primarily in Illustrator. The lines, points, and curves are determined mathematically, and called BĂŠzier curves. The math in vector software is based off of algorithms developed by Paul de Casteljau, that were then utilized by Pierre BĂŠzier.
Resolution Vector images are resolution independent, meaning they can be scaled up or down without loss of image quality. This is because all of the information in the images are represented mathematically. Vectors are always high quality no matter what size they are scaled to. They also have transparent backgrounds. Before vectors can be used on the web they have to be changed to the raster format. When this is done it is important to change the vector to raster at the size that it will be used at, so that the image will not become pixilated.
F
ile Size = 996 KB
Vector
Z
oomed in at %500. Notice how the edges of the image are still smooth.
PG. 43
Advantages and Disadvantages There are advantages and disadvantages of both raster and vector graphics, therefore a designer needs to know what software to use when. This will improve the files that one outputs, and streamline the workflow. Vector software is used to design logos, and other images that will be reproduced at many different sizes. Raster software is best to use when working on photography. Something to keep in mind is that raster files will be larger and will take more time to render, and that you are limited to the original resolution of raster images.
Bit Depth The bit depth is how many colors are available to a individual pixel. The way to calculate this is to raise 2 to however many bits within the image.
Two (raised to # of bits) In a one bit image each pixel can be ether on or off, black or white. 8 Bit Image — An eight bit gray scale image has 256 levels of grey available to each pixel. In an eight bit RGB image there are 256 levels of color available within each of the color channels for a total of 768 color options. 16 Bit Image — A sixteen bit image has 65,536 levels of color within each channel for a total of 196,608 color options. 24 Bit Image — A twenty four bit image has 16,777,216 levels of color within each color channel for a total of 50,331,648 color options.
PG. 44
Clip Art and Stock Photography Clip art is pre made images that are generally vector graphics. Discs can be bought of clip art, and are handy to have when a customer wants something made quickly. Stock photography are raster images that can be bought online to use within a design. These images can only be used for what there licenses say are aloud.
PG. 45
Chapter 7 Resolution
Resolution Resolution is an images clarity or how many pixels are within any given image. If an images resolution is too low then the image van become pixilated and fuzzy. In this chapter some guidelines for obtaining the proper resolution is outlined.
Terminology Pixels Per Inch (PPI) — How many pixels there are in a square inch of an image on screen. Dots Per Inch (DPI) — How many dots a printer can produce in a square inch of a printed image. Lines Per Inch (LPI) — A measurement of the screens frequency, and how close the halftones are. Line Screen — Printing with varying thicknesses of lines instead of halftones. Screen Ruling — The screen angle and frequency in halftones.
Enlargement/Reduction Formula R = Reproduction Size O = Original Size P = Percentage of Enlargement/ Reproduction
Enlargement= A 3” wide image enlarged to 7” wide.
7 3
= 2.33
To represent the answer as a percentage, move the decimal two places to the right.
2.33 = 233% PG. 48
Reduction= A 3� wide image enlarged to 7� wide.
4 10
= .40
To represent the answer as a percentage, move the decimal two places to the right.
.40 = 40%
Input Resolution Formula PPI = LPI X 2 X %
Example: LPI = 133 Reproduced at 100% 133 x 2 x 1 = 266ppi Example: LPI = 133 Reproduced at 50% 133 x 2 x .5 = 133
I
f you are in doubt of what resolution to use;
7
2ppi = Standard for on screen production.
3
00ppi = The minimum amount of resolution needed in print.
PG. 49
Resampling
Original 600 X 1036 2” X 3.453” 300 ppi 1.78 MB
Enlargement, No Resample 6000 X 10360 20” X 34.533” 30 ppi 177.8 MB
Enlargement, Resampled 6000 X 10360 20” X 34.533” 300 ppi 177.8 MB
PG. 50
Resampling is the act of resizing images. Upsampling is making an image larger, and Downsampling is making an image smaller. While downsampling an image usually does not result in noticeable image quality loss, upsampling can cause an image to become pixilated. To makeup for this Photoshop resamples images when you upsample them. Resampling is when Photoshop uses interpolation to space the existing pixels out and fill in the spaces with new pixels. The new pixels color value is determined by the color of the surrounding original pixels. Basically Photoshop is guessing (with the help of a complex mathematical equation) what the color of the new pixels should be. Using Interpolation allows you to keep the same resolution and enlarge or downsize an image. When you do not use interpolation your resolution will decrease according to how much the image is enlarged. An image size that is doubled when resampling is not used will cut that images resolution in half.
PG. 51