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• Graphic Design Fundamentals:

  • Graphic Design is a process using typography, images, colors, icons, and illustrations to communicate visually
  • Coined by William Addison Dwiggins in 1992
  • Graphic design is a thousand-year-old craft dating back to ancient cave drawings
  • Used for visual communication, good user experience, and emotional enhancement
  • Fundamentals vary from PowerPoint presentations to paintings
• Basic Elements of Graphic Design:

  • Lines connect two or more points and are essential in design
  • Shapes are two-dimensional boundaries of objects
  • Two major categories of shapes: Geometric and Organic
  • Form is a three-dimensional shape created by shadows, perspective, and texture
  • Texture refers to the physical quality of an object's surface
  • Balance creates visual equilibrium by relating elements like line, shape, color, space, or form
• Branding and Identity:

  • Branding is what people think about a person, company, product, or service
  • Identity is the visual representation of a brand
  • Brand personality impacts marketing visuals
  • Steps to creating a brand identity design:
  • Create a polished logo
  • Establish a color palette
  • Select professional typography
  • Choose on-brand supporting graphics
• Layout and Composition:

  • Layout and composition focus on arranging elements in a design
  • Five basic principles: Proximity, White Space, Alignment, Contrast, Repetition
  • White Space:
  • Negative space between lines, paragraphs, and elements
  • Two types: Micro and Macro white space
  • Importance of white space in design:
  • Improved comprehension
  • Focus and attention
  • Increased interaction rate
• White space in design has several benefits:

  • Macro white spaces help guide viewers to the focus area in the design
  • It can increase interaction rate by helping viewers quickly understand the message without looking at instructions
  • White space can guide the user through local grouping, achieving proximity in design
  • It contributes to branding and design tone, helping create a brand's personality
  • White space creates a breathing space for users, preventing designs from feeling stuffy
• Alignment in design helps organize elements:

  • Effective alignment gives composition a definitive structure and creative balance
  • Alignment options include left, centered, right, or justified
• Contrast in design:

  • Contrast can be in colors, typeface, or size of elements
  • It catches the viewer's eye, creates direction, and emphasizes certain elements
• Repetition in design:

  • Using the same typefaces, color palettes, or elements creates consistency and unity in composition
  • It connects projects to each other, ensuring a cohesive look
• Typography involves arranging texts for readability and appeal:

  • Font refers to variation of weights in a typeface, while typeface refers to text style
  • Examples of font under Arial typeface include Arial Narrow, Arial Black, and Arial Rounded
  • Fonts are categorized into Serif, Sans Serif, and Display
• Color is essential in design:

  • Color theory describes how colors contribute to each other and appear in different color schemes
  • Terminologies include Hue, Saturation, and Value
  • Color schemes can be Monochromatic, Achromatic, Analogous, Complementary, Split-Complementary, Triadic, or Tetradic
• Understanding Color Profiles:

  • RGB (Red, Green, Blue) is for screen displays
  • CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) is for printed designs
• Images in design:

  • Images include photographs, graphics, and illustrations
  • Images make compositions appealing and engaging
  • Image file types are grouped into vector and raster
• Vector images:

  • Do not lose quality when zoomed in
  • Examples of vector file extensions are EPS and AI
• Raster images:

  • Become pixelated when enlarged
  • Examples of raster file extensions are JPG, PNG, and GIF