So you want to be a graphic designer? Join me in this
Graphic Design Basics course and learn everything you need
to know to get you started. My name is Laura Keung, and I have been
a professional graphic designer for 15 years and creating design courses for
Tuts+ since 2018. Graphic design is the creation of visual
content with a communication purpose. This is what makes design design,
and not art. Graphic designers use a mix of
visual elements like images and typography, logos and
complex page layouts to communicate ideas. Graphic design is important, because aside from making something
look visually stunning, it also organizes complex information to be
delivered in the most comprehensible way. Before we start with the course,
let's take a brief and quick look at the history
of graphic design. Before there were printing presses,
the actual route of visual communication goes back to cave painting in
prehistoric times, about 38,000 BC. Early cave paintings are a sign that
humans had an innate drive towards art. Historians aren't quite sure as to who
cave drawings were meant to communicate with, but humanity already showed an
interest for communicating with visuals. Around 3,000 BCE,
the Sumerians created the first written languages with the purpose to
record trading and inventories. The earliest languages weren't phonetic
sounds, they were logographic. That means icons that represented
entire words and concepts. There is evidence that at the beginning
of the current era around 200, China used printing methods using wood reliefs
to print on silk, clothing, and paper. Around 1,040, Beijing invented the world's
first movable type printing press from porcelain that's hundreds of years
before Gutenberg Press in Europe. In the Middle Ages, typography is
started to catch on and letters and words became essential as texts and
books were being reproduced by hand. On seals were prominent in this area, a magiskill script style used by Latin and
Greek scribes. Calligraphy, page layout, and
lettering became important as calligraphy masters traveled around to share and
educate the elite. Johannes Gutenberg developed
the movable type and printing press in the 15th century. This was a turning point for
modern typography, because it allow for mass communication for production of
lengthy books, literacy for the masses. This was the start of
design as commercial use. The industrial revolution between 1760 and
1840 brought new technologies to increase efficiency like lithography and
eventually chromolithography. These printing methods, first,
with only one color ink and the latter was multiple colors
involved inking a design into stone or metal, and
transferring it to a sheet of paper. Typography took on a much bigger
role through science, posters, newspapers, and advertisements. Typefaces became larger, bolder,
and even more experimental. The leader, their gates were full of art movements
that heavily influenced design trends. We've seen everything from the Bauhaus,
Swiss design, and postmodernism. After the 1950s, the world began
to embrace the digital era. The invention of computers, software
like Photoshop and the Internet paved way to new design disciplines like
web design, interactive design, UI, UX, digital product design, and
a myriad of other digital designs. Graphic design has now two constants,
communication first, and it is always evolving. So now that you know where graphic design
came from, it is time to learn the basics. Every design piece is composed of
different basic principles of design, appropriate color palette,
carefully chosen typeface, and even more carefully type set text. In this chapter, we will take a look
at design principles, color theory, vocabulary, and element of typography. But first, let's start with
a definition of graphic design and the role of a graphic designer. William Addison Dwiggins wrote an article,
New Kind of Printing Calls for New Design. And in it,
he described exactly what his role was. He brought structural order and
visual form to printed communication. A graphic designer is primarily concerned
with applying design principles for communication. We can communicate through logos,
brand systems, layouts, design artifacts, collateral, etc. But all of this helps a brand, a book, or
entity organize and clarify information, tell the story and ultimately connect
with people in a meaningful way. So in the next three lessons, you will learn all the basic
principles to color theory and the elements of typography that you can
apply in order to communicate effectively. In this lesson, we will take
a look at basic design principles. And the principles of design are a set
of rules that designers can follow when creating a composition to create
a visually pleasing work. The purpose of these rules is to deliver
a message in the most organized and functional way. So let's get started with
the first principle, balance. Any element placed on a page
carries a visual weight. It can range from form to size,
color, and texture. In order to make a design feel stable or
half balance, the elements need to have a certain scale. Lack of balance would make your
design feel heavy on one side and empty on the opposite, and sometimes it
can feel as it is falling off to one side. You can have symmetrical balance or
asymmetrical balance. So symmetrical balance is when the
elements on the right side have the same visual weight as the elements
on the left side. Asymetrical designs have
different elements on the left and the right side, but equal visual weight. Next, we have Unity. Unity is the harmony produced by
all the elements in a design piece. Using similar colors that match and integrate elements organically makes
it appear as if they belong together. You can achieve unity by making clear
relationships between the visual elements. Lack of unity would make your design
feel cluttered and confusing. Not only that, but viewers will be
attracted to the wrong element of the design and won't get a clear message. Next up, we have contrast. Contrast refers to the level of difference
between design elements in order to create visual hierarchies. The variation makes certain elements
stand out more than others, and you can apply contrast by using colors,
textures, sizes, and shape. Contrast can also create a focal point
to certain elements that can draw the viewer's eyes. Lack of contrast can make
a design look dull and viewers can overlook
the important message. Repetition, using repeated elements in
the layout can be pleasing to the user. Repetition is repeating a single
element through the design. We can call a grid a repetition of lines,
because it creates a certain consistency. Repetition can also be achieved by
repeating elements in a design, like a logo or a tag line in a brand
development project or in a layout design repetition is shown through the folio
placement to help users find their way. Next up, we have pattern. And pattern is the repetition
of more than one design element. While repetition focuses on a single
element being repeated, pattern refers to multiple elements repeated throughout
a design like wallpapers and backgrounds. You can see seamless patterns
predominantly in interior design when using tiles or wallpapers. Next, we have rhythm. Rhythm is a visual tempo of
a combination of elements when used repeatedly and with variation. It gives the feeling
of organized movement. Rhythm is a principle of design that
is usually hidden in works of art, and it is not as obvious in design
principles or design works. Next step, we have movement. This refers to the path the viewer's
eyes take through a composition. Movement in a composition creates
interest in a dynamic play that keeps the viewer engaged. Movement can be created with rhythm
when using a variation of an element repeatedly. Movement can be created with
curved lines and diagonal lines. These lines trace the path
to the focal point. Next, we have emphasis. Emphasis is a strategy to get the viewer's
attention to a specific design out. This can be in any form,
a button, a website, an image. The purpose is to create something that
will stand out from the rest of the page. Color is an easy way to create
emphasis in any design because it creates a sense of urgency and attention. Proportion, proportion is the sense of
unity created when all the elements in a composition relate well with each other. Proportion, as a principle of design,
doesn't necessarily refer to the size of one element, but to the relationship
of two or more elements. For example, in layout hierarchy, the proportion of the headline compared
to the photo caption needs to be larger, as the headline is the most
important element. Smaller elements have less importance. Harmony, harmony as a principle of
design is the sense of cohesiveness between the elements in a composition. The elements shouldn't be exactly
the same or completely different but related in some way. Color palettes or similar textures can create a sense of
unity between different components. And last, we have variety. In the principles of design,
variety is about creating visual interest that will keep viewers or
users engaged with your design. Holding their attention and guiding them through the composition
will create a powerful experience. Variety adds something interesting
to create contrast and tension. So for instance, mixing organic shapes
with geometric shapes as variety. And this concept should reinforce the
message you're trying to communicate in your design,
otherwise it can move dull or pointless. The elements and principles of art and
design are the foundation for creating a composition. The use of these principles will help you
design with purpose by giving function to every single element in a composition. In the next lesson,
we will look at some color theory, vocabulary, and its importance. If you're a beginner designer, and
you're looking to streamline designs, processes, and you're looking for
templates or inspiration, Envato Elements is a great resource for
assets. With their extensive and
always evolving library, you're sure to find something you need,
from photographs to stock video, motion graphics, or if you need specific
sound effects and music and web template. There are millions of creative digital
assets with simple commercial licensing, and you can cancel anytime. In this lesson,
we'll take a look at color theory. In color theory,
colors are organized on a color wheel. In order to understand other
color theory concepts, it is essential to
understand this handy tool. Artists and designers use this tool to
develop color harmonies that are pleasing to the eye and
communicate to evoke certain emotions. Sir Isaac Newton created
the traditional color wheel in 1666 and that now helps us understand
how colors work together. The color wheel consists of three
primary colors, red, yellow, and blue. Mixing these three colors gets
us other three secondary colors, purple, green, and orange. And by mixing primary and secondary
colors, we get other three tertiary colors, are blue-green,
blue-violet, and yellow-green. The color wheel can also be split
into two main temperature groups. Warm colors are associated with the sun,
warmth, fire, energy, action, while cool colors
are associated with calm and peace. Blue, green, and purple and
their different shades are cool colors. As graphic designers who work in print and
digital, we have to be familiar with
color profiles or color spaces. This is very important to know, and it is
based on the final result of the project. RGB and CMYK are two different
color spaces that are used for different mediums. So let's start with RGB. RGB stands for red, green, and blue. This is the color mode for digital
output that need light to show color. RGB uses the additive color method. That means that when all the colors
are combined, we get one. RGB is mainly used when your final
design will be displayed on a screen, be it a phone or a computer screen or
an advertisement screen. So CMYK stands for cyan,
magenta, yellow, and black. CMYK uses the subtractive
color mixing method. That means that all colors
start with white paper, and then we extract color
until we get to black. This is a color mode to use if
the design will be physical. One important thing to know
is that the colors we see on screen will never be as
vibrant when they are printed. So while we're designing on a screen and we set up our document as CMYK,
we will see bright colors. But when it is printed,
the colors will be slightly washed out, so always keep that in mind. Now, let's take a look at color qualities. That would be hue, saturation, and value. Hue is any color on the color wheel. It is another word for color, while saturation is the intensity or
the purity of the color. So these controls if we want
the color to look more saturated, meaning vibrant, or
desaturated, meaning dull. Value has to do with how light or
dark a color is. This is where we get into shade,
tint, and tone. Shade is created by adding
black to a hue or color, in other words,
darkening a color for it to be rich. Tint is created by adding white
to make a color less intense. And tone is created by combining black and
white or gray with a hue. Now, let's take a look at color harmonies. Color harmony is referred to colors
that look appealing, balanced, and just work beautifully together. So let's take a look at some essential
color harmonies that can get you started on creating your own color palette. The first color harmony is complimentary. Complimentary color harmony pairs two
colors directly opposite on the color wheel. Red and green or blue and
yellow are basic examples of this. This helps create a strong
contrast color scheme. Keep in mind that you can also
use the different hues and tones, they don't have to be pure hues or
pure color. Next up, we have split complementary. This color scheme uses one base color and
two secondary colors. So instead of using a complementary color, two colors placed symmetrically around
it on the color wheel are used. The base color is main, while the
secondary color should be used only for highlights or accents. Next up, we have analogous, and this color harmony works by combining
a main color with colors that set. Next to it. This color scheme can produce a calming
energy, because it's so easygoing, it doesn't have that much of a contrast. Next up we have monochromatic. This takes just one basic
color from the color wheel and uses its different shades, tones,
or tints to create a palette. It looks simple and cohesive. Next up is triadic. This color scheme uses three colors, are evenly spaced on the color wheel,
forming a triangle. Tetradic colors are two sets of
complementary colors that form one part. These colors work best when one of the
colors is the dominant in the palette and the rest are used as accent colors. And last in this lesson, we have to
take a look at color psychology. This is a very powerful tool
to use in graphic design. Colors have the ability to impact
a person's impression of a brand and evoke certain emotions. Just like warm colors
are associated with the sun, fire, and cool colors
are associated with peace and calm, the rest of the color wheel
also affect perception and behaviors. So there are many factors to consider,
like cultural background, gender, age, and many more as colors can
be perceived in different ways. Based on different studies,
colors can evoke certain emotions. So for instance, red can represent power,
passion, excitement, but it can also have a negative connotation
like anger, danger, and aggression. Blue represents trust,
security, and serenity. Its negative connotation is cold and
emotionless and sometimes even unfriendly. Green's positive connotations are related
to health, hope, and prosperity, while some negative connotations
can be boredom and stagnation. Colors are a powerful visual
tool that when used correctly, can get not only feelings but
also ideas across. Some of us might have learned the basics
of the color wheel in school, but mastering it doesn't have to be difficult. Understanding the color theory wheel
can help you create a myriad of color combinations. They can even be the main
character in your design. Now that you know what color theory is, it is time to look at one of the most
important elements in design, typography. What is typography? Typography is a strategic arrangement
of type in order to make written language readable, legible, and appealing. Typography has evolved greatly
through the centuries that serves with the importance today can be traced back
to early engravings in ancient Rome. Their capital lettering was used to
inscribe monuments and buildings. Characters were created
by chiseling on stone, so the chisel created small feet
at the end of each stroke. In the 14th century, Johannes Gutenberg
adopted the movable type printing press and this allowed a larger number
of sheets to be printed using ink. Gutenberg then developed the first
ever typeface, Blackletter. But shortly after, Roman typestyles became popular since
Blackletter was difficult to read. So typesetters started to look for
ways to produce affordable books, so they came up with space-saving
techniques like tracking and leading. During the Industrial Revolution,
printing presses evolved and paved way for advertisement. So designers started to experiment
with condensed and stretch type for newspapers and posters. The upside of all of this typographic
freedom was the development of slab serif typefaces. So these were punchier and
bolder revivals of existing serif styles. And they still gave, and still now give, a lovely old-timey feel to
titles in current design. By the 1900s, the modernist times, designers were creating
some of the humanist and geometric typefaces we use today like
Futura, Gill Sans, and Helvetica. So these were introduced as functional and
ultra legible typefaces. With the evolution of computers, now we
can create sophisticated typefaces with specialized software, making fonts
available to all computer users. Not only that, but the range of typographic family
designers can now create is impressive. Variable fonts is the latest digital type
addition where one font file contains multiple typographic styles that vary
in weight, width, style, and size. So before we get into
type classifications, it is essential to know type anatomy. That way, I can explain the differences
between the different typestyles and it could further help
understand typesetting basics. Let's start with serif. So serifs are the small feet at the end
of a stroke on a letter or a character, and they originated back in time. Characters were created
by chiseling on stone, so the chisel created small feet
at the end of each stroke. Serifs are usually used for long body
copy because they are highly legible. Next up we have ascender. So any part of a lowercase letter
that extends above the x height, for example, letters like b,
d, or h, have an ascender. Descender is any part of
a lowercase letter that extends below the baseline, for
example g, j, p, or q. So that would be the vertical
stroke that goes downward. So axis refers to the direction
of the stroke in a letter form, often taking inspiration from how letter
forms might appear if drawn with a pen. The ear is a finishing stroke, usually on the upper right side
of the bowl of the lowercase g. Bowl is the curved part of the character
that encloses the circular or curved parts, also called counter,
of some letters, such as lowercase b, d, o,
uppercase D and uppercase B. Shoulder is the round part of a letter
such as r, m, or n, all lowercase. This name comes from the fact that
it resembles a human shoulder. Stem is the main, usually vertical, stroke
of a letter form also known as a stroke, and that's a main or
a high stroke of a letter. Spine is the main left-to-right curvy
stroke in the uppercase and lowercase s. The spine may be almost vertical or almost
horizontal depending on the typeface. Ligatures are special characters, are a
combination of two individual characters. Some letters can bump into each other
when printed, and ligatures allow for them to flow better together. Lowercase is the small form
of letters in a typeface. The title letters or non-capital letters
of the alphabet are lowercase lifts. Uppercase is the capitals in a typeface. The name comes from
the days of metal type. Capital letters were kept in
the upper part of the type case. Font styles, font style is
the adjustment of the character or case such as italics and all caps. Some typefaces have no style options and
sometimes only offer a regular weight. Weight is the overall thickness of
a typeface's stroke in any given font. The most common weights are regular and
bold, but weights can cover extremes from
the very light to the very heavy. With the weight axis in variable fonts,
that number is effectively unlimited. Let's talk about type classification. Knowing the different typefaces
categories is essential to identify them historically and
distinguish them visually. Let's take a look at sans serif first. Sans is French for without. Sans serifs are what the name describes,
without serifs. Sans serif fonts are the most
versatile category of typefaces. You can use them as display fonts or
long form copy. They're clean. Minimal, modern looking,
there are grotesque san serif and these fonts were commercially
popular in the 1900s. They feature a slight contrast
between thick and thin strokes and an open aperture gap in some characters. Neo Grotesque san serifs are refined
versions that came later and intended to be more neutral and legible. They feature a uniform stroke and
a closed aperture gap. Humanist sans serifs are based on
the proportions of Roman-style capitals, and some characters have
a calligraphic influence. They feature a higher contrast between
the strokes things and a wider aperture. Geometric san serif fonts usually feature
optical, circular, and bolds, and rectangular proportions. They don't have a stroke contrast,
it is more uniform and have a complete vertical axis. Next, we have serif. So serif, like mentioned before, are the
small feet at the end of a stroke on a character with
the exception of slab serifs. Serif fonts can be used as body
copy as they are easy to read and very comfortable to the eye. Serif can be subdivided into old style. These fonts were developed
between the 15th and 18th century to be used as metal type for
early printing processes. These feature slightly rounded,
cupped, and inclined serifs. Serifs can also be transitional, so
these came into picture in the 18th century as a transition between
old style fonts and modern styles. The main feature here is sharper serifs. Modern serifs became more refined
in detail thanks to advances in the printing processes. And they feature completely
straight flat serifs that sometimes can make them look less legible and
more fashionable. Last, we have slab serifs. These are easy to identify from
the rest of the serif subgroups. The serifs are heavy and square and
they have the same stroke thickness, so they're very uniform. This type of fonts were used for
advertisements in the early 1800s. Script, these are based on the flow
of cursive handwriting and are divided into two main categories,
formal and casual. Formal scripts are elegant typefaces used
on wedding invitations and diplomas. They are inspired by writing
from the 17th and 18th century. They feature connecting tails and
flourishes, they look very elegant, very regal. Casual scripts are inspired by brush
strokes from the 20th century. They are more relaxed and
friendly compared to formal scripts. Monospaced typefaces have a fixed width, meaning that all the characters occupy
the same amount of horizontal space. These fonts bring to mind
typewriters in computer programming. However, they can be a perfect choice for
designers looking for sparse, minimal, and an undesigned feel. Display fonts don't fit into
any of the previous categories. They are one of the largest and
most diverse categories. Display fonts aren't suitable for
body copy and are often experimental. Some examples are graffiti fonts,
tattoo fonts, fantasy, and more. Variable fonts aren't really a style
of typeface, but more of a file format. This OpenType format developed
jointly by Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Adobe includes a new
technology called OTF Variations. A variable font can contain
a font's entire glyph set, up to 64,000 variants,
including weight, width, and slant. So as a rule of thumb, serifs in san serif
fonts can be used for long form copy. Mixing these two together is fine, but
more than three fonts can be distracting. I have already been using many of
these fonts from Envato Elements for my own personal projects. The quality of these fonts is amazing. You can impress clients and save so
much time with a resourceful library. With one subscription,
I have access to unlimited assets that go beyond just fonts, like photos, music,
sound effects, and graphic templates. You can subscribe with
the link in the description. It is important to always put at
the forefront, legibility and clarity. Remember that our jobs as graphic
designers is to communicate and organize information. Typesetting helps polish up a design piece
to achieve clarity and comfortability. Not many designers put this level
of attention to detail, but if you do, it speaks volumes. So let's get started with readability. Readability relates to how
type is set on a page. It is the arrangement of fonts and words in order to make written content
flow in a simple and easy to read manner. Legibility is how a typeface functions. It is a measure of how easy it
is to distinguish letters or words from one another and
how easy blocks of text are read. There are different factors like x-height,
character, width, weight, and other design traits that can
determine if a font is legible. Size, the smaller the type size,
the more difficult it is to read, especially if your audience includes
children or elderly people. Always consider who you're
designing the content for. Line length or column width,
as a rule of thumb, there should be between 45 and
70 characters per line. When the column width is too narrow,
it can result in many hyphenated words, forcing the eyes to jump
to the next line too often. On the other hand,
long lines can cause confusion for the reader when they go from line to line. Leading or line space, the amount of
letting you will need in a text box is based on the type size and
the x-height of the font you're using. To maximize readability,
make sure there is enough line spacing, because too little line spacing can result
on the lines crashing into each other. Tracking or letter spacing, this refers to the space between
a group of letters in a line of text. Adjusting the tracking can
enhance readability and change the texture of a text box. Kerning is the adjustment of the space
between two individual characters within a word. It is mostly used in logos or
headings to enhance legibility. Alignments, in paragraphs of Western text, alignment refers to the invisible vertical
lines implied by a block of type. When type is left-aligned, each new line
begins from the same point on the x-axis. Right alignment isn't used that often, and center alignment should only be used for
short form text. Rags, these are the uneven
vertical emergence on a block of text when it is left-aligned or
right-aligned. You can fix them by hyphenating
words where necessary or doing a soft return for a new line break. Rags are more about visual appearance, but the reading phase needs to
also be considered here. Rivers, these are gaps that appear
to run through a block of text, which usually appear in justified text. A common way to fix this is
by unjustifying the text or typesetting each line with hyphenation and
soft returns. Orphans and widows,
an orphan is a paragraph opening line at the beginning of a page or column that
separated from the rest of the text. And a widow is a single word or line at the end of a paragraph that's
separated from the rest of the text. These two problems can be solved by
adjusting the kerning or tracking or by adding manual line breaks. And last, font case. Uppercase is when every character
is capitalized in a sentence Lower case is when no
letters are capitalized. Sentence case is when the first
letter of the first word in a sentence is capitalized. And title case is the first
letter of each word capitalized. And that's it. In this lesson, you learned about one of the most
essential elements of graphic design. Good typographic use is important in order
to communicate messages successfully. It is time to look at the rest
of what graphic design entails. In this chapter,
we'll take a look at design examples for the concepts of the previous chapter. You will learn how,
depending on the discipline, you will have to make
different design choices. And always keeping in mind that
there is a brief to work off, a design solution that needs to be
achieved, a message to be communicated, and a user whom we are designing for. We'll also take a look at print design,
what is the new definition of digital product design,
digital design, and brand design. Through one of my branding projects,
we will look at the brand design process, what you need to know before
getting on the drawing board. The development process, deliverables, and examples of brand identities that have
made brand design a key part of companies. So let's get started. Print design is any design where
the final form is intended to be printed. Since the rise of digital tools,
every design will most likely be designed on a computer or even web page, but
the end product will be printed. This covers anything like brochures,
shopping bags, stickers, labels, book covers, posters, business cards,
flyers, and magazines. So let's start with poster design. Every designer has designed at
least one poster in their career. The top priority of a poster design
is to expose key information. And for it to be easy to read from
a distance, the use of space and hierarchy are very important here. So, on this poster, we can see that it
has balanced by placing a text group in the center, and the design elements
of both sides of the poster. There is high contrast, not only in
the background, but also in the text size, so this helps establish hierarchy. The background adds a nice touch
of movement to what could've been a static group of design elements. While there's contrast on
the colors of the background, the designer also used cool tones. This is balanced with the black and white
type to not create more visual noise. And last,
the font used here is a Sans serif. Super easy to read from long distances,
the text is concise, the date and the time are grouped together, and hashtags have
another little group at the bottom. So it is divided in good harmony and
with good use of hierarchy. So our eyes go to the main text first
in the center next to the date and last to the bottom to the hashtags. So people aren't confused as
to where their eyes should go. Next, let's take a look at book design. Books started off as ancient scrolls
back in the fourth millennium BCE. Books have been part of our
daily lives since then, and they have evolved from handwritten,
to printed pages, to digitized online. Books carry out information. This is where typesetting
text is important. As designers, we want to make books
that are comfortable and easy to read. So in this book design, there are a few
type styles that establish hierarchy. The table of content or TOC and the
welcome text box have the font and size. This is bigger than the rest,
establishing hierarchy that way. Throughout the pages, we can see repetition through
the placement of the ingredients list. Photography is very important when it
comes to book design because it helps create contrast between
the design elements on a page. There are plenty of ways of displaying
images, square, rectangular, and in circles. Here, it is important that you
use high quality photography, sometimes designers or projects don't have
enough budget to have custom photography, so design assets are totally fine to use. The main text here is set in
a Sans serif font since there isn't long information like in a novel. A geometric sans serif font is fine, and we can also see contrast
between the typefaces. Choosing photography for a book design compared to a poster
design is very different. Detailed shots can look
really beautiful here. Last, let's take a look
at magazine design. So magazines are a direct
representation of culture and society. They've been used since
the 1700s to distribute news and information on general or specific topics. This multi-purpose magazine template
would make a great arts and culture magazine or
even a fashion magazine. Each spread achieves a great visual
balance between left and right pages. The pages that contain images also create
a sense of unity and cohesiveness. Nothing looks like it doesn't belong. There's emphasis created with a colored
background on certain spreads. And as for typefaces, the Sans Serif
choice makes the publication look contemporary, modern, and clean. There is also a good sense of
hierarchy and a play with the folio, the page number, and section. While bigger than most magazines,
it adds an edge to it. So the difference between
magazine design and book design is that with magazine designs,
you can get a little bit more creative. Magazines usually have a topic or they're based on trends as
opposed to book designs. These need to be more timeless. And that's it for print design. So remember, print design is any
design where the final form is intended to be printed,
something physical. In the next lesson, we will take
a look at digital product design. Many of us have shopped online on Amazon
or rented an apartment on Airbnb or have browsed Instagram, not only on our
mobile phones but also on desktops. Some of these websites
are extremely easy to navigate through the use of design principles and
usability. These websites are intuitive
when it comes to their use. And this is the UI and UX,
all digital product designer's job. So why part of designing? In the context of product design, a digital product is a software
application website or platform. Before 2010, the word product
only referred to tangible goods. And now, as software's have become
a normal part of our daily lives, designers and developers now look at
these the same as a tangible product. UI and
UX are sometimes used interchangeably, but these two concepts overlap. UX is focused on conducting
research on the user's experience. UI designers focus on these as well,
but on a more systematic level, making sure that everything looks good and
feels good, so cohesiveness. For instance,
on this beautiful set of UI screens, we can see how the different
screens match with each other. They all have a certain characteristic. Starting with a simple color palette and
a call to action that stands out, that will be the buttons. Here would be also read more or play. There's a great sense of hierarchy
through the typographic elements and the typographic system. It is clear which is the title or
what information is more important. Overall, there is a great
sense of balance and unity through the use
of the color palette. The illustration style matches
from one screen to the other. When it comes to mobile phones
displaying complex information like data visualization, it is important
to have order, create hierarchy, balance Color choices also become
important, and it is very systematic. Especially because the information
needs to be made clear, it needs to be easy to understand,
this is where truly less is more. So now that you know the definition
of digital product design, in the next lesson we will
take a look at digital design. In this lesson,
we'll take a look at digital design, another graphic design discipline. So graphic design in general focuses
mostly on static designs that are printed. Digital design and graphic design
can overlap, that's the case for magazines that get printed but
also require a digital version. Digital design can be also static, but
it is often displayed on a digital device. It can also sometimes involve movement
like animation, modeling, and interactive pages. When it comes to movement, framing is
important, it is the way the elements are arranged in the frame,
similar to the principles of design, but keeping in mind that there
is movement involved. In this particular video, the camera pans from the back of the cliff
to reveal a meander and the water. So the last frame is centered, balanced,
and static, because the bent or curve adds movement to the frame already. Because of this curve, it is also that the
video looks super straight and aligned. An example of digital
design that's static, but it's only used on screen
would be a YouTube thumbnail. A very popular design item this stays
since YouTube has become more and more popular. YouTube thumbnails need to look enticing,
interesting, and need to call for attention in just a few milliseconds. So using a sensor font is ideal,
make sure that it is easy to read. The design shouldn't be
too complex because of the small size of the thumbnail, and you
should use colors that are interesting and also interesting compositions
that can catch the eye. This banner ad is a perfect
example of digital design. In this case, we can see multiple sizes,
but they all use the same elements. The dark background helps
draw attention to the shoes, as well as the light colored typography. Sans serif fonts can create a sense of
urgency, especially when used in all caps. Parts of the information uses a background
color to help draw more attention. So this type of banner you would usually
see in passing when scrolling a website. So it is very important that this type
of design is striking, easy to read, and features an impactful image, so
all of the attention goes to it. Remember, digital design and
graphic design overlap in most things. The only difference is that, most graphic
design elements end are printed, while digital designs are always displayed on
screen, and their end use is for screens. In the next lesson, we will take a look
at brand design, which often include both print design, digital design, and even
sometimes produce digital product designs. So, what is brand design? Brand design refers to key brand
elements like logo, color, skin, typography, and other supporting elements. That make a brand stand
out from competitors and one brand that is
recognizable to consumers. A good brand helps you understand
the company's history, purpose, values, beliefs through all of
these brand design elements. In this lesson, we'll take a look
at the brand design process. This is my personal process, what you
need to know before you start designing, before you get onto the drawing board,
the development process and deliverables. We'll also take a look at some famous
brand examples that made brand and identity design a key part of companies. Besides creating a distinct identity for
a product or a service, brand design can also encompass the entire
image of a company or organization. The key advantage of brand design is
that branding the design elements, the language helps you
identify with your audience. So, for instance, if you see a sign or
a blog post, anything printed or on screen, it should be clear
what company it belongs to. Let's take a quick look at what
the branding process looks like. This is my personal process, and this way, you will know how to get started
designing your own brand. Let's take a look at this brand
presentation from one of my clients, and it includes a lot of
the branding process. So, the process started with
an interview with a client of Forebears Coffee Roasting. In this interview, I asked questions
like what inspired the owner to start their own brand, their background,
their likes, dislikes. And what type of personality they saw
the brand as, so the target market, age, profiles of the type of people
who would typically buy this coffee. It is important to know what
questions to ask, to look for inspiration that later can
serve us to design the brand. This part of the process is really
important because we have to ask many, many questions, as anything at this
point can serve as inspiration. So for
the second step based on that interview, I built out a presentation with the
direction we want to take the brand in, the essence of the brand, the audience. Keywords that describe the brand, and what makes this brand different from
the rest and from the competitors. Mood boarding is essential to communicate
all these traits to the client. So this specific coffee brand also
highlights lesser-known coffee regions, especially female producers. So that's what the mood
board was based on. So Pinterest here is a great resource for
inspiration. As the fourth step, based on the unique
traits of Forbears Coffee Roasting, I developed a color palette that was
inspired by everything that was talked about with a client. From her personal story,
her background, and brand traits. Alongside that, I provided classic and edgy color combinations that she can
apply to the brand when it is delivered. From there, two concepts were
developed and presented to the client, I suggest presenting between one and
two concepts. That way, there's time to focus
on the quality of the concepts. And if the right questions were
asked on the initial interview, we then have a specific
direction to run toward. Keep in mind that two different
concepts mean two very different ideas, the way they look and the way they feel. So putting together a presentation
that makes sense is essential. Explaining the concepts properly and
with the right words is also important. Keeping in mind that most times our
clients don't have the same design knowledge that we have. It is important to explain
the concepts with depth, explaining design choices we have made. Color theory, so
everything that entails that concept, and at this point,
the client should provide feedback and choose only one concept
to move forward with. As a next step, we take all of that
feedback from the client to the chosen concept and finesse that designing. Here you can also start creating
collaterals or continue if you haven't. Test your design in print or
digital to know if, maybe the typeface is the right typeface or the lines that
you're using are too thin or too thick, or need some kind of finessing. From there, create a final
presentation for the client. And once the project is approved,
it is time to create the brand guideline. So, creating the brand guideline is
useful, so the client or business can apply your design in the future if
you're not their in-house designer. In this case,
I created a brand guideline, so the client can apply
the brand as she wants. The brand guidelines include specific
values for the color palette, logo margins, how to use the different
logos, and typographic rules. The next step is to export
the deliverables I agreed on. In my case, I delivered a design
package that included the different logos in different file formats for
web and print. Different colors,
as well as the graphic elements, the collateral designs, writing for
print, fonts, and any other extras. So my client has everything she needs,
and this is useful for a smaller entrepreneur or solopreneur. So that way they can continue growing if
they are at the beginning stages of their solopreneur or entrepreneur journey. So now let's take a look at some examples
of successful long-lasting brands. First, American Airlines from 1968 by
famous Italian designer, Massimo Vignelli. The American Airlines brand identity has
been famous for the use of Haas Helvetica. The logo is also famous for being simple,
it features the modern typeface, and the words are said half in red and
half in blue. The USA's national identity. So the whole brand system was focused
on function and logic over trends or emotions. There was a lot of controversy
when designers redesigned this original and unique brand. And the second example is
the Olympic summer games for Munich from 1972 by Otl Aicher. The Munich 1972 brand is known
amongst designers as a strong, comprehensive visual identity that is,
to this day, inspiring. The challenge then, for
this specific branding project, was to re-brand the image Germany had
post-World War II and modernize it. Otl Aicher created a fabulous design,
iconic, bold, and dramatic, without losing the German
design ethos of precision. The emblem represents
a crown of rays of light, the identity included strong,
playful colors and flawless pictograms. The design team went as far
as designing the mascot and pictograms that successfully
fit the whole branding system. A beautifully structured pictogram
system that looks fresh even today, very simplistic and extremely timeless. This whole identity system is a great
example of not only redefining a country, but also inspiring a whole
generation of designers. So in this chapter, you learned the difference between
design disciplines that exist today. You learned the new definition
of digital product design and the brand design process. In the next chapter, we'll take a look
at different design tools to use and design assets that can
help us speed up our work. So designers have different ways of
working through a design project. But while these processes
can be different, successful designers follow
at least something similar. A solid design process can help
designers deliver quality work, get the job done through organized
tasks and in an efficient manner. Not only that, there are plenty of tools
that can help us design better and efficiently. So in this chapter, we will take a look
at some useful tools that can help you improve your projects at every
stage of the design process. We will cover tools for easier workflow,
mood boarding, color palette development, and we will take a look at design
assets and their benefits. But first, let's take a look at
the different design disciplines and how these overlap with each other. So first, let's talk about
the different design disciplines. Graphic design per se is the creation of
visual compositions to solve problems and communicate ideas through design elements
like typography, imagery, color, and form. There's no one recipe to do that,
that's why there are several disciplines. So we can talk about marketing or
advertising, packaging, and visual identity or branding. Designers make sure we're hitting those
points through the successful use of graphic design elements. Making sure that a brand looks
cohesive not only in packaging, but also in communication and
graphic language. Game design, motion graphics, or animation
can rely on someone who has experience. In illustration, UI and UX are two disciplines that blurred
their lines also, as well as web design. It is not only concerned with the visual, but also how people interact
with digital product designs. Our directors are the designers
responsible for coordinating and supervising the work of designers or other creatives who are involved
in a single project. So for instance,
if we're talking about a magazine design, here we have photographers, editors,
sometimes illustrators, and the designer who will
putting everything together. The creative director's role is
usually above the art director, and they take care of all
the creative operations and tends to pitch creative concepts, usually
having direct communication with clients. And as you can see, there are many
different disciplines, and most designers specialize in more than one because of
the rapid advancement in technology. While there are different disciplines, many of these jobs have
a similar workflow. So generally, we start with a design
brief from the client or art creative director that contains the details,
purpose, and goals of the project. Next up, we have the brainstorming phase,
where we collect everything from the research, and we aim to solve the
problem from as many angles as possible. So by the end of this brainstorming phase,
designers should have multiple solutions and concepts, and ideally, narrow down
the solutions to a max of three concepts, ideally two, and
even better if it's just one. Next, it is time to get your hands dirty,
so to speak, and prepare rough sketches or layouts to
present to the client or the team. The roughness of the sketches is for
you to decide, and also depends on the time that you have for
the project. The concept presentation to the client
should be concise and to the point. Remember that often clients aren't
designers, so it is important to explain every concept in detail and
why we have made certain decisions. Clients will provide feedback. Ideally, this feedback will
include more than I like or I don't like, and
it will be more concept driven. The next step is to incorporate the
feedback from the client to the design, polish the details, and
present the final product, deliver the necessary digital files. If it needs to be sent to press,
then you will need a PDF, or you will need to push live if it
is a website, or sometimes both. Now let's take a look at some of
the different software that designers use. In the past, poster designs were
drawn by hand and hand painted, sometimes with multiple in-capacities
to achieve multi-color posters with processes like lithography or
chromolithography. Now design is available to the masses from
the simple swipe and tap of your screen. Professional page software like
the Adobe Suite contain many software for many of the design
disciplines mentioned before. Adobe InDesign is great for
publishing magazines, book designs, multi-page documents. Photoshop is good for
digital painting and photography work. Lightroom is for more specialized
photography work, while Illustrator is great for vector-based designs,
illustrations, and logo designs. Premier Pro for videos,
After Effects for motion graphics, and the Adobe Suite has become
the industry standard these days. Figma is a great collaborative web
application for UX and wireframes, or interface design. Note that you can't build apps or websites
here, you can only create the prototypes. Figma lets you collaborate on libraries
and templates to share with your team. Another partially free web app is Canva. This user-friendly app has been
very popular amongst non-designers the last few years. You can create marketing designs
like posters, ads, Videos and social media graphics. Figma and Canva start with a free plan,
building up to other subscription models. If you're looking for Adobe Illustrator
alternatives, there are plenty. Affinity Designer has a one-off cost
rather than monthly subscription. Other apps like Sketch,
Coral draw are also one of Frices and Inkscape is a great re-option. As for InDesign, other desktop publishing
app that has been used more and more these days is Affinity Publisher
has a one off fée. Their latest release is pretty close
to what Adobe InDesign has to offer, and you can even import
InDesign files to work there. UI and
UX designers also use some of these tools, I shouldn't like Figma Adobe XD,
Workflow, and sketch. And if you're interested in typeface
design FontLab is a professional software that has been the industry
standard for many, many years. FontForge is a great free option here. When it comes to organizing projects, Trello is a great online tool that
helps streamline creative processes and create a fluid collaboration between
multiple designers or big teams. I personally also like to use Milanote,
it is an awesome, easy to use tool to organize ideas and
projects through visual boards, it is like Pinterest for designers. And that's it in this lesson you will
learn everything concerning design disciplines, the design processes and
different software to use. Next, we will take a look at
the use of design assets and how to come up with color palettes. Design assets have become essential for
the busy designer and tight budget. Not every client can afford photography or
professional licensing for typefaces. So these assets are important to
achieve a high-quality design, let's start with fonts assets. There are plenty of free options
to download fonts like DaFont and Google fonts. DaFont has a great library with plenty of
fonts that suit a big range of projects. Google fonts offer
amazing quality fonts for free with a wide range of open
source fonts in different languages. On their website, you can also try
different font combinations before you download them to see if they work for
your design project. Finding color combinations can
also be time-consuming, and there are awesome tools that can help
with that process and get it shortened. Coolers is a great tool to help you
get started with a color palette, you can pick, get inspiration,
generate random palettes, and even go as far as checking
contrast and create gradients. Another great tool is Happy Hues. If you like a color palette, but you don't
know how to apply it, this site can give you inspiration and examples as to how and
where you could use the color palettes. Many designers turn to design assets
from websites like Envato Elements. Explorer the fonts library and find
anything from vintage fonts to futuristic fonts and even some of the best
experimental fonts in the industry. In the next lesson, we'll talk about how
technology has impacted graphic design. [MUSIC] Our main purpose as graphic
designers is to communicate. Technology has made it easier to reach and spread information at a much
faster rate due to the Internet. Brands have more exposure online, allowing them to have a direct
relationship to consumers. Digital graphics quality improved greatly,
but before would have been done with collage, today can be created by painting in
Adobe Photoshop or feeding words to an AI. Nowadays, we can take amazing
photographs not only with cameras, but also with our phones. Connectivity has made it interesting for
many designers to work remotely. Adobe has made it easy for freelance
designers to work anywhere in the world while still collaborating on design
files without being in house. When it comes to fonts, in the past we needed multiple
refined files or multiple files. Now we have variable fonts,
this is the latest digital type addition, where one font file contains multiple
typographic styles that vary in weighed with style and size. And last technology has made
the field if graphic design expand by organically creating
overlapping disciplines. UI and UX wouldn't have happened
without the Internet revolution. The traditional graphic
designer was known for creating packaging or ads for marketing. It now has evolved into
a wide range of disciplines, all which have communication and
technology as the common denominator. Graphic design is an essential tool for
business growth and it will continue to evolve as a result of
advances in technology and online mediums. I think it is important to emphasize
here that graphic design has a purpose. Every design problem has a brief to
work off from and a problem to solve. And that's what makes graphic design,
graphic design. In the next chapter, we will take an overlook at everything
you learned in this course. Graphic design is the creation of visual
content with a communication purpose. You will learn about the different visual
elements that are involved in creating a design. We looked at the basic
principles of design so you can organize the limits on the page
color theory and its concepts and an overview of typography,
history and its classification. We also looked at the different design
disciplines that exist presently and the more traditional ones. You also saw examples of the different
design choices you can make based on the discipline. To make your design process easier, we show you tools that can help
you have a seamless workflow. We also show you everything from
a subscription software alternatives. Wood boarding and websites to
help you with color development. Last, we took a look at how technology
has evolved and affected our industry. While technology development
has moved quickly, we must remind ourselves the poor
job of a graphic designer. It all lies in a balance between making
something look visually stunning or organizing complex information that's
being delivered in a comprehensible way. At the end of the day,
communicating with clarity is priority. My name is Laura Keung from
all of us Envato Tuts+, we hope you enjoyed this course,
and we'll see you in the next one. [MUSIC]
