This document outlines guidelines for creating effective graphic designs. It discusses establishing a simple workflow, following basic design principles like using grids and limiting fonts, and providing clear visual hierarchies. Specific tips covered include using bold colors, designing at size, selecting impactful images, and ensuring legibility of text. The goal is to help novices create graphics that are simple yet communicate information in an organized, visually pleasing manner.

1. Nine Habits of Highly
Effective Designers
Department of Urban Studies and Planning

2. • Present a simple set of principles to follow for novice designers
• Outline a set of typical problems and gotchas
• Provide common guidelines for designers to fall back on
• Establish a workflow for creating simple and effective graphics
WORKSHOP GOALS

3. • Effective design can be lasting and powerful
• You have to know the rules before you can break them
WORKSHOP GOALS

4. “It is not about how much information there is, but rather how effectively it is
arranged.”
-EdwardTufte

5. What is Graphic Design?
The art of communication, stylizing, and problem solving
through type and image.
Functional and utility-driven. Composition is of high importance.

6. Basic Elements
Typography and Font
Textual Content
Color and Hue
Page Layout and Balance
Manipulation of Image

7. Urban Planning Graphics

8. Urban Planning Graphics

9. Urban Planning Graphics

10. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
• MBTA Map Competition
• Graphs and charts
• Websites

11. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

12. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

13. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

14. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

15. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

16. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

17. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

18. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

19. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

20. Less is always more
• When in doubt, keep it simple
• The effective use of negative space is a hallmark of good design – design the negative
space just as you would the positive space. Ask yourself:“What elements can I remove or
simplify and still retain my message?” Pare it down to the essentials.
• For repetitive information, remember the “rule of small multiples.”

21. Remove noise
Skip items that don’t have meaning.They are what is known in the
design world as “noise”.

25. Be hierarchical.
• Communicate the relative importance of data through variations in size, weight, and
intensity.You should be able to squint and clearly understand a hierarchy of your
composition.

28. Good design has CRAP.
• It’s okay if you have a lot to fit.
• Contrast, Repetition,Alignment, and Proximity: use these principles to allow your
audience to easily follow the connections between your ideas and the message of the
graphic.

32. Just two fonts.
• Good design can be achieved with just one or two fonts.As a general rule, sans serif fonts
work well for titles, headers, and electronic media. Serif fonts work well for body text in
print media.The most useful fonts have many weights to choose from.

35. Sans Serif Favorites
• Can be used anywhere, good for headers and titles
Arial
Calibri
Eurostile
Franklin Gothic
Gill Sans
Helvetica
Lucida Sans
Myriad Pro Bold
Swiss 721 Condensed
Swiss 721 Black Condensed
Verdana

36. Serif Favorites
• Good for bodies, abstracts, and content
Cambria
Baskerville
Garamond
Times New Roman

37. Non-Favorites
• Use sparingly, by that, I mean probably never.
Brush Script
Comic Sans

38. Magic number twelve.
• The human mind looks for natural proportions of 2, 3, and 4.As the least common
denominator, 12 is an extremely useful number for column layout, and it’s also a good
point size multiple for fonts (12 pt, 24 pt, 36 pt, etc).A good rule of thumb is that a
column of text should be about 60 characters wide for your eyes to easily follow.
• Rule of thumb for prose and text blocks:
• Print graphics: use no smaller than 6 point type
• Screen-based graphics: Use no smaller than 10 point type

40. Imitate. (But don’t copy.)
• Beg, borrow – but don’t steal – ideas for beautiful posters and graphics from experienced
designers.

43. Be color conscious.
• Like a well-written paragraph, each graphic should have a singular message. Use color to
unify your message and highlight differences.

44. Bold and Contrasting Colors
Use BOLD and CONTRASTING
colors.
Dark text on a light backgrounds.
Light text on dark backgrounds.
Should hold up to non-color
printing.

45. Pick a Palette
Find known and established color
ramps and palettes.
http://kuler.adobe.com
http://macwright.org/d3-curvy
http://tristen.ca/hcl-picker
See handout

47. Don’t go off the grid.
• Effective graphics follow strict principles of alignment and justification.
• Grid your design for a clean and professional finish.

48. Portrait Landscape
Orientation Matters…

49. Layout Matters…
Alignment is important
(and professional)
Recommendation
Organize your poster with a grid
Photography “The rule of thirds”

50. The Grid

51. The Grid

52. The Margin
Make your margins consistent.
Approximately ½ inch around the top
and sides.

53. Visual Center of the Page
The visual center of your page is
NOT the same as the geometric
center.
Visual center is slightly above the
geometric center

54. Layout Matters…
Create a template.
You can reuse an
effective poster over
and over, changing the
elements.

55. Design at size.
• Layout your graphics at the proper size before you proceed with your creation process.
• Goal: Never scale your graphics once they are complete.

56. Design at Size
Design your Poster at the size of
your final product.
Set settings in your design software to
the desired size of your final output.

57. Design at Size
Design your Poster at the size of
your final product.
Prevents pixilation of images, allows for
proper sizing of text to maximize
legibility

58. Some other thoughts…
Here at MIT, we do a lot of poster design… let’s discuss!!

59. Image Selection
Sometimes you don’t have a
choice…
Book Cover
Pre-chosen Event Logo

60. Bold and Beautiful
But often you do…
Choose images that are:
Bold
Relevant
Colorful
Indicative

61. Let the Image Guide You
Use the image, beautiful pictures
have a built in layout for you.
Place text in areas with least
amount of noise and largest blocks
of bold colors
TRANSIT IN BOSTON
A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
THURS JAN 18, 9PM, ROOM 9-450

62. Resources
http://www.flickr.com
http://commons.wikimedia.org
See handout
Copyrighted Images:
When in doubt, cite your source.

63. Image Guidelines
Use the largest image possible that
you can find.
Know your pixel size.
Letter size =
1275 pixels by 1650 pixels
Try to choose no smaller than
this.

64. Event Poster Digestion
• Should be able to get main gist of poster
in seconds
• < 15 seconds
• Most viewers will see it in passing
• More in waiting area
• Less in hallway

65. Event Poster Font Size
•Title/Main content: 48-60pt+
•Supplemental text: 24-36pt
•Abstract/Body: 18-24pt
•Stay big. Use no smaller than 12!

66. Lots of Software Available
•Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator
•GIMP/Inkscape
•Microsoft Powerpoint/Paint
The tool does not make your graphic, you do.
Use the tools you have!

67. End.
•We just covered a lot
•Questions/Comments/Complaints
Special thanks to Chris Rhie and Annemarie Gray