Meaning, nature and philosophical perspectives; explains various principles and elements used in graphic design

8. graphic designing
• Graphic design takes ideas, concepts, text and images and presents
them in a visually engaging form through print, electronic or other
media.
• Imposes an order and structure to the content in order to facilitate and
ease the communication process
• Optimises the likelihood that the message will be received and
understood by the target audience.
• A designer achieves this goal through the conscious manipulation of
elements
• A design may be philosophical, aesthetic, sensory, emotional or political
in nature.
“
“

9. graphic designing
Graphic design is a creative visual arts discipline that encompasses many
areas. It may include art direction, typography, page layout, information
technology and other creative aspects.
This variety means that there is a fragmented landscape for design practice
within which designers may specialise and focus.
“
“
Technological development has placed
designers at the heart of the creative process.
Designer’s responsibilities now includes print buying,
website programming, photography, page layout,
materials selection, art direction, freehand illustration,
computer generated illustration (CGI), project
management, client account management,
storyboarding, editing and pre-press production

10. ART or CRAFT

11. ART or CRAFT
ART
• Graphic design creates striking images and layouts to communicate ideas
and information to different audiences.
• The discipline is at the forefront of creative thought, advancing theory on
how to communicate effectively through visual media by using a wide range
of intellectual tools to establish meaningful connections between different
design elements.
• This view of design sees the designer as a separate entity who is preoccupied
with personal expression rather than being led by a brief or a commission.

12. ART or CRAFT
CRAFT
• As a craft, graphic design is an integral part of the print production process
that involves preparing text, image and other content for publication.
• A graphic designer occupies a key role in the process by liaising with the
client and other professionals such as printers, typographers, photographers
and finishing houses.
• This view of graphic design as part of the print process sees graphic design
as a craft.

13. ART or CRAFT
Two views on design are not mutually exclusive. Many designers are commissioned
for their unique styles, while other designers adapt their style to suit a specific
commission.

18. Image processing
We are compelled to understand images.
We immediately ask- “What is it?” and “What does it mean?”
Our minds need to make sense of the world, and we do so
actively.
To understand something is to scan and search our
memory stores, to call forth associations and emotions, and
to use what we already know to interpret and infer
meaning on the unknown. As we derive pleasure,
satisfaction, and competence from understanding, we
seek to understand more.

19. Image processing
“Sight is swift, comprehensive, simultaneously
analytic, and synthetic. It requires so little energy to
function, as it does, at the speed of light, that it
permits our minds to receive and hold an infinite
number of items of information in a fraction of a
second.”
- CALEB GATTENGO, Towards a Visual Culture

20. • For those with intact visual systems, vision is the
dominant sense for acquiring perceptual
information.
• We have over one million nerve fibers sending
signals from the eye to the brain, and an
estimated 20 billion neurons analyzing and
integrating visual information at rapid speed.
• We have a surprisingly large capacity for
picture memory, and can remember thousands
of images with few errors
Image processing

21. • Acquiring a sense of our innate mental and visual
capacities can enable graphic designers and
illustrators to express their message with accurate
intent.
– For example
• if one’s goal is to visually explain a process, then understanding
how humans comprehend and learn helps the designer create a
well-defined information graphic.
• If one’s purpose is to evoke a passionate response, then an
understanding of how emotions are tied to memory enables the
designer to create a poster that sizzles.
• If one’s purpose is to visualize data, then understanding the
constraints of short-term memory enables the designer to create a
graph or chart that is easily grasped
Image Processing- how does it help designers

23. The Meaning of Pictures
• A picture is more than a two-dimensional marked surface.
• It reflects the creator’s intent and signifies there is information to be
communicated.
• It is the artefact of creative play and thoughtful decisions, produced to
evoke a visual experience.
• Designers create graphics with the assumption that viewers will
understand their message—that upon viewing line, color, and shape, a
communication will be transmitted.
• They assume the viewer will proceed through a graphic in an orderly
sequence, controlled by the designer’s expression of visual hierarchy.

24. Image Processing
colors,
brushstrokes,
and shapes
register in
sensory memory
[raw sensory
data]
main features
and elements of
the scene are
held in working
memory
[the equivalent
of awareness]
seeing the painting is a
cue to recall the painting’s
title and the painter’s
name from long-term
memory. In addition, the
experience of viewing The
Starry Night will be
stored in long-term
memory
[information is coded and
stored in long-term
memory as new
knowledge; some
information may simply
result in performing an
action.]

27. Graphic design elements are the building
blocks of graphics.
• Space
• Line
• Shape
• Form
• Color
• Texture

28. 1. Space
refers to the distances or areas around, between or within
components of a piece.
• Positive and Negative space.
• Positive space refers to the space of a shape
representing the subject matter.
• Negative space refers to the space around and
between the subject matter.^

31. 2. LINE
A mark made by a moving point that has length and
direction. Often it defines a space, and may create
an outline or contour, define a silhouette; create
patterns, or movement, and the illusion of mass or
volume.

34. ELEMENTS
3. COLOUR
Color is seen either by the way light reflects
off a surface, or in colored light sources.
Color and particularly contrasting color is also
used to draw the attention to a particular part
of the design.
• Use color to label or show hierarchy.
• Use color to represent or imitate reality.
• Use color to unify, separate, or emphasize.
• Use color to decorate.
• Use color consistently.

35. characteristics
• hue is another word for color.
• chroma is the intensity or purity of color.
• tint is a color mixed with white.
• tone is a color mixed with gray.
• shade is a color mixed with black.

37. ELEMENTS

39. 4. SHAPE
Shapes are enclosed objects that can be created by
line or created by color and value changes that define
their edges.
• Forms- When shapes encompasses mass and
volume

42. 5. TEXTURE
Texture is the surface look of an object created
by varying dark and light areas.
• Roughness
• Smoothness
• Depth

45. Principles of Design
• Unity/harmony
• Balance
• Emphasis/ Dominance
• Movement
• Proportion
• contrast

46. • The concept of unity describes the relationship between the
individual parts and the whole of a composition.
• Unity is a concept that stems from some of the Gestalt
theories of visual perception and psychology, specifically
those dealing with how the human brain organizes visual
information into categories, or groups.
• To bring visual and conceptual harmony
Unity/ Harmony

50. Balance is an equilibrium that results from looking at layout and
judging them against our ideas of physical structure (such as
mass, gravity)
It is the arrangement of the objects in a given composition as it
relates to their visual weight within a composition.
Balance

56. Dominance
Dominance relates to varying degrees of emphasis in a layout.
There are three stages of dominance, each relating to the weight of a
particular object within a composition.
Dominant: The object given the most visual weight, the element of primary
emphasis that advances to the foreground in the composition.
Sub-dominant: The element of secondary emphasis, the elements in the
middle ground of the composition.
Subordinate: The object given the least visual weight

60. Rhythm is the repetition or alternation of elements, often with defined
intervals between them. Rhythm can create a sense of movement, and can
establish pattern and texture. There are many different kinds of rhythm,
often defined by the feeling it evokes when looking at it.
Regular: A regular rhythm occurs when the intervals between the
elements, and often the elements themselves, are similar in size or length.
Flowing: A flowing rhythm gives a sense of movement, and is often more
organic in nature.
Progressive: A progressive rhythm shows a sequence of forms through a
progression of steps.
Rhythm/ Movement

64. It is the relationship in scale between one element and
another, or between a whole object and one of its
parts.
Differing proportions within a composition can relate to
different kinds of balance or symmetry, and can help
establish visual weight and depth.
Proportion

68. contrast
• refers to the arrangement of opposite
elements (light vs. dark colors, rough vs.
smooth textures, large vs. small shapes, etc.) in
a piece so as to create visual interest,
excitement and drama.

71. Creativity Tips
1. Accept [release resistance]
2. Observe [The only way to become really aware is to really look]
3. Breathe [This is a good tool for when you feel upset]
4. Emerge[go with your natural tendencies]
5. Detach [detach from your problem]
6. Perspective [The way you see a problem isn’t the only way to see
it. Broaden your sights]
7. Practice [Practice what you learn]
8. Begin [Begin somewhere. Increments are doable. It doesn’t
matter where you start]
9. Meditate [Look back on your day and review it]
10.Live [life is chaos, accept change, love, live]
11. Enjoy [ design carries every aspect of your life;You happen to the
universe; the universe doesn’t happen to you]

72. The best way to have a good idea is to have
lots of ideas. -Linus Pauling (double Nobel Laureate, chemist,
biochemist, and peace campaigner)