S shawacademy
Graphic Starter
Design Pack
starterpack
Visit us online at:
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S Graphic Design Starter Pack
S
shawacademy
S Graphic Design Starter Pack
HELLO! 1.01 What is Graphic Design 4
This Starter Pack 1.02 What Designer’s Do 6
aims to give you a
better understand- 1.03 What Designer’s Use (Adobe) 8
ing of what Graphic
Design is, what we 1.04 Adobe Shortcuts 10
do and how we do it.
Enjoy! 1.05 Design Elements 16
Resources 1.06 Design Principles 18
Software 1.07 Colour 20
[Link] adobe.
com/products/ 1.08 Typography 22
Free Images
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Free Fonts
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[Link] com/
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S Graphic Design
What is
Graphic
Design?
S Graphic Design
“The art or profession of visual
communication that combines
images, words and ideas to convey
information to an audience.”
Graphic design, also known as communication design,
is the art and practice of planning and projecting ideas
and experiences with visual and textual content. The
form of the communication can be physical or virtual,
and may include images, words, or graphic forms. The
work can happen at any scale, from the design of a
single postage stamp to a national postal signage
system, or from a company’s avatar to the content
of an international newspaper. It can also be for any
purpose, whether commercial, educational, cultural, or
political.
S What Designer’s Do
We are visual
communicators
and find visual
solutions to
problems.
S What Designer’s Do
1.02
What Designer’s Do
Graphic designers combine art and technology to
communicate ideas through images and the layout of
web screens and printed pages. They may use a variety
of design elements to achieve artistic or decorative
effects. They develop the overall layout and production
design for advertisements, brochures, magazines, and
corporate reports.
Graphic designers work with both text and images. They often
select the type, font, size, colour, and line length of headlines,
headings, and text. Graphic designers also decide how images
and text will go together on a page or screen, including how
much space each will have. When using text in layouts, they
collaborate closely with writers who choose the words and
decide whether the words will be put into paragraphs, lists, or
tables. Their work typically involves the following:
Create a Brief Develop Messaging Create the Design Publish
Meet with clients or Determine the message Create designs that Present the design to
the art director to the design should identify a product or clients. Incorporate
determine the scope portray. convey a message. changes recommended
of a project. by the clients into
design. Review designs
before publishing.
S What Designer’s Use
Adobe products
have become the
de facto industry
standard in
graphics editing.
Photoshop allows you to create
stunning photos, designs, illustra-
tions, 3D, video and more.
Illustrator is the industry-standard
vector graphics application that lets
you create logos, icons, drawings,
typography, and complex illustra-
tions for any medium.
InDesign is the industry-stand-
ard publishing application that lets
you design and publish high-quality
documents across a full spectrum
of digital and print media.
S What Designer’s Use
1.03
What Designer’s Use
General File Formats
If you’re one of the many, many people who have found
themselves overwhelmed by the sheer number of file
formats that Adobe presents us with when trying to
save an image, good news! You can safely ignore most
of them!
PSD - Photoshop’s native file format AI - Illustrator’s native file format INDD - InDesign’s
native file format
JPEG - format for viewing and sharing EPS -Illustrator eps
digital photos PDF - Adobe PDF -
AIT -Illustrator Template
PDF files support
GIF - format of choice for web
PDF - Adobe PDF - PDF files support both high & low
graphics
both vector and raster (bitmap) resolution output for
PNG - a lossless file format and information print
supports transparency
SVG - Scalable Vector Graphics files
TIFF - universally accepted standard are used on the World Wide Web
for images destined for commercial
printing
EPS - EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)
is another print industry standard
format
PDF - PDF supports and preserves all
of Photoshop’s features, including
the ability to use spot colors
S Design Elements
Design elements
are what we
use to make
up our design.
Think of them as
ingredients.
S Design Elements
1.05
Design Elements
In Graphic Design there are Key Elements that enable
us to communicate our message clearly. These are what
make up our design.
Line - is a mark between two points. There are various types of
lines from straight to squiggly to curved & more. Lines can be
used for stressing a word or phrase, connecting content to one
another, creating patterns & more.
Shape - Height+Width=Shape. There are 3 basic types of shape:
geometric (triangles), natural (leaves) and abstracted (icons). Odd
or lesser seen shapes can be used to attract attention.
Colour - is used to generate emotions, define importance, create
visual interest and more.
Texture - refers to the surface of an object; the look or feel of
it. Using texture in design is a great way to add depth & visual
interest.
Mass - is how large or small something is. Use Mass to define
importance, create visual interest, attract attention & more.
Space - is the area around or between elements in a design. It
can be used to separate or group information. Use it effectively to
give the eye a rest, define importance and lead the eye.
S Design Principles
The Principles of
design are what
we do to design
elements. Think
of them as the
recipe.
S Design Principles
1.06
Design Principles
The Principles of design are what we do to design
elements. How we apply these determines how
successful the design is.
Alignment - allows us to create order and organisation. Aligning
elements allows them to create a visual connection with each
other.
Balance - is the weight distributed in the design by the
placement of your elements. Provides stability and structure to a
design. E.G. A large shape close to the centre can be balanced by
a small shape close to the edge.
Contrast - is the juxtaposition of opposing elements (opposite
colours on the colour wheel, or value light/ dark, or direction
horizontal/vertical).
Proximity - is simply the process of ensuring related design
elements are grouped together. Close proximity indicates that
items are connected & helps to organise or give structure to a
layout.
Repetition - strengthens a design by tying together individual
elements. It helps create association and consistency.
S Colour
Colour is one of the most
powerful tools that a
designer can draw upon
and understanding
how colour affects us is
key in communicating
messages effectively.
The Colour Wheel
The Colour Wheel is one of the most
familiar and useful tools found in
art. It can tell you eveything you
need to know at a glance.
S Colour
1.07
Colour
Colour Meanings
Intense, Fire & Blood, Energy, War, Danger, Love, Passionate, Strong
Sunshine, Joy, Cheerfulness, Intellect, Energy, Attention Getter
Nature, Growth, Fertility, Freshness, Healing, Safety, Money
Sky, Sea, Depth, Stability, Trust, Masculine, Tranquil
SUBTRACTIVE Warm, Stimulating, Enthusiasm, Happiness, Success, Creative
Created with Ink. Start Royalty, Power, Nobility, Wealth, Ambition, Dignified, Mysterious
with White. Add Colour.
CMYK Colour Terms
Hue is colour (blue, green, red, etc.).
Chroma is the purity of a colour (a high Chroma has no added
black, white or grey).
Saturation refers to how strong or weak a colour is (high
saturation being strong).
Value refers to how light or dark a colour is (light having a high
value).
ADDITIVE
Tones are created by adding grey to a colour, making it duller
Created with Light. Start than the original.
with Black. Add Colour.
Shades are created by adding black to a colour, making it darker
RGB than the original.
Tints are created by adding white to a colour, making it lighter
than the original.
Colour Relationships
COMPLEMENTARY ANALOGOUS
MONOCHROMATIC SPLIT-COMPLEMENTARY TRIADS
S Typography
1.08
Typography
Typography is, quite simply, the art
and technique of arranging type.
Typography is an art form that has been around for
hundreds of years.
Words and text are all around us every day in almost everything
we do.
In every piece of type you see, somebody has considered how
the letters, sentences and paragraphs will look in order for it to
be read by us, or make us feel a certain way when we look at
it. Sometimes it is done well, others not. Often it is us graphic
designers who are the ones deciding how it will look, in our
brochures, our logos, our websites and so on. The better we are
at this, the more effective our designs will be.
S Typography
1.08
Typography
FONT FA MILIE S Serif Sans Serif Slab Serif Script Monospace Blackletter Display
Commandments of Typography
1 Know your Font Families
2 Combine Sans Serif with Serif - (Myriad & Minion)
3 Combine Serif with Sans Serif - (Garamond & Helvetica)
4 Do not combine similar fonts - (Garamond & Times)
5 Contrast is key - (Futura & Castellar)
6 Stick to Two fonts, Three at most - (Helvetica & Georgia & Rockwell)
7 Don’t mix moods - (RoboKoz & Times & Bauhaus)
8 Combine fonts of Complimentary Moods & Similar Time Era’s - (Chancery & Times & Bauhaus)
9 Use different weights of fonts - (Helvetica Light & Helvetica Bold & Helvetica Black)
10 Avoid the following - (Comic Sans - Papyrus - Curlz - Viner - Kristen)
S
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