phx startup week - designing intelligent content for entrepreneurs

DESIGNINGINTELLIGENT

CONTENTA non-designer’s guide

HIER ARCHY TYPEUnderstanding

COLORUS I N G

right imageChoosing the

FIRST, AN ASSUMPTION

PurposeBusiness GoalsAudienceVoice & tone

VISUALHIERARCHY

01

LOOKING FOR LOVE

IN ALDERAAN PLACES

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

ContrastRepetitionAlignmentProximity

Breaking Bad Drinking GameDrinking Game Rules

SipJesse says “Yo”

Walt yells at JesseMarie wears something purple

Hank wears a Panama Jack shirtShot

Walt liesSkyler cries

Someone says “Heisenberg”Saul Goodman asks for money

CONTRASTis what makes the reader lookat the page in the first place.

BREAKING BAD DRINKING GAMEDrinking Game Rules

SIPJesse says “Yo”

Walt yells at JesseMarie wears something purple

Hank wears a Panama Jack shirtSHOT

Walt liesSkyler cries

Someone says “Heisenberg”Saul Goodman asks for money

REPETITIONis the process of creating avisual pattern that helpsunify your message.

BREAKING BAD DRINKING GAME

Drinking Game Rules

SIPJesse says “Yo”

Walt yells at JesseMarie wears something purple

Hank wears a Panama Jack shirt

SHOTWalt lies

Skyler criesSomeone says “Heisenberg”

Saul Goodman asks for money

ALIGNMENTconnects the visual elementstogether, creating an invisibleline of cohesiveness.

BREAKING BAD DRINKING GAMEDrinking Game Rules

SIPJesse says “Yo”Walt yells at JesseMarie wears something purpleHank wears a Panama Jack shirt

SHOTWalt liesSkyler criesSomeone says “Heisenberg”Saul Goodman asks for money

PROXIMITYcreates visual unity in elements that are related to each other.

BREAKING BAD DRINKING GAMEDrinking Game Rules

SIPJesse says “Yo”Walt yells at JesseMarie wears something purpleHank wears a Panama Jack shirt

SHOTWalt liesSkyler criesSomeone says “Heisenberg”Saul Goodman asks for money

Breaking Bad Drinking GameDrinking Game Rules

SipJesse says “Yo”

Walt yells at JesseMarie wears something purple

Hank wears a Panama Jack shirtShot

Walt liesSkyler cries

Someone says “Heisenberg”Saul Goodman asks for money

BREAKING BAD DRINKING GAMEDrinking Game Rules

SIPJesse says “Yo”Walt yells at JesseMarie wears something purpleHank wears a Panama Jack shirt

SHOTWalt liesSkyler criesSomeone says “Heisenberg”Saul Goodman asks for money

RECRAPBy creating bold contrast, using repetition, and organizing your content through alignmentand proximity, you create a visual hierarchy that guides the reader through their experience.

TYPE MATCH-MAKING

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WHAT’S YOUR TYPE?In order to determine your perfect typographic match, you must first consider your communication goals.

Who’s youraudience?

What’s the brandpersonality?

What’s yourmessage?

A casual case

A screaming scale

SIMPLICITYHow easy it is to focus on and interpret messaging.

How manycontent types?

Headline/Title

Visual Message

OtherInformation

Subheadline

Date

VARIATIONHow to combine fonts in an appropriate typographic expression of brand personality.

A PERFECT MATCH?

OppositesATTRACT

LikesRepell

THIS IS A LIGHT WEIGHT PAIRED WITH A HEAVY

This is a scriptpaired with a slab-serif

This is a Modern Typeface

paired with a sans-serif

Tools of the tradetypegenius.com

READABILITYHow easy it is to read words, phrases, and blocks of copy.

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, an what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them. They’re quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They’re nice and all--I’m not saying that--but they’re also touchy as hell. Besides, I’m not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything. I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy. I mean that’s all I told D.B. about, and he’s my brother and all. He’s in Hollywood. That isn’t too far from this crumby place, and he comes over and visits me practically every week end. He’s going to drive me home when I go home next month may-be. He just got a Jaguar. One of those little English jobs that can do around two hundred miles an hour. It cost him damn near four thousand bucks. He’s got a lot of dough, now. He didn’t use to. He used to be just a regular writer, when he was home. He wrote this terrific book of short stories, The Secret Goldfish, in case you nev-er heard of him. The best one in it was “The Secret Goldfish.” It was about this little kid that wouldn’t let anybody look at his gold-fish because he’d bought it with his own money. It killed me. Now he’s out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute. If there’s one thing

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, an what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them. They’re quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They’re nice and all--I’m not saying that--but they’re also touchy as hell. Besides, I’m not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything. I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy. I mean that’s all I told D.B. about, and he’s my brother and all. He’s in Hollywood. That isn’t too far from this crumby place, and he comes over and visits me practically every week end. He’s going to drive me home when I go home next month maybe. He just got a Jaguar. One of those little English jobs that can do around two hundred miles an hour. It cost him damn near four thousand bucks. He’s got a lot of dough, now. He didn’t use to. He used to be just a regular writer, when he was home. He wrote this terrific book of short stories, The Secret Goldfish, in case you never heard of him. The best one in it was “The Secret Goldfish.” It was about this little kid that wouldn’t

let anybody look at his goldfish because he’d bought it

VS

Serif

Sans-serif

Line length Leading AKA LINE SPACING

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, an what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pret-ty personal about them. They’re quite touchy about anything like

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll prob-ably want to know is where I was born, an what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the sec-ond place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty

personal about them. They’re quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They’re nice and all--I’m not saying that--but they’re also touchy as hell. Besides, I’m not going to tell you my whole god-dam autobiography or anything. I’ll just tell you about this mad-man stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just be-fore I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy. I mean that’s all I told D.B. about, and he’s my broth-

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, an what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them. They’re quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They’re nice and all--I’m not saying that--but they’re also touchy as hell. Besides, I’m not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything. I’ll just tell you about

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, an what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pret-ty personal about them. They’re quite touchy about anything like

&

RECAPWell-designed type considers the overall communication goals, takes into consideration the brand personality and thoughtfully utilizes appropriate typographic treatments to convey meaning.

USING COLORThe amazing color wheel

03

Primary colors

Secondary colors

Tertiary colors

Complementary

Complementary

These pretzels are making me thirsty.

Triads

Triads

Triads

Triads

These pretzels are making me thirsty.

Analogous

Analogous

These pretzels are making me thirsty.

Tints

Shades

Tones

Monochromatic

These pretzels are making me thirsty.

BEHOLD,THE COLOR SPECTRUM

Better than a double rainbow.

With 16.8 million choiceswhere do you even start?

CHOOSING YOURCOLORSColor groups and meaningsUsing the color pickerColor palette tools

Warm tones

Cool tones

Neutrals

COLOR MEANINGS

Optimism Energy Action

Trust Growth Wisdom

in Western culture

SERENITY NOW!

The perfect retreat for your fall vacation.

VISITNEWENGLAND

on a scenic Alaskan cruise.

SAIL AWAY

Tools of the tradekuler.adobe.com

Tools of the tradekuler.adobe.com

Tools of the tradecolourlovers.com

RECAPBy understanding the basics of color theory and how colors work together, you can then incorporate other factors such as your audience, mood, branding and imagery to create your ideal color palette.

PHOTOGRAPHICSTORYTELLING

04

A picture is worth a thousand words

It is so nice when you can sit with someone and not have to talk.

- Harry Burns

01

02

03

EVERY IMAGE SHOULD…

Visually support written content

Encompass the broader message

Contain a primary focus, while providing useful context

Our milk is “farm to store fresh.”

For example:

OR

Who says burgers can’t be fancy?

For example:

OR

This summer, protect your family by using sunscreen.

For example:

OR

THEY FINISH EACH OTHER’S SENTENCESWhen choosing images to compliment copy, look for visual stories that support written content, encompass the broader message, and contain a primary focus, while providing useful context.

PUTTING IT ALLTOGETHERThe design principles of visual hierarchy along with the understanding of color, type, and image match-making, will help support the voice and tone of your message, connect with your audience, and achieve your clients’ goals to create one complete, holistic experience.

RESOURCESBOOKS

1. The Non-Designer’s Design Book / Robin Williams

2. Thinking with Type / Ellen Lupton

3. Color Design Workbook: A Real World Guide to Using Color in

Graphic Design / Terry Lee Stone

TOOLS1. kuler.adobe.com

2. colourlovers.com

3. typegenius.com

Thank you