The Basics of Design

Layout & Typography

Aims & Objectives

To introduce and demonstrate the key principles of

design.

To develop understanding of terminology to help with

the analysis of graphic designs.

To research graphic designs and graphic designers.

To discuss how to put the principles of design into

action.

Principles of Design

The four things you need to know before

starting:

Audience - who you want to hear your

message

Format – of the page or design

Constraints - time, budget, format

Principles - of basic design

Principles of Design

Principles of Design

The most iconic, well-known and attractive designs are startlingly simple. Take these logos, for instance:

SPECIAL SKILL:

TYPOGRAPHY

SPECIAL SKILL:

SEDUCTIVE

CONNOTATION

SPECIAL SKILL:

ADAPTABILITY

SPECIAL SKILL:

CONCEPT

(DYNAMISM)

Principles of Design

The six key principles of design are:

Emphasis – keeping your main message clear, both in terms of the layout and the typography.

Contrast – visually stressing the difference between the different elements on the page.

Balance – grouping information in a logical way, leaving a clear and pleasing effect.

Alignment – drawing connections with different elements e.g.graphics, images, shapes and lines.

Repetition – where all the elements meet, they need to unify and ‘feed into’ the main message.

Flow – how the design ‘leads the eye’, starting with the simplest point that Western readers tend to read from left to right.

Terminology

The following is some of the most important

terminology that you will come across in design. Try

to use both the principles and these terms when

analysing and creating your designs:

Visual Hierarchy – splitting information into primary,

secondary and tertiary message.

Focal point – the part of the page that is most emphasised.

Accent – Any other points than the focal point that influence

the key message, too much of which can ‘cloud’ it.

Terminology

Thumbnail – a quick, exploratory sketch that act as the

visual proof of a thinking process. Thumbnails that you quite

like become Roughs before choosing your favourite and

polishing it up as a Comp (comprehensive).

Body Copy – the small type that carries most of the

information in a design.

Dead Space / White Space – space that represents an

unwieldy ‘gap’ vs. space that contributes to the aesthetic flow.

Serif / San Serif – a ‘serif’ is the parts of letters that stick out

and are often flowing type whereas ‘sans serif’ is without

serifs and look more blocky.

Leftfield – not expected or prepared for (often have an

unclear purpose; seen as quite ‘quirky’)

Inspiration

Graphic design is a huge and expanding field that grows alongside the power of the web and commercial business. There is therefore lots of inspiration to find. Begin by picking one of the following designers and researching their work. Whichever you choose, try to identify some of their most celebrated designs and what styles, principles or techniques they appear to excel with:

David Carson

Paul Rand

Alan Fletcher

Katherine McCoy

Saul Bass

Neville Brody

Giambattista Bodoni

Chip Kidd

Milton Glaser

Adrain Fruitger

Inspiration

For further inspiration, try the following links:

25 Graphic Designers to follow

46 Greatest Logos of All Time

10 Great Infographics

12 Documentaries every graphic designer should see

Brilliant words of advice from 14 Great Graphic Designers

And, for a dose of reality:

The 25 Worst Things About Being A Graphic Designer Today

EmphasisKeeping your main message clear, both in terms of the layout and the

typography.

1. What are the primary, secondary and

tertiary focal points?

2. Special effects

EmphasisKeeping your main message clear, both in terms of the layout and the

typography.

3. In pairs or groups, discuss how to improve the

following designs

ContrastVisually stressing the difference between the different elements on the page.

1. What two changes to this page have

had the most effect from a design

point of view?

2. If you were to attempt to create a

two-word logo purely in MS Word,

what might you do to help it stand

out?

ContrastVisually stressing the difference between the different elements on the page.

3. How can you improve the contrast between elements

in this menu?

4. How has the contrast improved here?

BalanceGrouping information in a logical way, leaving a clear and pleasing effect.

1. Without re-sizing anything, how might you create a

greater sense of balance with this flyer by re-

arrangement?

BalanceGrouping information in a logical way, leaving a clear and pleasing effect.

2. Don’t just fill up the page. Use the

space wisely. How might you re-size

and re-style this flyer?

3. See how this image complements itself

on each side.

AlignmentDrawing connections with different elements e.g. graphics, images, shapes and

lines.

1. Load up InDesign as shown. Why is it set up like this?

2. How might you re-position the text and graphics to

greater effect with this poster?

AlignmentDrawing connections with different elements e.g. graphics, images, shapes and

lines.

3. Here are some different alignment effects.

Click me

RepetitionWhere all the elements meet, they need to unify and ‘feed into’ the main

message.

1. How might you make better use of the egg symbol for

these pages?

RepetitionWhere all the elements meet, they need to unify and ‘feed into’ the main

message.

2. How do these font changes work? Are they effective?

RepetitionWhere all the elements meet, they need to unify and ‘feed into’ the main

message.

3. What has

improved

here and

what could

be better?

FlowHow the design ‘leads the eye’.

1. What technique is this known as in Photoshop?

2. Why doesn’t this work?

FlowHow the design ‘leads the eye’.

3. Explain why the text

has been grouped in

this way and what

contributes to the flow.

Aims & Objectives

To introduce and demonstrate the key principles of

design.

To develop understanding of terminology to help with

the analysis of graphic designs.

To research graphic designs and graphic designers.

To discuss how to put the principles of design into

action.