Design and innovation agency : People driven innovation
Make a full time income writing Up to $20/page. Start Earning Now!
Download powerpoint presentation on marketing and business strategy
I think everyone will agree when I say that good graphic design stems from an in-depth understanding and knowledge about color balance, visual cues, and the power of a well thought out layout.
Whether you design websites, business cards, pamphlets, magazine covers, logos or anything else, you need to understand who your audience is and be well versed in your medium. Simply throwing together some text and stock photos or graphics won't cut it in today's market, especially considering the number of talented folks out there.
No, what you need to do is learn your trade and enhance your skills in anyway and whenever you can.
No, what you need to do is learn your trade and enhance your skills in anyway and whenever you can.
Let's start off by examining color palettes. If you can't look at a piece of graphic art and decide instantly whether or not the colors flow naturally and enhance the overall piece, it may be time you take a look at some examples so you can get an idea of what colors balance with one another instead of clashing.
When you start adding colors to whatever project you're working on, remember that there needs to be some sort of theme. You don't want to just add colors willy nilly and hope that it will look good in the end. The colors you choose should enhance the project and help to visually relate the message that piece is trying to convey.
As an example, try to visualize a website for a truck accessory retailer. Do you think using neon or pastels would work for this type of site? Of course not. What about using those same sort of palettes for say a cake or doughnut bakery? They probably would work in those instances right?
Additionally, if the message is supposed to be uplifting or inspirational, you probably don't want to use dark colors. Keep with the lighter shades for these and use the darker colors for more technical or industrial projects.
Additionally, if the message is supposed to be uplifting or inspirational, you probably don't want to use dark colors. Keep with the lighter shades for these and use the darker colors for more technical or industrial projects.
Let me state here and now that very rarely, if ever, should you use more than 5 or 6 colors on any given project. This does not include colors used for shadowing or highlights, but should be a general rule of thumb for the project's palette.
If you don't believe me, check out the countless home-made websites out there using 10 or more colors on a single page and see what you think of those sites after viewing them.
Visual cues are everything and more often than not, the difference between a good and great design is something that at first seems insignificant. What am I talking about? I'm talking about the subtle graphic nuances that great projects have, and typically everything else does not - something that makes that project stand out.
It can be a background image that blends well with the rest of the design, some abstract design that fades in or out, little extra graphics scattered about in just the right way, the right font and typography, or some sort of visual magic trick that makes you think you see something without it really being there. Shadows do wonders for the last category by the way, and there are lots of examples out there to follow.
It's the little things that will set your work apart and make people envious of you and your skills, but remember not too over do it. Too much of anything is not recommended and will most likely result in the project taking on an amateurish look rather than one created by a professional.
When starting a new design project, take care of the basic layout first, keeping in mind that you can always change it later if you need to. Then add in your fonts for any text you may have remembering that the right font will go a long way in sending the message you want. Hopefully at this point you're feeling inspired by what you see and can then start to design the custom graphics that will be placed at strategic locations. A key point here is to remember where someone's eyes will land first, second, third, etc... and to make use of that. If you want the name of the company or the title of an article to stand out from everything else, then it should be near the top and designed in a such a way that a person's eyes will naturally gravitate to that area first. Using a gradient or pattern overlay for the text just might be the ticket here.
Once you have everything in place, step back and take a hard look at what you've created, possibly getting some other opinions. Decide whether it conveys the proper message and if it needs any enhancing. Does it have the right colors and do they all blend well with one another? Does any item stand out from the rest? If so, is that a good or bad thing?
Finally, though you should be keeping this last factor in mind during the entire project, you need to know who your audience will be. Will the main demographics tend to be younger, say between ages 14-21? If so, then you'll probably want to create something with a well known theme, perhaps along the gaming genres, barring any copyrighted material of course. Older audience? Perhaps a stylish, antique looking theme would be better suited here.
No comments:
Post a Comment