Introduction to Design Communication Course Notes

This is my collection of Design communication (or Visual communication) course notes for Design communication I. I thought it could be useful for me and anyone who's interested. Caution, this is a long article. 

Introduction to Design Communication

Table of contents:

1.       Graphic design and elements

2.       Design principles

3.       More design principles

4.       The grid system and visual elements

5.       Color

6.       Shapes

7.       Lines

8.       Texture

9.       Forms and perspective

10.    Typography

Understanding the fundamentals of graphic design will help in the process of creating visual pieces that communicate effectively with a viewer.

Graphic design mostly revolves around the following popular industry software:

Essential to learn: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign

Non-essential (3D applications): 3dsMax, Maya, Zbrush, Mudbox, 3DCAD, Blender

Design Communication Notes:

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Graphic design elements:

Graphic design is a type of communication that is expressed by arranging and manipulating elements in an image to deliver an effective visual message.

Graphic design revolves around four visual relationships for complete balance:

1.     Aesthetics – A style or method to attract an emotional response or provide a user experience.

2.     Functionality – the purpose of a piece that communicate a message effectively to its targeted audience.

3.     Tradition – applying principles and methods of design.

4.     Creativity – invention through examination of traditions and design.

There is a struggle in deign between functionality and aesthetics, and between tradition and creativity.

The elements of design are made by basic compositions:

A point – A point is the smallest and unbreakable unit that can be used to compose a form (body). A single point represents a position in terms of space. A group of points can be a creative tool with connection or repetition. Points that are close together can become a shape or create the illusion of direction. A point can also be used as the center of focusing attention to highlight important information or to create an emotional value.

A line – A line is a set of points. A line can also represent a shape. A line can have various characteristics using the concept of scale distance, and direction. A line also represent direction and length which could be used to create outlines of shapes and forms that have expression and emotion.

A shape – A shape is a defined area of a form. It is the fundamental unit that creates space in a design. There are three primitive shapes: circle, rectangle, and triangle. Shapes can create two dimensional or three dimensional forms.Shapes can be categorized into two categories: organic and geometrical. Organic shapes have irregular contours such as leaves, trees, or things that appear in nature. Geometric are shapes with regular contours such a rectangles or circles.

Texture – Texture in a piece is a visual cue of how something should feel if it were to be touched. It’s creating the illusion of a tactile experience. Texture also adds depth to a piece and generates various emotions and moods.

Space – Shapes in a plane/ piece creates space. Space is an area that is available or empty within a layout. Space can facilitate movement or direction. Space can be manipulated by manipulating design elements.

Size – Size is an object’s aspect relativity within a layout. Size can affect the relationship between objects and space within a layout. Object that have larger sizes stand out and give more attention within a layout (the larger it is, the more it stands out).

Color- Color distinguishes objects, conveys moods, elicits emotions, and attracts the eye to a particular point within a layout. Color can also be used to create shapes and produces images.

Design principles:

Stability and balance – Both instigate calmness and quietness. There is no sense of movement because all elements are in fixed positions. Stability and balance often refers to importance in terms of visual weight.

Symmetrical stability – A stable and balanced layout that provides visual information with ease of access and comfortability. In other terms it’s the amount of information in a visual design is balance with a sense of equality on the opposite side of the layout. For example splitting the page in half, one side is white the other is black. Both are in a stable balance which creates symmetry within a layout.

Asymmetrical balance – A stable structure where the relationship between objects is organized but not fully symmetrical; like the organization of elements in a web browser. There are cluster of elements, but it does not break the sense of calmness or balance.

Stability and the grid system – A grid system brings order and balance to a layout. It is an underlying structure that can be used to aid in producing visual stability.

Direct and inverse proportions – Changing the size/ proportions in a layout in regards to negative and positive space utilizing the background can produce various moods and layouts. A good example is the Yin and Yang.

Harmony – Harmony refers to all parts in an image that can be used to complement each other.  Patterns or a repetition of patterns can help create harmony in a layout. Harmony is very important when achieving to create a unified layout with various elements. Harmony can also be achieved through the repetition of shape, style, and size.

Repetition – repetition is a key feature in rhythm, visual design, and special performance. The distance between elements and the form of the elements determines the rhythmical expression. An example can be using a repetition of squares to form a sound wave.

Rhythm – Rhythm creates a visual flow and helps lead eye movements. An example could be a bunch of bubbles forming from a small and into a large cloud as yours eyes follow the pattern to the other side of the canvas.

Gradation – gradation refers to a subtle difference or changes in an objects color or shape that gradually blends from one to another. Gradation can be used to create a strong impression. It can also be used to distinguish distance or hierarchy between what is more important.

More design principles:

Dynamics and movement - Dynamics and movement can be represented as the visual illusion or conveyance of movement and rotation within a layout. An example can be by picturing a square. If the square is tilted it conveys the idea of rotation which is also in reference of dynamic movement.  Now imagine a square that gradually fades into a black from the center of the screen while rotating. This also conveys the illusion of movement.

Dynamics and the grid system – just like before, the grid system helps arrange objects in design to be placed accordingly where dynamics or movements can be positioned for visual attraction.

Variety and power – A variety of design elements, in terms of shape, color, and size can create a sense of movement and produce an exciting scene. A variety of shapes in a layout can create conflict and disruption. An example is having groups or cluster so f the same shapes in different categories within a design, this create a harmonious sense of power to the layout.

Kinetic and potential energy – This simply gives a motion of energy or impression of movement within a layout. There are many types of kinetic energies within a layout, such as vibrational (extreme rapid motion), rotational (energy from spinning around an access point or pivot) and translational (motion of one direction to another).

Scale – scale can be used as emphasis on a object within a layout. Scale refers to adjusting an element’s size or extent and the special relationship between objects and/or the background.

Visual hierarchy – It’s important to have a visual point in which the viewer will be initially drawn to. A visual hierarchy is set to ensure the viewer reaches that point of relative importance.

Background – background, the main area behind objects and the design, is an effective way to emphasize an important element. Changing the sizes of design elements affects the amount of visual background. When a too much background is visible, it may overwhelm the design elements. A good idea for a blank background is to use repetition of patterns or a simple gradient.

Contradiction – Contradiction concerns with the size and scale among visual objects. An example is if an object is close to a light source its shadow will be longer and not short.

Brief history:  Gestalt is a German word literally meaning shape or form. Gestalt’s theory, founded by Max Wertheimer in 1910, discusses how we perceive objects in our environment. It discusses the relationship between foreground, background, and ground.

Color:

Color and message – colors can be used for cultural or personal interpretations. It can also be symbolic to convey meaning. An example: red means, alert, warning, or stop. Notice the colors road signs use so that a driver can understand at first glance what he or she should interpret. In psychology, yellow is the color the mostly stands out to capture ones attention (along with blue light, like on a police vehicle). 

Color and emotions – colors can reflect emotions and moods. Cold colors can portray a feeling of neutrality, peace, calm; were warm colors can portray aggression, happiness, cheerfulness, and excitement. An example is the color of the sun. People may portray the sun as happy and cheerful because of its yellow color.

Color and statistics – The majority in one culture share common feelings and opinions about color through social and personal experiences. For instance: red (power, anger, violence, revenge, and sexuality), yellow (warmth, joy, lightheartedness, and warning), blue (cold, patience, tranquility, and peace), orange (courage, youth, friendliness, and cheerfulness), and green (growth, freshness, envy, greed, jealousy, and responsibility).

The color wheel and hue – the most basic and important part of color theory is the color wheel, which consists of 12 colors. There are three groups on the color wheel: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. These are the foundation which makes up all the colors on the color wheel. This was discovered by Isaac Newton in 1666. The 12 colors on the color wheel are more common organization of hues.

Primary colors: Red, yellow, and blue.

Secondary colors: Orange (red + yellow), green (yellow + blue), and violet (blue + red).

Tertiary colors: Blue-green (blue + green), blue-violet (blue + violet), red-violet (red + violet), red-orange (red + orange), yellow-orange(yellow + orange), and yellow-green (yellow + green).

Value – value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color.

Intensity – intensity, also called chroma or saturation, refers to the brightness of a color.

Color harmonies – color harmonies are an arrangement of color that is pleasant for the eyes. This used a lot in contemporary art and in graphic design.  The four color harmonies are Monochromatic, analogous, complementary, and triadic. In Adobe Illustrator you can find each color harmony in the color guide (use the second version of every color harmony, example Triadic2).

Monochromatic – monochromatic colors use a single hue and vary only by value (any color with various tints or shades).

Analogous – analogous color scheme combines three to five colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel.

Complementary – complementary color scheme link colors opposite one another on the color wheel.

Triadic – triadic color scheme involves a set three hues that are separated by 120 degrees on the color wheel.

Color effects:

Perception of space – sing colors to represent space or depth in design. Expand space (cool, light, or dull colors; minimal contrast), shrink space (warm, dark, or bright colors; maximum contrast), forward (intense warm colors, such as red, yellow, and orange), recede (cool colors, such as blue and green), deep (cool colors and light tints), and shallow (warm colors, and dark tones).

Simulations contrast – certain color combinations can cause intense muscular reactions in the eye due to simultaneous contrast.

Color expression – color metaphors that have emphasis on emotional states, example: I feel blue, he’s red with anger, I am green with envy, or the future looks grey.

Colors in nature – nature provides with many perfect color harmonies. You can extract the color schemes from nature and apply them to design.

Shapes:

Geometric shapes – shapes that are artificially made and not made by nature. Shapes such as Square (or rectangle), triangle, and circle. Many geometric shapes can be used to convey messages, like traffic signs.

Organic shapes – Organic shapes have irregular contours that appear in nature. These shapes are often freely formed and abstract.

Stylized shapes – organic shapes are nonrepresentational, as opposed to stylized shapes which are representational. Stylized shapes symbolize, outline, and simplify an object or abstract idea for people to recognize. An example is that of a stick man. It doesn’t look like a real person, however it’s something anyone can recognize.

Implied shape – This is a line that is not finished but can correlate to the mental completion of a shape. Imagine an arc; this can correlate, in one’s mind, to be the shape of a circle suing the arc as the circles shade.

Positive and negative shapes – a shape can occupy positive or negative areas. The shape itself is positive space; however, like in a Rorschach test the use of space and area can produce interesting results.

Pattern – pattern can be created by repeating a visual element. Adding patterns can give a piece rhythm. Patterns have an effect where it unifies design.

Lines:

Lines- lines are an infinite number of points. The characteristics of a line can be: long or short, straight or curved, horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, solid, dashed, thick, thin, or variable width, or it could have ends that can be ragged, blunt, or curved.The direction of a line can produce moods. Horizontal can produce a calm and quiet mood. Vertical lines can produce more energetic and carry a sense of movement. Diagonal lines suggest dynamic force and a feeling of vitality.

Contour and questers – drawing an outline can give definition to a recognizable shape. The outline does not need color or texture to be recognized. The edges of forms in contour drawing has two types: exterior and interior. Exterior outlines suggest clean connected lines with no shading. However, Interior outlines give the form more of a dimension.

Lines and emotions – lines can have an effect to convey emotions. Such as making a line with a sense of touch using texture.

Texture:

Tactile texture - tactile texture is the actual feel of a surface through touch. This arouses emotion because of the feeling of touch in real life.

Texture and emotion – texture has the power to arouse emotional response of memories and associations.

Form and perception:

Illusion of 3 dimensional form – a 2 dimensional form is a shape with depth. Defining a structure of an object with lines can suggest its 3 dimensional form.

Light and shade – light and shade can give depth and realism to your object. Objects usually consist of a highlight/ reflection, halftone, band of darker shadow, and a shadow.

Perspective – perspective is the art of adding the perception of depth. Perspective gives a relationship between objects and their environment. One can use the horizon as a reference point that represents the eye level. Another important element is vanishing points which are points in the distance where parallel lines seem to meet.

1 point perspective – a 1 point perspective converges at one vanishing point. It is a parallel perspective because the object viewed runs parallel to the perspective lines.

2 point perspective - 2 point perspective uses two vanishing points and is more realistic than a 1 point perspective. When you look at a corner of an object (or an image of a street corner), there are two vanishing points that recede to the left and right.

3 point perspective – the 3 point perspective uses three vanishing points. This uses the vanishing points on the right and left along with a vertical point that can be above or below the horizon.

Perspective and reality – by using point perspectives designs can be more realistic. This is most commonly used in architecture layouts or designs.

Typography:

Typography consists of the following terms:

Arm – The horizontal stroke of some letters, such as the top of the capital T and horizontal strokes of the F and E.

Ascender – The upward vertical stem on some lowercase letters, such as b, h, and l that are above x-height.

Apex- The point at the top of a character, such as the uppercase A.

Bar (cross bar) - The horizontal stroke across the middle of uppercase A and H.

Baseline – Visible bottom line of letters that can align with the uppercase or some lowercase letters.

Bowl – The curved or circular part of the uppercase C and D and lowercase b, o, and p.

Counter – The enclosed or partially enclosed circular and curved space of some letters, such as d, o, and s.

Descender – The downward vertical stem on some lowercase letters, such as g and p, that is below the x-height.

Ear – A decorative flourish usually on the upper right side of the bowl, such as on a lowercase.

Hairline – The thinnest stroke.

Kerning – The adjustment of distance between specific pairs of characters.

Leading – The space between lines of text.

Link – A curved stroke that connects the bowl and loop of a double-story.

Loop – The enclosed and partially enclosed counter below the baseline that is connected to the bowl by a link.

Serif – The little extra stroke found at the end of main vertical and horizontal strokes of some letterforms.

Spline – The main left to right curving stroke in S and s.

Stem – The main vertical stroke of a letterform.

Tail – The decorative curved stroke in the descender, such as on g, and y.

Terminal – The end of a stroke in sans-serif letterform.

Tracking – the adjustment of space for the whole body of text.

Height – the height of a lowercase x in a particular font. The x-height is a factor in typeface identification and readability.

Weight – The thickness of a character.

Width – typeface have a variety of widths that are generally categorized into two types: condensed and extended. A condensed form is where letters are closed together, created a tighter letterform than a standard. Conversely, an extended form is wider than the standard.

Posture – This is the inclination of a typeface. It gives a typeface an expression like activity, seriousness, or whimsy.

Serif and San-Serif – Serif typeface have curls and small appendixes on the extremities of the characters to aid in reading recognition. This is used in print media and newspapers. San-serif typefaces, which are non-serif, are more appropriate for headlines and titles.

Choosing a font – Choosing an appropriate font is crucial to give a layout meaning or expression.

Leading and legibility – Leading refers to the space between lines of text. Legibility is how easy and comfortable it is to read.

Scrolling – in print text, such as newspapers and books, the average reader grasps the visual structure of the whole text and then starts to read.

Word spacing (kerning and tracking) – this refers to the adjustment between characters.

Indention and outdent – Indention helps find the start of a paragraph or the separates paragraphs. Outdent helps express a fresh and unique mood, this style is not as common.

Alignment – alignment is the difference in length in a sentence or within a text space. There are four alignments: left-aligned, right-aligned, centered, and justified. Left-alignment is most common.

Anti-Aliased – the process of inserting pixels of intermediate color along boundary edges to minimize the distortion and smooth the image or type.

Essentials: 

Now that all the lessons of design communication (or visual communication) is complete, it’s best to do some research on various artists to see what methods they have applied to making their art pieces more visually capturing. A good example is Shigeo Fukuda. He’s a minimalistic graphic designer who designs posters, optical illusions, sculptures, and shadow sculptures. He has a saying that has changed the way I view creating my art pieces, “I believe that in design, 30% dignity, 20% beauty, and 50% absurdity are necessary.” You can also do research and look up various art pieces that others have done so that you could understand and maybe utilize their design ideas for capturing the viewers.

Tips:

Tips I found useful: 1. If you have a blank background, it’s a good idea to apply a gradient. 2. The use of thumbnails is a great way to rough out, conceptualize, or combine designs. 3. To make things more important to pop out in a design, I utilize size and scale of an object. 4. On a piece that has relatively no color but has words, it’s a great idea to select key words and give them a color that makes the text pop out. 5. The use of shadows and highlights are a great way to give depth to a relatively flat piece. 6. Selecting text font is one of the most critical things in a design, it’s a good idea to really take your time and select the right font. 7. Criticism can be difficult to hear, but people do tend to have some good advice once in a while. 8. Research is key (research and tutorials).

Mounting art pieces:  

Here is a rough written tutorial on how to mount an art piece professionally onto a matte board like a boss. You print out the proper size of your art piece that you want to set on the board. Cut or trim the print to fit to your preferences if necessary. Using the print as reference cut out your dimension on the blackboard (assuming if you bought it as a large board). You need to make a measurement for the matte board cutout and the dimension for placing your art pieces within the matte board cut out. If you want to make it more professional, you can add an inch and a half to your cut out dimensions. For example: if you have a piece of paper that is 8 x 11.5inch, add 1.5 inches (one and a half inches) to your measurement. If you have multiple pieces on (or within) a board use 1 inch to separate them. Once you have your measurements done, cut the matter board. I prefer to cut the matte board with a board cutter that utilizes the side of a ruler (it uses the ruler to slide and cut). After everything is cut, use rubber cement glue and apply it to the back of the art piece. Be sure to spread the glue evenly and not too thick. Next simply let it dry; this glue will not glue to anything aside from other cement glue’s objects. Then apply the glue (exactly like you did with the art piece) to the matte board. It’s okay if you go outside your art piece’s dimensions. After both the art piece and the matte board are together (combine both glued surfaces). They will immediately stick almost permanently. Since they glue very easily, use a piece of paper to insert between the two to minimalize your risk of missing the art piece’s placement dimensions. After the two pieces are glued together simple use your finger to wipe away the assess glue around the matte board. Finally you are complete and now have an art piece professionally mounted to a matte board.

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