Graphic Design by University of Colorado Boulder
I was afraid of designing, I didn’t know what to think when asked to design, my design vocabulary was too small. After this course I think I’m still naive in designing, but at least I’d be a less scared designer and really I’ve grabbed some small tricks.
This is still an incomplete lecture note, only records what I feel quite new.
Week 1: Getting Started
Hue, Saturation, Lightness
- Hue: what color is it?
- Saturation: how vivid is the color?
- Lightness: how light or dark is the color?
Unexpected places yield unexpected results.
When preparing presentation about muddy waters, look for “Rolling Stone magazines” instead of search “PowerPoint templates”.
When creating a flyer for music camp, look for “movie posters” instead of search “flyer templates”.
When doing a Information Security poster, look for “Chinese propaganda posters” instead of search “computer safety posters”.
Other forms like Retro travel posters, Highway signs, etc.
Week 2: The Blank Canvas
Rule of thirds
The guideline proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.
Roughly typefaces can be divided into these 6 categories:
Negative space
Negative space, in art, is the space around and between the subject(s) of an image. Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, not the subject itself, forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape, and such space occasionally is used to artistic effect as the “real” subject of an image. - Wikipedia
Limit yourself to two typefaces
In any design project, limit yourself to two typefaces and make certain the two typefaces contrast obviously.
Color and its meaning
Image treatment
Tinting, grayscaling, sublimation, cropping and more.
10 Best Design Practice
Not all detailed explanation is included here, so go back to course materials.
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You can’t create in a vacuum
Look how good designs work and bad designs don’t work
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A good project should always starts with a grid
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Negative space is just as important as content
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In any design project, limit yourself to two typefaces and make certain the two typefaces contrast obviously
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Use color with intention, don’t just guess
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Design, don’t decorate
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Contrast commands attention
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Use tension and movement to give your work live
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Your audience should be given an obvious portal into your composition
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Always get as much distance and time as possible in accessing your work