Whether you are a student who’s studying design, a small-time entrepreneur who would like to take branding your business into your own hands or a well-practised artist who simply wants to brush up on the basics – this article will help you to discover the graphic design essentials. Before we delve right into the juicy bits, it’s important that you know that even if you have a creative personality, graphic design can be overwhelming for beginners. You shouldn’t expect to become an expert in design overnight. Instead, learn this new skill one step at a time with patience and an open mind.
While some ooze ideas and creativity, many of us need a little inspiration to get the ball rolling. This means that you need to expose yourself to beautiful things. You need to be on the constant look-out for artwork and designs that ignite your own creative thought processes. But be careful; the inspiration you draw shouldn’t be a means for copying. Simply use it to help you to discover your graphic design style.
Once you have started to compile a collection of your designs, then a good idea is to take a moment to observe and analyse your own work. No matter how amateur your designs may be, each illustration you have created will hint at your preferred style and as you progress, you can reflect on what not to do and what you should continue to do. It’s also important to continuously analyse the designs of other artists as this will help to “draw a picture” of how the theory is implemented into practice.
It might seem strange that fonts make the top of the list but one of the most important aspects when designing, is clarity. If your text has been made illegible for the sake of visual appeal, then you’re not going to end up with a persuading design. While you should by no means limit your artwork to include a single font, to ensure your text remains an easy read, you want to try and use variants of the same font family. This will help to avoid the scenarios where a reader has difficulty adjusting his eyes to drastic styles and forms.
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It’s not uncommon for beginner designers to try and implement every skill they have learnt in one design. This often means that the design is full of colours, fonts, shapes, and other elements. But too much contrast can often be overwhelming, especially when it comes to drastic colour contrasts. When you are still learning the ropes, try to stick to subtle colour contrasts. Once again, look for inspiration and see which colour combinations catch your attention and why. If you’re stuck, you can always use the Adobe Colour CC online tool, this too will help you to choose a pleasing palette for your design.
Many novice designers are intimidated by white space and try to override it. But modern design embraces white space and the simplicity enhances the other design components. Learn how to work with white space so that it helps to draw a reader’s attention to the important focal point/s. This is an awesome trick-of-the-trade!
When working with images, it is very important that you ensure that the quality of images remains consistent throughout each design. For example, the quality, framing, proportions, and general style should be constant so as to no confuse your viewers. By being consistent, you can also emphasise the meaning behind your artwork.
Previously, flat design was seen as a fun style that just didn’t fit in with the world of class. More recently, however, it’s moved from bright and funky to more sophisticated in appeal. With some innovation, good sense of alignment and spacing, and the right colour palette, this type of artform can look outstanding (and it’s currently one of the most popular trends)! It’s worth playing around with flat design and including it into your artwork.
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When it comes to boosting the appeal of a design, then symmetry and alignment are key! No matter how busy your artwork is, you should always adjust the alignment so that uniformity can be achieved. This uniformity is what helps the eye to make sense of what it is seeing and the more symmetrical your design, the more easily the brain will understand the message.
The best way to change your status from novice to expert is to practice! The more you practise the more you will realise what you are doing wrong and what you are doing right. While you can study theory until your heart is content, you will only truly understand the different graphic design techniques as you implement them. Learn how to criticise your own work too. Learn from your mistakes and perfect your unique style.
The best way to learn is to get advice and feedback from those who have been around the block more than just a few times. So, once you have created some designs (keeping the above advice in mind) why not show them to a seasoned expert? Ask professional designers for their honest opinion. Be open to criticism and don’t let negative feedback lower your spirits. Use the remarks to your advantage and work towards brilliance. If you are interested in graphic design, then don’t let the above intimidate you. The most important thing to remember is to stay creative and aim for innovation. Implement your newfound skills one at a time and remember to never lose your passion and drive (this comes with staying inspired).
