Emily's Graphic Design Blog

Often when creating designs commissioned by a company, a designer is restricted by what images and fonts they are approved to work with. This compels the designer to explore interesting use of colour, scale and layout to create an eye-catching and successful design within the company's parameters. To get into this mindset, with only font, colour and layout available to change, we were given the task of creating a CD cover with the main image, band name and album title randomised. This provided an interesting challenge of creating a coherent design and forming a relationship between each element despite each aspect being completely disconnected.  Our next task was to connect pre-prepared quotes and Black and White images together, to tell the story of the person in the photograph. The applicable nature of the quotes gave options as to the feeling of the design; whether the content is comedic or thought provoking. This aspect paired with the expressions of the people ...

Type is a very powerful tool that can affect the tone and message of a design. Similar to when texting rather than speaking face to face, the tone is subject to the person reading it and can therefore be misunderstood. This is where designers can use different fonts (e.g. serif, sans serif, bold, script) to tell a story that otherwise may not have been obvious. For example, bold typefaces can be seen as more masculine and serif fonts more formal. Colour is tool that can be paired with type to cement a certain image in the mind of the audience. In advertising colours have specific roles that help to sell a certain image, for instance purple is a royal/luxurious colour and gives the impression the brand is sought after and respectable. In addition to colour and font, type can also be adjusted in terms of kerning and line spacing. By increasing the space between the characters the font becomes more pleasurable and easier to read, however by decreasing the space tension can be achieved....

Elements of design are structural foundations that can affect the message and content of a design. These elements are flexible and can overlap. Here are the first 4 elements: - Contrast - Repetition - Alignment - Proximity Contrast: Contrast represents the differences in the design; the greater the difference the higher the contrast. This can be presented through the use of colour, scale and typeface. Contrast can be used to pull the eye of the audience and control the path their eyes take when looking at the design, which is often done without their knowledge. In terms of colour, black and white provide the highest possible contrast. Text size can also be used to contrast, highlighting more important aspects of the design to others. Repetition: Repetition provides continuity and consistency to a design. To keep a design coherent, colours, typefaces and layout are repeated to provide a sense of unity and eliminate chaos. Repetition can also provide im...