Producing Digital Media Graphics Basic Concepts

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Key Design Elements of Design:  Line  Color  Volume  Movement  Space  Texture  Value  Typography

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Line:  A series of dots or points in space  Straight or curvy or even imaginary  Used to delineate objects like in line drawings, graphs or outline objects giving it a framed effect  Imaginary lines occur when objects of two different colors, textures, or values meet, creating a line between the two objects

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Color:  Color is represented by hues (add black), tones (middle ranges), and tints (add white) of any base color  Use a color wheel to help you to determine various color schemes such as contrasting colors, triadic schemes, etc.

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Volume:  Represented by 2D and 3D objects by way of calculating depth and/or distance  Use of techniques such as perspective, shading, and highlights to accomplish the perception of volume

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Movement:  Do not confuse movement with animation. They are not the same thing.  Movement is how a designer uses line, contrast, volume, and the placement of objects within a design (composition) to move the viewer’s eye through a particular space.

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Space:  Space can be represented as positive or negative  Positive space is represented by highlights or by an object  Negative space is represented by open space or by shadow  The balance of space is what creates a composition

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Texture:  Illusion in 2D design  Creating a realistic expression of an object or element by use of photographic representation  You can create this realistic expression also by using other objects to represent the object or elements that you are trying to portray, like a collage

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Value:  Represented by the gray scale – light and dark and all the shades in between  The use of this technique helps to create contrast between elements of a composition

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Typography:  The art of arranging type and type design  The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning)

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Principles of Design:  Balance  Contrast  Direction  Economy  Emphasis  Proportion  Rhythm  Unity

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Balance:  Helps the viewer interpret your design  If your design has asymmetrical balance, it will evoke emotions like excitement, curiosity, or anxiety  If your design has symmetrical balance, it will evoke emotions like peace, calmness, and tranquility

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Contrast:  Use of values, color, and balance to create a difference in appearance between one object and another, creating contrast  You cannot create an interesting design without the use of contrast  You usually don’t think much about contrast when you are designing, it just happens naturally

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Direction:  The way in which you intentionally lead the viewer through your composition  Created by line, use of color, shapes, spaces, values, and perspective  Create the illusion or depth needed to create direction

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Economy:  The technique of not offering the viewer more than is needed in a composition  The removal of an element within a design  Be sure to include all that is needed to create an intelligent and economical design

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Emphasis:  The message that you want to convey to your viewer  No matter how each of the elements speaks to your viewer, you want to make sure to have one overall message to your viewer – the thing that ties all of your independent elements together to create a unifying theme

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Proportion:  Use to create surreal images in order to stun your viewers when they look at your composition  The use of proportion will aid in the emphasis that you are trying to create for your viewers

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Rhythm:  Used to create depth  If used incorrectly, it can create boredom in your viewer  Used to create excitement or peace (contrast)  Used to emphasize on a certain subject or object in your composition  Keeps the viewer interested

Producing Digital Media Graphics  Unity:  Pulls the design together  There is no rule in unity  Can remind you to check all of your design elements to make sure they are correctly represented and to make sure that the right emphasis is being expressed