Graphic Design: the fun part Sheila Potter Scott Olszowiec Digital Images Digital Images

The plan:  housekeeping  activity  design principles  (if we have time): web examples  activity P:/AITT/teacher training/Clarica Scholars1/CD/… /Presentations and Resources/graphic design workshop/graphic_design.htm

 a hierarchy is a “visual path”  establishes the relative importance and sequence of information  use various font sizes, colours and weights for contrast  similar “chunks” of information together  separate unrelated items with more white space Hierarchy: Organize Your Information

Fonts: 2 broad categories  what is a serif?  Times New Roman has serifs  Arial doesn’t

Serif fonts lead the eye horizontally, and may therefore be preferable for large blocks of text, whereas sans-serif fonts are simpler, lead the eye up and down, and are more easily read from a distance. Serif fonts lead the eye horizontally, and may therefore be preferable for large blocks of text, whereas sans-serif fonts are simpler, lead the eye up and down, and more easily read at a distance.

Font-fest  some fonts are fun  some are friendly  some are more serious  some are dignified …others are more artistic than legible

Fonts have personality, and convey an impression which should be consistent with the meaning of the words themselves.

What’s your favourite colour? usually, complimenatry colours are a safe bet, but not always

 for example, more people PREFER BLUE  which therefore has broad appeal, but also tends to be serious, corporate, and cool.  IBM IBM  warmer colours tend to draw the eye, and can overwhelm a design  for example, red used a lot is hard on the eyes, but as a highlight, it can help establish hierarchy Powerful colour…

whatever colour you choose, consider leaving lots of white space…

…Instead of using a busy background image

Balance Balance in design is the overall unity and visual weight that is created when all the elements are in place.  whole design will become unified  two basic types of balance:  symmetrical  asymmetrical

Symmetrical Balance

Asymmetrical Balance

Off Balance  In an ‘unbalanced ’ layout,  « …the eye is confused. It shifts from element to element, wanting to move things so that they sit right on the page, as we want to straighten a picture hanging crooked on a wall. » Toward a Dynamic Balance.

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