Do and Don’ts in Graphic Design

Designing a website is all about making choices. What colors should I use? How big should the images be? Should I include animation or video on my home page? These are just some of the many decisions that you will make when designing your website. However, there are also things that you shouldn’t do in graphic design, and this blog post will cover these as well! Reach out to our Rocklin graphic designer if you need help with any of this. 

What are the 7 elements of graphic design?

The seven elements of graphic design are type, lines, shape, color, space, texture and value. There is a lot of information to cover in these seven areas so let’s jump right in!

1. Type: Type can be anything from lettering or words that are used on your website as text all the way up to headlines (large type), subheads (medium-sized type) and captions (small text). The size of your type is also important, as well as the color.
2. Lines: Lines can either be straight or curved and are used to create organization within a design through separation and hierarchy. There are many different kinds of lines that you should keep in mind when designing a website, including dotted lines, dashes and arrows.
3. Shape: Shapes are defined as any closed area which has form or dimension. The most common shapes in graphic design include circles (or ovals), squares, triangles and rectangles. As with lines, there are many different types of shapes that can be used on a website, including circles (or ovals), squares, triangles and rectangles.
4. Color: This is one of the most important parts in graphic design because color can be used to create organization and hierarchy within a design. It can also be used as an element of style or emotion with graphics such as logos and photographs. So what are some different color types? Analogous colors are related in hue and tone. These would be analogous to the red, orange and yellow family on a color wheel (red-orange, orange-yellow). Complementary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel (blue is across from orange) while split complementary consists of three different hues that fall between two complementary colors (such as red-green, green and blue).
5. Space: Space is important because it can be used to create a visual order or hierarchy within the design. It’s often created with white space, but there are also other ways of using negative space such as through photography where you use an empty area on your website instead of including an image.
6. Texture: Textures can include paper textures, fabric and lighting (for instance, natural light or a spotlight). These are used to help create a feeling within the design such as serenity in nature photography.
7. Value: Value is how dark or light something appears on your website. Black text against white background has high contrast while a black background with white text has low contrast.

Do and don’ts in graphic design?

Do:

-Use shapes in a design to create hierarchy and organization. This can be done through different colors or different sizes of the same shape.

Don’t:

-Design websites that are cluttered or difficult to read because this will only frustrate your users! It’s better to make things as simple as possible for everyone.

Do:

-Use lighter colors for smaller text while using darker colors for larger type. This helps with the readability of your design and makes it easier to go from one part of your website to another.

Don’t:

-If you’re designing a logo, try not to use any more than two different fonts in order to make it simple and easy.

Do:

-Use lines in a design to create separation as well as a hierarchy for your content. Lines can be used through borders, different color backgrounds, or other defining elements like arrows or dashes. You should also take into consideration the thickness of these lines so that they don’t overwhelm everything else on your website!

Don’t:

-If you’re designing a website, try to avoid using too many different shapes since this will only make the design more complicated. Rather than having ten circles in your design, use one or two!

How can I make a good graphic design?

You need to ask yourself these questions before you start working on your design:

-What is my goal with this graphic?

-How will I use it and how often?

-Is the message straight forward or complex?

-How much space is available? 

-What are my resources?

-Do I have the right skillset to achieve what I want?

Only after answering these questions can you start designing. Some things that might need your consideration before you get started are: color, shape, texture and space (white space) for example.

How can I improve my graphic design skills?

Here a few online courses that you can take to help improve your graphic design skills.

-The Life Creative: Design Fundamentals

–Creativelive: Graphic Design Basics and Beyond

-Lynda.com: Online Courses for Intermediates, Experts or Professionals

In Conclusion:

The best way to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t is by looking at other people’s work. Take note of the colors, fonts, shapes, sizes etc that are used in these examples and implement them into your design process. You’ll be surprised how many great ideas you can come up with when you take time to observe others’ creative choices first!