Overall, the mission vis-à-vis graphic design is displaying information harmoniously – beauty and
usability must go hand in hand, discreetly carrying your organization’s ideals. Through a trustworthy
visual presence, you hint to users that you know what they want to do – not just because you’ve arranged
aesthetically pleasing elements that are where they expect to find them, or help them intuit their way
around, but because the values your designs display mirror theirs, too.
Graphic Design is Emotional Design
With user psychology in mind some especially weighty graphic design considerations are:
- Symmetry and Balance (including symmetry types)
- Flow
- Repetition
- Pattern
- The Golden Ratio (i.e., proportions of 1:1.618)
- The Rule of Thirds (i.e., how users’ eyes recognize good layout)
- Typography (encompassing everything from font choice to heading weight)
- Audience Culture (re Color Use and Reading Pattern)
Elements of Graphic Design
Graphic design can use image-based designs involving photos, illustrations, logos and symbols,
type-based designs, or a combination of both techniques. These designs can include various
combinations of the following elements.
- Lines - Straight, curved, wavy, thick, thin - when it comes to lines, the possibilities are limitless.
Lines allow designers to divide a space or separate content in a layout. They can also be used to guide
the eyes of the viewer, or make other elements follow a strategic path for added findability, to get
the viewer easily from point A to point B.
- Shapes -Shapes offer a variety of ways to fill spaces creatively, to support text and other forms of content,
and to balance a design. Shapes can be created out of nothing, using white space to give a design structure
and clarity.
- Colour - Colour, or the absence of colour, is an important element of any design. With a solid understanding
of colour theory, designers can amazingly influence a design and a brand, seamlessly integrating colour boldly
or with brilliant subtlety.
- Type - Type can transform a message from mere text to a work of art. Different fonts, combined with customized
alignments, spacing, size, and colour, can add power to the point you are communicating to the world.
- Texture - Even a smooth and glossy advertisement can seem tangible with texture. It gives a sense of a tactile
surface through its visual appearance and adds a sense of depth, enhanced by selection of appropriate paper and
material.
What is a Logo?
The dictionary meaning of a logo is a symbol, sign, or emblem. Human beings have used such symbols
throughout time to convey a succinct message. In present times, logos tend to be graphical in nature,
designed for easy recognition of an organization. It is a tool to build an identity for the organization,
as part of its trademark or brand, and to generate favourable thoughts and feelings about the organization.
Features of a Corporate Logo
- A corporate logo should create a memorable association with a particular brand character.
It is the initial impression most people see of company, like the flag of a country, but its
impact depends upon how it is used. Its creation needs to consider many factors, including the
culture of the company it represents.
- Interesting and intelligent combination and use of shapes, colors, typefaces and other
elements can create an image that is simple, yet rich with a concept synonymous to the organization.
- Select symbols that best describe the business and withstand time. For example, the HMV or
‘His Master’s Voice’ logo, depicting a dog sitting and intently listening to a phonograph, first
used in 1910, is still in use and relevant today.
- If appropriate symbols and images are not found, abstract images can be used to relate to the
organization's philosophy.
- Directed towards the masses, a logo should not have any cultural, racial, or other kind of
bias, thus allowing it to appeal to the widest possible audience.
- Use of Ideogram or icons makes them suitable for use in multi-cultural, multi-national, and
cross-language marketing. However, a logo can be either typeface or icon based, or a combination
of both, like that of Red Cross, Nike, Coca Cola, and Sony etc.
- Colours express meaning, have emotions associated with them, and designers implement them
appropriately to suit the nature of the organization.
- A logo is associated with the value of the brand, becoming a symbol of assurance and reliability.
- A logo is a core identifier of an organization, used on business cards, letterhead, and
advertising material. More than a mere visual mark, it is the face of the organization, and so it
must be original and memorable for the greatest impact.