Graphic Design Basics

1. Graphic DesignBasics Digital Media Mrs. Huddleston

2. Good Design Functional Aesthetic Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 2

3. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 3 Elements on a spread Headline Body Copy Captions Photograph Folio Copy

4. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 4 Vocabulary Bleeding: running off the page. Colophon: an explanation of the production and printing processes behind the publication. Dominant Photo: a photograph that is at least two and one half times larger than any other photograph on the spread.

5. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 5 Vocabulary Eyeline: horizontal and vertical �invisible� lines across the page that divide the page into top/bottom and left/right sections. Folio: page numbers. Folio Tab: specific page identification. Gutter: fold of the spread. Margin: area of white space around the page, photographs, copy, etc.

6. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 6 Vocabulary Pica: unit of measure in design. (12 picas=1 inch) Trapping: surrounding white space or copy with photographs or other graphic elements. White Space: an area of a spread that does not contain any copy, photographs, or other elements. White space does not necessarily mean that the background is white.

7. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 7 Rules of basic design All copy, captions, folios, index, etc. should be reader friendly. Design as double page spreads. Begin designing your spread with the dominant photograph. Maintain a clockwise eyeflow. Stick to the basic shapes: horizontal rectangle, vertical rectangle and square.

8. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 8 Rules of basic design Design from the gutter out. Leave some white space in the corners. Try not to use every square inch of the spread for photographs and copy. Maintain a consistent 1 pica internal margin between all photographs and copy. (This is changing.) Maintain consistent lower and outer margins within each section.

9. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 9 Rules of basic design Do not trap white space or text between photographs. All copy and white space should be placed on the outside margins of the page. Have no more than 3 fonts within the publication. Preferably, use one font and vary the sizes, weights, widths, kerning, etc. Avoid horizontal and vertical zigzags as well as �steps� on any spread.

10. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 10 Rules of basic design An eyeline has been used on every spread but never divides a page into two equal haves (except in the Ads section). When an eyeline has been stopped, the stopping element extends at least 8 to 10 picas above or below it.

11. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 11 Type elements No type elements (copy, captions) cross the gutter. Headlines may, but they need to be large and easy to read. A strong copy starter (drop caps, initial caps, etc.) should be used.

12. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 12 Dominant photo This should be the first element on the spread to attract the reader�s attention. The dominant photograph needs to be at least 2 � times larger than the next largest picture. Dominant photographs should elicit emotion; this requires that these photographs be strong action photographs. Dominant photographs should NOT include group pictures or posed pictures.

13. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 13 Dominant photo Other pictures on the spread need to vary in width and height, while still emphasizing the dominant photograph. The placement, size, and shape of the dominant photograph should vary with each spread.

14. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 14 Photo placement Photographs should vary in size and include both vertical and horizontal shapes. Subjects and action in photographs should face toward the gutter, not off the page. The action of a photograph may lead into the headlines and copy of a spread.

15. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 15 Photo placement Group photographs or portraits should never bleed off the page or cross the gutter. Do not split faces when the photograph crosses the gutter. Photographs should not be enlarged more than 1/3 their original size. Subject�s heads after cropping should be larger than the size of a pencil eraser.

16. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 16 Caption placement Each caption is an extension of the photograph it describes, and therefore, should be placed next to that picture. Never stack more than two captions or align more than two captions horizontally. Captions may be typed on top of a photograph only if the photograph takes up more than half the page, and the type contrasts sharply with the background colors to ensure easy readability.

17. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 17 Caption placement Captions should never be placed between photographs (trapping text). Captions alone should not define the left or right margins.

18. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 18 Folio placement Folios and folio tabs must appear in the outside margins of each page. This is the only print that ever appears in that area. Copy and captions never cross this margin. (This is changing.)

19. Digital Media Graphic Design Basics 19 Breaking the rules No guidelines are set in stone. They may be broken if you know what you�re doing. Beginning designers generally don�t know what they�re doing well enough to break the rules.