Post on 11-Jul-2020
Introduction to Graphic Design
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Lesson 1: Intro to Graphic Design ............................................................................ 1
Lesson 2: The Law .................................................................................................... 4
Lesson 3: The Elements of Design – Pixels ............................................................... 9
Lesson 4: The Elements of Design – Fonts ............................................................. 14
Lesson 5: The Elements of Design – Colors ............................................................ 19
Lesson 6: The Elements of Design – The Audience ................................................ 24
Lesson 7: The Elements of Design – The Message ................................................. 28
Lesson 8: Using PicMonkey, Canva, or Gimp ......................................................... 34
Lesson 9: Creating a Logo ....................................................................................... 38
Lesson 10: Creating a Flyer, Postcard, or Advertisement ...................................... 42
Lesson 11: Designing a Brochure ........................................................................... 47
Lesson 12: Designing a T‐Shirt ............................................................................... 51
Lesson 13: Designing a Book Cover ........................................................................ 54
Lesson 14: Designing a Product Label .................................................................... 56
Lesson 15: Designing a Poster ................................................................................ 60
Lesson 16: The End Game ...................................................................................... 63
Lesson 17: Final Assignment .................................................................................. 68
The Graphic Design Dictionary ............................................................................... 70
Resources ............................................................................................................... 72
Answers to Weekly Assignments ........................................................................... 74
Lesson 4 The Elements of Design ‐ Fonts
Just like any other part of a design, fonts can either make or break your creation. The rule of thumb is to generally use only one or two fonts per design. Too many fonts can make a design too busy, hard to read, or just down right confusing. On the other hand, if you use only one font, your design can be boring. So, don't just think you can slap any old font into a design and make it sparkle and shine. Fonts change the entire feel and design of the finished product. Before we go too deep into the fonts, let's look at fonts in general. When discussing fonts, there are a few keywords to keep in mind:
o Fonts: specific size and style of a typeface o Typeface: set of characters with the same design
Okay...that's a little confusing. Let's break it up a bit.
ROCKWELL is a typeface.
ROCKWELL
that is green, italicized and in 16 point bold is a font.
A font is a subset of a typeface.
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o Serif: a typeface with a small stroke at the end of a letter or symbol o Sans Serif: a typeface WITHOUT (aka sans) a small stroke at the end of a letter or symbol
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Make sense now? So, depending on what you are doing (who the audience is and the purpose for the graphic), keep a few of the following tips in mind:
o The font should fit the mood or feel of the design (consider the fonts for professional flyers vs. facebook memes).
o Use fonts that are easily readable. Using this font would be really difficult after about two
sentences.
o Use 1‐2 fonts per design to keep the format clean. It's even okay to mix serif and sans serif fonts in the same design, or bold and cursive fonts.
o Use unique or funky fonts sparingly and for specific purposes (to highlight a word or a title), but not throughout the entire design.
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o Break up fonts using separate text boxes (vary the font size or even the color of the same typeface).
o Make sure you place the text where it can be easily seen in the graphic.
If you look at the text in dark purple, it's hard to read. Make your text POP off the page. People need to read what you write. That's the whole point of a graphic, to convey a message to entice someone to click on a link, open a page, purchase a product, sign a petition, etc. Don't hide the message with a color/font that blends into the background.
o Reduce the amount of text in a graphic. White space is very important (more on that
later).
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o Use fonts from the same family.
As you can see in the example above, you can use the same typeface, but separate fonts within the same typeface to create a good balance. The Rockwell typeface has bold, bold italic, regular, italic, and condensed fonts. Increase the size, change the color, or even change the font and your ad or design should be fine.
These are a few of the tips to keep in mind when using fonts. Keep these in mind and refer back to them as you start creating designs. By the way, here is a list of a few places to get free, royalty free fonts:
o http://www.fontsquirrel.com/ (for commercial use) o http://www.1001freefonts.com/ (for personal use only) o http://www.fontspace.com/
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Lesson #4 Assignment: Define font and typeface.
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What is the difference between serif and sans serif?
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List 5 of the font guidelines mentioned in this lesson.
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Using the font links provided, or the ones on your computer, select 2 different fonts to pair
together. Create your own phrases and test to see which fonts pair well together. Print and
save in your Graphic Design notebook.
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