What is Graphic Deisgn?

Graphic design, also known as communication design, is the art and practice of planning and projecting ideas and experiences with visual and textual content. The form of the communication can be physical or virtual, and may include images, words, or graphic forms. The experience can take place in an instant or over a long period of time. The work can happen at any scale, from the design of a single postage stamp to a national postal signage system, or from a company’s digital avatar to the sprawling and interlinked digital and physical content of an international newspaper. It can also be for any purpose, whether commercial, educational, cultural, or political.

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.

Tools of Graphic Design

Professional designers possess a creative mind with an artistic inclination, and so much more. Keen observation skills and analytical thinking are essential tools for graphic design, before they dig into their physical tool kit and touch pen to paper or stylus to tablet. Designers employ a variety of methods to combine art and technology to communicate a particular message and create an impressive visual.