Introduction to Graphic Design
Lesson 1 from: Graphic Design Fundamentals: Getting StartedTimothy Samara
Introduction to Graphic Design
Lesson 1 from: Graphic Design Fundamentals: Getting StartedTimothy Samara
Lesson Info
1. Introduction to Graphic Design
Lessons
Introduction to Graphic Design
11:27 2Graphic Design: Areas of Specialization
14:10 3The History of Graphic Design
40:12 4The Designer's Toolkit
11:30 5The Graphic Designer's Tools: Color
06:01 6The Graphic Designers Tools: Typography
01:42 7The Graphic Designer's Tools: Layout & Space
06:33 8Typical Work Processes
09:14Designing an Advertisment
41:46 10Designing a Poster
29:20 11Designing a Book Layout: Basic Concepts
36:02 12Designing a Book Layout: The Details
20:55 13Designing a Website
26:54 14How to Design a Brand Identity: Preperation
25:42 15How to Design Brand Identity: Showing the Client
18:25 16Building Brand Language
14:12 17Designing the Touchpoints
11:16 18Fundamentals are Forever
03:40Lesson Info
Introduction to Graphic Design
Hi everybody, I'm Tim and today we're gonna be looking at the fundamentals of graphic design. So our first sort of task today is to really sort of dig in and try to understand what design is really about. What does it mean to communicate visually? Why do designers do what they do? And where exactly do they do it? There are a lot of different areas of practice that we'll be looking at. From advertising to packaging to branding and book design. So you can get a kind of a sense of how wide and varied the field is. We're gonna take a little trip down memory lane to see how the profession evolved over time. Trying to cover about 30 thousand years of history in 10 to 15 minutes or so. We might skip over a couple of things along the way. And then after that we'll be able to see kind of really what the tools are that designers use when they're trying to communicate. Those tools are form and image, color, typography and layout. Bringing all of the visual elements together into a format or a spa...
ce. Right after that I'm gonna walk you through the typical stages that designers and studios usually go through. From ideation or concept development through execution. The kind of phase structure that most designers employ when they're attacking a project from beginning to end. And last you'll have a chance to see that process in action as I take you through a number of projects that I've done. And you'll be able to see all the steps along the way. From rough sketches all the way through the finished item. So I've been working as a graphic designer professionally for about 25 years. I've worked independently as a freelance consultant working with my own clients. And I've also been a member of a large team directing junior and senior designers in a kind of a salaried or corporate situation. About 15 years ago I began teaching more or less full-time. And I've been teaching since then at a number of institutions among them Purchase College in Upstate New York, The Parson School of Design in Manhattan, The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and also until recently The School of Visual Arts which is also in New York. So when it comes to fundamentals I'm kinda your guy. In addition to that teaching experience I've also written as Vanessa mentioned eight books all on design topics to date. And they span a range of subject areas from the very basics. The kind of fundamental information that we're gonna be talking about today. All the way through much more in-depth and comprehensive studies of typography, of drawing, of symbol development, layout and publication design. So with that I hope you feel you're in good hands and we'll kick off. The question that we sort of first have to ask is what is it that graphic designers do? Cause some people have a kind of an idea they see things around. They see logos, they see websites, they see magazines or they get kind of a card in the mail for something and it looks nice and somebody has to put that together. And they may have a sense of making some things for a place where they work like a newsletter or sometimes an invitation that they're doing for a family member. And so a lot of people kind of have sort of a basic idea possibly. But what really is it to communicate visually? So the first thing we're going to talk about is really what is that graphic designers do? And kind of in a nutshell they visual. Graphic designers take abstract written concepts things that are verbal, things that are intangible messages and they transfer them into a visual form by using symbols, pictures, colors, shapes, textures, typography which can also be a kind of an image. And they arrange that material within a space the format. Which changes depending on the kind of project it is. A print format like a magazine layout or a poster or an onscreen format like a browser window or a smartphone app. And they organize that material in a way that is understandable and that communicates not only sort of literal information that users need to know. But also more kind of high level conceptual ideas moods, feelings, contexts and relationships to kind of the world at large that we live in kind of the culture in general. The second thing that designers do which is sort of a natural part of the process of visualizing something is to clarify information. What does that mean, to clarify? Well very often when a project begins a designer gets a whole bunch of information. Some texts some images with some idea about how those things should be ordered what they're really talking about. But generally that information at that stage is something that's very kind of loose and not particularly pinned down. And one of the designer's jobs is to take that information and by ordering it by selecting and editing elements by giving focus to some and down playing others, is to make that information as understandable and easy to use for the audience to meet their needs based on their expectations. What are they trying to get out of this information? What do they really need to know? And so on. Part of that clarification process involves organizing and that organizing happens on a conceptual level in terms of how a designer chooses to sequence material from beginning to end. In what order he or she feels it's best to present that information. What kinds of information are juxtapose or show up next to each other in a particular place. And what's the value of that as oppose to a juxtaposition of two other kinds of information. And then there's also a sort of organization on a visual level that is creating a structure for the information. Kind of a compositional idea or layout that allows a reader to focus on the entry point. To enter into the design object or into that experience, to know how to start, where to start and then to be able to navigate easily from beginning and most important element to secondary supporting element to third more in-depth elements. And to be able to also make sort of intellectual or understandable connections between the different levels of that hierarchy or that informational order. Designers play a critical role in the economy and also among communities by connecting people who have information or who are offering services or who are working on a certain cause or advocating on behalf of a certain group of people. With those audiences graphic design facilitates this kind of transmission of information. And by giving it a form that is bold and compelling and engaging for the audience attempts to sort of connect the audience with the service provider or the business or organization in a way that draws their attention and makes them feel as though they're important. It allows businesses to conduct a business or commerce by providing tools and media. Whether it's print or online application media that businesses can use to transfer information or do whatever it is that they do. And last designers connect communities desperate groups of people who are coming to that kind of informational experience or that visual experience from kind of the stand point of being kind of unified together playing in kind of a public role in that forum. So design is a very very it's very economically based and market driven kind of an endeavor. But it is also essentially a kind of a culture uniter. It ritualizes things that draws communities together and creates a kind of sense of communal meaning communal understanding. Design is often used in service of documenting. Cultural events, historical events, events that are of importance to a particular subgroups or subcultures within a larger society. Basically to kind of give evidence to those things to commemorate those events for posterity. And last, design on a very very kind of high brow and philosophical level it elevates. The goal of design as you're going to see is essentially to make the world a better place. The visual environment has a profound impact on how people feel about the world they live in. As that visual world that we encounter everyday becomes increasingly refined, becomes dynamic, elegant and engaging. It lifts us morally and spiritually, psychologically, emotionally and it gives a kind of a boost to our sense of you know how good life is. How well it is to be living as a human being under these conditions. So where does all this visualizing and elevating and documenting and connecting happen? Well it happens in a communications. And what are those? Well you encounter design communications everyday several hundred or several thousand times a day. There is some statistic that I can only offer anecdotaly because I have no hard evidence I don't really know the source. That we're confronted with something like ten thousand messages individual messages every single day. And through our sort of our day to day comings and goings you know for the most part we're turning off that kind of bombardment because it's a little too much. But we run into design at every step of the way from the instant we wake up in the morning til the moment that we lay our heads down on a pillow to go to sleep. Design is in our face. It's in our minds. Even if we're not really conscience of it.
Ratings and Reviews
a Creativelive Student
Wonderful class! I loved getting the info as to the creative process. Great!
Øyvind Hermans
I love this class, clear and precise information with very interesting examples. I have worked as a graphic designer for 6 years but have no design eduction, so at times I feel like there is these gaps of design-knowlegde in my decisions, this was the perfect filler of these gaps.
sixtina maculan
Thank you for sharing your experiences in this class. It's been a pleasure to listen, learn and understand, as well as a wonderful motivation.