What no one tells you about graphic design

Whether you are starting a small business or planning a marketing campaign for your company, you will need to create marketing materials, all of which will need a logo and other eye-catching or professional looking elements. 

The range of marketing content and documentation that will require some form of graphic design includes brand guidelines, banners, brochures, business cards, catalogues, infographics,  logos, menus, packaging, posters, signage, smartphone applications, t-shirt design and websites.   

If you are planning to do the graphic design yourself or thinking about hiring a designer there are quite a few problems that could arise so here are some things to consider about graphic design that you may not already know.

Phone App Design Require Coding

In the field of graphic design, a pattern is considered the repetitive arrangements of elements, lines, objects or shapes that are consistently present throughout the design project. However, designing a smartphone app involves doing that by writing and modifying code to create both attractive visuals and a good user interface. Getting the code right for an app can be difficult and time-consuming so many designers, especially those making apps for IoS use Swift design patterns to assist them in writing the correct code by acting as a tool to show dependencies between classes and objects. Design patterns are key tools for app designers as they can highlight design issues and introduce standardized code to make the design more consistent. 

When it comes to phone apps, the skills of a graphic designer with experience in writing and editing software code is required so unsurprisingly the costs can run into tens of thousands of dollars for more complex applications. 

Shapes Can Set the Mood

Next, let’s look at a design element that is found in all marketing materials, shapes. In graphic design, there are two types of shape, geometric and organic otherwise known as free-flowing. 

Shapes that are geometric such as circles, rectangles, squares and triangles can represent different feelings for example circles can mean eternity or free movement whilst squares and rectangles portray equality, honesty and stability. In their raw state shapes don’t stand out much due to their familiarity, however by changing a shape’s color, form or size a graphic designer can develop the mood and message of a design. 

Organic shapes in graphic design lack the uniformity of geometric shapes and include shapes found in nature such as crystals, leaves, waves or vines. Other common shapes seen in designs can be more abstract such as blobs and splashes of colour. 

Colors Convey Moods

The color scheme is an important part of any design project as it communicates a mood or seeks to provoke an emotional response from the audience. At the start of the design process, a graphic designer and client will decide on what type of color harmonies should be in the design and refer to the color wheel to select colors. In terms of creating color harmonies, colors are chosen that interact in different ways including:

- They complement each other as they lay on opposite sides of the color wheel, thus providing contrast. Complementary colors often give the feeling of vibrancy and energy. 

- Analogous color schemes involve using colors or shades or colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. Due to the lack of contrast, analogous color schemes usually equate to a calm and gentle design. 

- Triad color schemes that make use of colors that are evenly spread on the color wheel to create a balanced yet colorful and vibrant design. 

When deciding color schemes is it also important to consider which tints and shades of each color best fit the message and mood the design should portray. For example, bright tints and lighter shades provide a happier and more fun vibe whilst darker shades convey professionalism. 

Typeface Should Be Chosen Carefully

Typography is present throughout most graphic design but will mostly be seen in logos and textual content on adverts and web pages. The typeface used has an impact on the feel of a design so in a project’s planning phase it is worth thinking about if the font should be more rounded or angular, heavy or light. There are hundreds of fonts to choose from, although it is recommended to check and test the readability of fonts and use a maximum of three throughout and single project.

Design Should Be Consistent 

Consistent graphic design is vital when creating brand assets and marketing materials as it makes your business easier to recognize and identify with. Oftentimes businesses will develop brand guidelines to ensure the correct position, type and size of elements, fonts, headings, logos, and subheadings are used across a company’s marketing collaterals. 

Empty Space Is Crucial 

Some businesses may want to fill a poster or webpage with as much information and photos as possible to ensure the document portrays the intended message. However, a design that looks cluttered is difficult to understand and poor graphic design is unlikely to reflect well on a business. For this reason, the most effective and visually pleasing designs utilize spacing between design elements. 

The empty space in a design is referred to as negative space and includes the background whereas positive space is filled by the elements that should be focused on by the user such as buttons, calls to action, images, menus or titles. 

Images Grab People’s Attention 

One of the typical ways to make a piece of design stand out is to incorporate images, which could be digital art, illustrations or photographs. A visually attractive and interesting image often becomes the central focus of a design that can effectively convey the message of a brand. The use of images is commonplace in graphic design as it is a well-known fact that images are a highly effective tool for communication. 

Texture Can Add More Variety 

Designers use texture to make a design look more interesting by adding depth, detail and sometimes a feeling of immersion. The kind of texture used may be influenced by textures found in nature such as grass, leaves, sand, soil, stones and water.

Photographs can also be incorporated into design layers and used to create texture by adjusting the color saturation, contrast and transparency settings. 

Graphic design can be a complicated and time-consuming task that involves a good understanding of both form and function. It takes graphic designers years to become qualified and hone their skills, so if you are looking to get more background knowledge then the article above should have provided you with some useful insights.