Graphic Design & Color Theory

Balance

A feeling of equilibrium or stability

History Panel

Allows you to view each command you have used during the current work session and can allow you to deselect up to 25-30 times.

Geometric Shapes

An octagon, especially a red one, usually means stop. A starburst is commonly used to grab attention and identify something that is new, improved, or 'on sale.'

color harmony

The use of a cohesive and pleasing combination of colors in a design or image.

Graphic Design

To communicate visually using text and images to present information

.JPG

file format best used for showing images with many variations in color, such as paintings, photographs, and other colorful artwork

Pica

generally used to measure lines of text

tint

the mixture of a color with white

Sans Serif

without serif, refers to typefaces without these lines

split-complementary colors

A color scheme that uses a key color with the two colors that lie on either side of its complement. Example: red with yellow-green and blue-green.

complementary colors

A color scheme that uses colors opposite each other on the color wheel. Example: yellow and violet.

analogous colors

A color scheme that uses hues next to each other on the color wheel. Example: red, red-violet and red-orange.

monochromatic colors

All colors are a different value of a Hue. Accomplished by adding white or black in different amounts to a single hue.

What does a gradient look like?

Smooth change from one color to another.

Foreground

That part of a landscape or picture situated or represented as nearest the spectator.

Type Family

The different options available within a font make this up. Many fonts are at a minimum available in roman, bold and italic

Ascender

The part of a character that extends above the meanline

Descender

The part of a character that extends below the baseline

saturation

The purity or intensity of a color.

Adjustment Layer

This holds color or tonal adjustments that affect the layers below it. Rather than edit image pixels directly, you can edit it and leave the underlying pixels unchanged.

Symmetrical Balance (formal)

Two halves are identical

What is a vector graphic?

Unlike JPEGs, GIFs, and BMP images, vector graphics are not made up of a grid of pixels. Instead, vector graphics are comprised of paths, which are defined by a start and end point, along with other points, curves, and angles along the way. (Created in Illustrator)

How do you create and modify shapes in Illustrator?

Use the pen tool and direct select tool.

What is one way to create a 'perfect' shape in Illustrator?

Use the shape tools and hold Shift while dragging.

color wheel

a circular tool that shows color relationships

What is a group?

a command in a graphics program that combines all selected objects into a single group, so that they can be manipulated as a single entity.

What is "send to back"?

a command in a graphics program to move the current object to the back layer.

JPG

a compressed graphics file format specifically designed for storing photographs.

transparency

a property of a graphic image that allows background objects to be seen through the object. Usually adjustable from 0% to 100%.

Client

a purchaser of a service or product; a client looks for a designer to act as the translator between their voice/idea and their audience

What is the eyedropper?

a tool in a graphics program that can pick up a colour (or text appearance) from the canvas for use elsewhere.

Tracking

adjusted to change the space between characters consistently across a block of text. This may be used to increase legibility for an entire magazine article

Abstract Shapes

almost universally recognized and easily 'read' even when the text is in an unfamiliar language. Ex: The stylized wheelchair Male and female symbols Jagged steps

Logo

an identifying symbol (as seen in media formats such as print and television

Axis Line

an imaginary line that is traced through an object or several objects

Contour Line

an outline

Design elements

are the basic units of a painting, drawing, design or other visual piece.

Natural Shapes

can add interest and reinforce a theme. Rather than a plain box, frame text with a coiling rope or a spray of leaves or flowers. Use a free-form, non-symmetrical shape to convey a feeling of spontaneity

warm colors

colors associated with daylight or sunset

cool colors

colors associated with gray or overcast day

Vertical Lines

communicate a feeling of stability and power. They often dominate public architecture, from cathedrals to corporate headquarters

Purpose of Color

creates specific moods, atmospheres, channels emotions and each shade has certain specific connotations associated with it.

color palette

data that represents the set of colours used in a graphic

Square

denotes honesty and stability. They are familiar, trusted shapes. Because the vast majority of the text we read is set in this shape, it has become familiar, safe, and comfortable

Script Fonts

elegant and formal. Fonts with fine lines and lots of swirls and flourishes have a feminine feel to them

hue

element of the color wheel, a pure color

Meanline

falls at the top of many lowercase letters such as "e," "g" and "y." It is also at the curve of letters like "h"

What is distortion?

happens when you resize a graphic object in one direction only, using one of the side handles instead of the corner handles.

resolution

how many pixels a monitor can display or are contained in an image.

Form

is a three-dimensional geometrical figure (i.e.: sphere, cube, cylinder, cone, etc.), as opposed to a shape, which is two-dimensional, or flat

Line/Direction

is best described as a continuous mark made on a surface by a moving point

Shape

is two-dimensional; emphasis on flat. It refers to a two-dimensional area clearly set off by one or more of the other visual elements such as color, value, line

Positive Shape

main object in the picture

Icons

often abstract or stylized shapes.For example: A rectangle with a 'folded corner' A hollow circle or oval with smaller circles on the 'path' may be a literal representation of a planetary system or symbolic of a network, such as a computer network.

What is the handle?

one of the small black boxes around the side of the selected graphic object.

Serif Fonts

recognizable by the small lines at the ends of the various strokes of a character

Kerning

reduction of space between characters

Typeface/Font

refers to a group of characters, such as letters, numbers, and punctuation, that share a common design or style. Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica and Courier are all typefaces

Leading

refers to the distance between lines of text. This distance, measured in points, is measured from one baseline to the next

Texture

refers to the way something feels or how one perceives something should feel if touched. It refers to two of the senses - vision and touch

cropping

removing unwanted parts from around the edge of a graphic

Typography

selection and arrangement of typefaces, sizes, and spacing on a printed publication or web page.

Negative Shape

space around the main object

Roman

standard style of a typeface, not altered by weight, width, angle or any other characteristic

Diagonal Lines

suggest a feeling of movement or direction. Since objects in this position are unstable in relation to gravity, being neither vertical nor horizontal, they are either about to fall, or are already in motion, as is certainly the case for this group of dancers

Triangle

suggest action. They are dynamic and may convey either conflict or strength

Circle

suggest infinity. They are also protective (think of protective encircling arms). They can also denote free movement such as a rolling ball

Horizontal Lines

suggests a feeling of rest or repose. Objects parallel to the earth are at rest in relation to gravity. Therefore compositions in which theydominate tend to be quiet and restful in feeling

Letterspacing

the addition of space between characters

What is the stroke?

the edge of a shape.

What is a fill?

the interior of a shape.

Baseline

the invisible line on which characters sit

Value

the lightness or darkness of a color, measured in black and white.

shade

the mixture of a color with black

pixel

the smallest part of a screen or a graphic image that can have its colour and brightness controlled.

justification

to align text either to the left/right or both margins

Point

used to measure the size of a font

Neutral colors

Beige, White, Black, Gray, Brown

Emphasis/ Contrast

Center of interest; focal point/ Combining elements to stress the differences between those elements.

tertiary colors

Colors located between primary and secondary colors on the color wheel, created by mixing any adjacent primary and secondary color. Examples: red-orange, yellow-green, blue-violet.

Movement

Creates a look or feel of action. It is also used to guide the viewer's eye throughout the work of art

What is Illustrator used for?

Creating illustrations, basic flyers & layouts

CMYK Colors

Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (the four colors used in full-color process printing)

How is a path altered in Illustrator?

Direct select tool, click on anchor points or handles.

How does one locate items recently worked on?

File > Open Recent Files

secondary colors

Green, orange and purple. They are create by mixing two primary colors together.

How does output size effect files created in Illustrator? What happens to the resolution of files that are sized up or down?

Illustrator is vector based so resizing artwork doesn't change the resolution.

What is unique about the Illustrator workspace vs Photoshop?

Illustrator primarily deals with shapes and paths while Photoshop deals primarily with pictures and adjustments.

8 Elements of Graphic Design

Line, Color, Texture, Shape, Size, Value, Space, Typography

What is Photoshop used for?

Manipulating photos

Asymmetrical Balance (informal)

Not the same on both sides but stills results in a "felt" balance

Bit-count

Often used for pixal count in digital imaging

Radial Balance

On square and rectangular pages we generally place elements in orderly rows and columns. With radial designs the elements radiate from or swirl around in a circular or spiral path

Which file types preserves transparency?

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

What is the color mode for a brochure, poster, etc? (Why do you need to know the setup for the final product before you start?)

Print uses CMYK color mode.

How do color modes differ depending on output?

RGB is used for web based/ digital output.

RGB Colors

Red, Green and Blue (the colors on computer monitors/ digital outputs. Light primaries and colors are created with light)

primary colors

Red, yellow and blue. They cannot be created they just exist.

Thumbnail

Reduced- size verions of picture, used to help recognize and organize them for preview

Rhythm/Repetition/Patter

Rhythm is created by the careful placement of repeated elements in a work of art to cause a visual tempo or beat

Triadic colors

A color scheme that uses 3 colors that make an equilateral triangle on the color wheel.

Tetradic colors

A color scheme that uses 4 colors that make a rectangle on the color wheel