Graphic Design: The New Basics You Need To Know

Hello, Almost artists! I know you’re eager to start your graphic design journey but first, you need to have a good idea about the purpose of design, its principles, elements, tools, compositions, and all the basic stuff you need to get started. I know all these things sound boring but base is what makes a building sturdy. Without understanding the basics, you’ll be biting your fingers. This is going to be your comprehensive guide to graphic design basics, but we won’t delve into too many details here. we’ll save that for future discussions, so stay tuned.

What Is Graphic Design?

Graphic design is a visual way of telling stories, communicating ideas, and spreading information. Think of it as a movie poster where you can already imagine the content of the movie whether it’s horror, comedy or romance, etc. It’s the art of playing with shapes, colors, images, elements, and text to convey your thoughts effectively.

The Principle Of Graphic Design:

Everything in this world is built the way it is, following some basic rules. Just like that, graphic design follows some invisible key principles. These principles create a structure in design to construct stunning, and impactful compositions. Here I’ll discuss them precisely:

1. Balance: Balance is really important in design as it creates the visual weight of each element. Think of a seesaw, this principle suggests that each element should weigh evenly for stability. That makes design easy on the eyes.
2. Unity / Proximity: Each element in the design should have a link with each other. Elements look scattered without unity. Group related elements to avoid visual clutter.
3. Contrast: It’s the most amazing thing in design. You can make your design splendid by playing with light and dark, big and small to make a specific area of design stand out. It attracts attention.
4. Emphasis: Emphasis is quite similar to the contrast. It directs a viewer’s attention to a desired element.
5. Repetition: It’s about using the same colors, elements, and fonts throughout the design. It makes your design sensible.
6. Pattern: It’s about using specific elements, colors, or fonts in a way that creates patterns your eyes can follow. It gives direction to your design.
7. Rhythm: Rhythm is the combination of repetition and pattern. Rhythm will automatically be created if your design follows the above two principles.
8. Movement: If a design directs your eyes from one point to another that means it has movement.
9. Proportions: Combining all the elements and putting together the design in the best possible way.
10. Hierarchy: This is by far the most important principle. Using hierarchy you can organize your information from most important to least. Think of it as a pyramid.
11. Variety: The use of different colors, fonts, and elements in design develops interest.

The Color Theory:

Colors are not just there to make things pretty. Colors are so strong that they evoke emotions, influence behavior, spark memories, and even tell stories. By acquiring the power of colors, you can produce your desired outcome from the desired targets. These colors have three main categories primary (red, yellow, blue), secondary, and tertiary. Honestly speaking, you only need primary colors to produce all kinds of warmth and coolness of the colors in the color wheel. These colors can demonstrate different kinds of meanings depending on the designs they are used in. A graphic designer combines all the aspects to make things work together. Here I’ll share the most basic terms of color theory.

1. Hue: It’s just the other word for color.
2. Chroma: It’s the purity of the color.
3. Shade: Adding black hue to a color.
4. Tint: Adding white hue to a color.
5. Tone: Adding grey to a color.
6. Saturation: Appearance of a color under different lights.
7. RGB: Red, green, blue / for screens only.
8. CMYK: Cyan, magenta, yellow, black / for printing only.
9. Value: It’s the lightness and darkness of a color.

Typography:

Typography is the use of text in designs. Words can play a crucial role. Either they make a design splendid or a piece of rubbish. The text should align with the overall theme or mood of the design. There are plenty of fonts you can use alongside suitable colors, shapes, and elements to convey a specific message without ruining everything. Elegant themes require elegant fonts like wedding invitations and birthday cards. Tech-related companies might want something modern. These are all just examples we’ll discuss later in detail.

The Elements Of Graphic Design:

Elements are the building blocks of any design. They are like bricks to put together in a unique way to make the design sensible for the viewers. Here are the elements I was talking about:

1. Dot: Dot is the most basic element of design as they combine to make all the other stuff.
2. Line: Dots combine to make lines. They have movements, direction, rigidness, etc.
3. Shape: Lines make shapes. They can be 2D, geometric ( mathematical shapes), organic ( lack well-defined edges), or abstract (minimalist).
4. Form: Shapes combine to make 3D forms.
5. Space: Space is the area that could be positive ( area of shape) or negative ( area around the shape).
6. Colors: It sets the mood of the design.

Tools For Graphic Design:

All things aside, to execute every idea you might have, you need some tools or software. Graphic design has a handy toolbox. Some of them are Canva ( free & paid) Gimp and Krita which are open source which means you can use them for free. On the other hand, there are some industry-standard softwares like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.

1. Photoshop: It is used for digital painting and photography.
2. Illustrator: It is mainly used for vector drawings or logos etc.
3. InDesign: It is used for publishing, layouts, creating magazines, books, etc.

These are the basics you can swallow at once without choking. Graphic design is a vast topic and we’ll touch on every aspect bit by bit along with the tools it needs to execute ideas.