Graphic Design 2: Graphic Design 2 More on the “look & feel”


Agenda: Agenda Typography Color Icons Project review Exam review


Your Screen?: Your Screen?


Typography: Typography Characters and symbols should be easily noticeable and distinguishable Avoid heavy use of all upper case Studies have found that mixed case promotes faster reading HOW MUCH FUN IS IT TO READ ALL THIS TEXT WHEN IT’S ALL IN CAPITALS AND YOU NEVER GET A REST How much fun is it to read all this text when it’s all in capitals and you never get a rest


Typography: Typography Readability How easy is it to read a lot of text Legibility How easy is it to recognize a short burst of text Typeface = font (not really, but close enough)


Wow: Wow Yuk


Typography: Typography Serif font - readability Sans serif font - legibility (both are variable spaced) Monospace font


Fonts: Fonts Serif Times, Bookman Sans serif Tahoma, Arial Decorative Comic Sans Script Script Monspaced Courier, Lucida


Typography: Typography Guidelines Use serif for long, extended text; sans serif for “headlines” Use 1-2 fonts/typefaces (3 max) Use of normal, italics, bold is OK Never use bold, italics, capitals for large sections of text Use 1-3 point sizes max Be careful of text to background color issues


More Wow: More Wow


Font Control: Font Control


Example: Example CRAFTS AND GAMES ARTS FESTIVAL OF ATLANTA AND DECATUR COME AND ENJOY SEPTEMBER 19-24 Crafts and Games Arts Festival Of Atlanta and Decatur September 19-24 Come and Enjoy! Which do you prefer? Applies lots of these principles


Color: Color We see the world via a reflective color model Light strikes a surface and is reflected to our eyes--Properties of surface dictate color Printers Colors on display follow the emitted model


Color: Color On monitors, typically RGB scheme 0-255 value each red, green, blue R: 170 G:43 B: 211


Color Attributes: Color Attributes Hue native color, pigment Saturation relative purity, brightness, or intensity of a color Value lightness or darkness of a color


Color: Color Use it for a purpose, not to just add some color in


Color Guidelines: Color Guidelines Display color images on black background Choose bright foreground color (white, bold green,…) Avoid brown and green as background colors Be sure fg colors contrast in both brightness and hue with bg colors


Color Guidelines: Color Guidelines Use color sparingly--Design in b/w then add color where appropriate Use color to draw attention, communicate organization, to indicate status, to establish relationships Avoid using color in non-task related ways (experiment coming next)


Visual Exercise: Visual Exercise How many small objects? How many rectangles? How many orange objects?


How many...: How many...


Visual Exercise: Visual Exercise Left: Find the red letter Right: Find the ‘A’


Find the...: Find the... V R Z M F G Q J C T D W W P K V L H I N E B S U O X Y V R Z M F G Q J C T D W A P K V L H I N E B S U O X Y R Z D K S W V S X


Color Guidelines: Color Guidelines Color is good for supporting search Do not use color without some other redundant cue Color-blindness Monochrome monitors Redundant coding enhances performance Be consistent with color associations from jobs and cultures


Color Guidelines: Color Guidelines Limit coding to 8 distinct colors (4 better) Avoid using saturated blues for text or small, thin lines Use color on b/w or gray, or b/w on color To express difference, use high contrast colors (and vice versa)


Color Associations: Color Associations Red hot, warning, aggression, love Pink female, cute, cotton candy Orange autumn, warm, Halloween Yellow happy, caution, joy Brown warm, fall, dirt, earth Green lush, pastoral, envy Purple royal, sophisticated, Barney


Color Suites: Color Suites Designers often pick a palette of 4 or 5 colors Professional Monochromatic Southwestern


Icon Design: Icon Design Design task Represent object or action in a familiar and recognizable manner Limit number of different icons Make icon stand out from background


Icon Design: Icon Design Ensure that singly selected icon is clearly visible when surrounded by unselected ones Make each icon distinctive Make icons harmonious members of icon family Avoid excessive detail


Icon Design: Icon Design What do each of these signify? Almost always want to accompany your icons by a text label


It’s All About Design...: It’s All About Design...


Project Part 1: Project Part 1 Grading Strengths & weaknesses


Project Part 2: Project Part 2 Design alternatives (many!) No working system Drawings, sketches, mock-ups, etc. What not to do Critique each design (strengths, weaknesses) What in part 1 leads to this design?


Exam: Exam Sample test Short answer


Upcoming: Upcoming Exam Futuristic videos Very cool Prototyping