What is Graphic Design?

What is Graphic Design?

Is a form of visual communication that tells or explain something or a meaning in the form of visual images. Commonly work by drawn and painted, but due to technology advancement graphic design now includes photography and computer generated images.

Graphic Design is not image (pictures) only but also letterform (typefaces)

 

Graphic Design has become a part of our daily lives, it is the way the world communicated with us without the use of verbal communication, symbols and logos tells everything we need to know of a certain object. For example,

this sign tells us that the room behind it is a toilet, no words used no verbal communication used just image.

The giant billboards besides the roads, books that we read, magazine that we read, advertisement that we watch are all graphic design that we use to communication to audience.

Graphic Design is the creative process of both art and technology combined to communicate ideas

Graphic Design is split into 4 parts Image based, Typeface based, Image and type, and Symbols and logos.

Image based design

This are designs that use image to represent ideas of audience. Images are powerful and compelling tool of communication, thus the proverb: a picture's worth a thousand words 

Image based design are the best way to express a mood or emotion as the colours and lines will tell the audience the what kind of mood or emotion the image is trying to express to them. For example, the image above is expressing a kind of party-like mood and dance expression most probably a dance related design. 

People sometimes reacts to images differently based on their personalities and previous life experience.

One criteria the image based design is that the singular image must convey the entire message fully with or without the help of a few words.

Type based design

Type based design focuses on wordings rather than the image itself, type face designs happens when designers decides to rely on words to express or communicated with the audience however the use of the words are different from writers.

To the designer the visual form of the actual word itself is just as important as the meaning of the word itself. The image above shows the word "Colors" to writers it is just colors but to a designer the visual effect of the word is as important as the meaning therefore and hence the colour of the word or the shape of the word is designed to match and fit the word itself.

Image and type design

The most common type of design used by designers to communicate as the impact done is greater than the stand alone based designs. The designer must find the perfect balance between both the image and typeface so that neither will outshine the other in the image.

Image alone might not tell the meaning, ideas or story well enough because of the different interpretation by the audience due to their life experience and typeface design alone is boring therefore, the combination of both will cover up the weaknesses of each other than becomes something greater.

Symbols and Logos

Symbols are highly condensed information in a small image, they represent something bigger behind the image that they are. Symbols or Logos are usually the face of a company and with only a glance people will know who they are, what they are, where they are, what they do.

The image above by looking at it we know its the infamous Starbucks Coffee franchise, we immediately know that they make coffee, sells cakes and is found almost everywhere. However in order to make a symbol or a logo that last for decades it is not easy as that simple image needs to carry a lot of information within them and tells anyone who sees it knows everything the symbols are trying to tell them without any help from a person or words.

Why do we need designers?

Clients sometimes tries to explain the idea or message to the audience but they stick too close to the meaning and the audience who has no clue on the message are too broad open to receive the message making it very easy for the client to miss the attention of the audience, therefore the designer is there to guide both the client and audience to the same destination using image and typefaces.