A very useful material that will help all the beginners in understanding the basics of graphic designing.

1. graphic
design
INTRODUCTION
Presenter: Nida Aslam
Lead Graphic Designer
1st September 2009

2. INTRODUCTION
What is graphic designing?
Its importance and value
Graphic design process
Different design areas

3. WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT ?
It’s a visual representation of ideas & messages

4. WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT ? (cont’d)
Its about communication not decoration
Design is not art … though there is art in
design

5. WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT ? (cont’d)
It enhances the readability of your material

6. WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT ? (cont’d)
It influences how people think, buy, and react
in the world

7. WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT ? (cont’d)
Its about choices & intentions
Its not accidental ...
Clarify your
intentions

8. WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT ? (cont’d)
Design is about process

9. WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT ? (cont’d)
Its about putting focus where it matters

10. Why
graphic design?
(Importance/value)

11. A MISCONCEPTION
Using Photoshop to manipulate pictures
makes them a graphic designer?
WRONG!
You wouldn’t want a 12-year
old to build a house just
because he knows how to use a hammer & nails

12. WHY DO WE NEED IT?
It is not about knowing- but understanding
Designing have rationales, color theory,
typography, elements & most
importantly – concept

13. WHY DO WE NEED IT? (cont’d)
It’s not just the technical skills required to
build a web page
BUT
the knowledge of what works and doesn’t
work for users

14. WHY DO WE NEED IT? (cont’d)
Design adds credibility.

15. WHY DO WE NEED IT? (cont’d)
True power in graphic design:
To move people in a way that makes them
somehow feel connected to a product just
based on the way it looks
Imagine the Coca Cola brand without the red and white design
or Nike without their trademark swoosh

16. WHY DO WE NEED IT? (cont’d)
Design is meant to be used as a facilitator
It assists the user in the task they are
attempting to accomplish.

17. WHY DO WE NEED IT? (cont’d)
Presentation of opinion and facts is often
improved with graphics
Also known as information designing

18. WHY DO WE NEED IT? (cont’d)
A site can be overly graphic and still be
unusable
A site can be plain and usable. It is important
to understand the objective of the site
What is the content?
What is the audience?
What is the message?

19. Graphic Design
Process

20. GRAPHIC DESIGN PROCESS
Design
Gather Sketches /
multiple
Information Wireframes
versions
Create an
Creativity Revisions
outline
Brand Stick to all
Referencing
Personality the steps

21. CREATING AN OUTLINE
 Outline of the content
 Outline of the goal of the project
 For a website, outline of the major sections
 Outline for the dimensions and technical
specifications for print or web

22. GATHERING INFORMATION
 What your client wants?
 What is the scope of the work?
 Who is the target audience?
 What message client is trying to
get across to the target audience?
 What are the specs of the project?
 Is there any specific deadline?
 Can the client provide creative
direction? (like colors, fonts, other websites)

23. BRAND PERSONALITY
 Includes all the tangible and intangible traits of a
brand
 Like beliefs, values, prejudices, features, interests,
and heritage
 Describes brands in terms of human characteristics.

24. BRAND PERSONALITY (cont’d)
Point of creating a brand personality: Gives a sense
of creative direction for the designers
 Questions to ask while determining brand
personality
What characteristics would a brand have?
What would “foxy” do everyday if he was a human?
5 adjectives that would describe the brand

25. REFERENCING
 Find references for the various thought processes
 Must start creating a reference bank, so that at any
given point of time in a period of 6 months we don’t
need to research AS MUCH the research is present and
exists.

26. CREATIVITY
 Design must be creative
 Think about creative solutions for the project
 Must come up with something new and different that
will separate the design from the rest
 Ways to get the creative juices flowing include:
Brainstorming
Take a walk
Read a book
Draw

27. SKETCHING AND WIREFRAMES
 Before moving to design software, its important to
sketch the layout
 Helps to understand whether we are moving in a
right direction without spending too much time on
design
 For web design, wireframes are a great way to start
with the page layouts.

29. DESIGNING MULTIPLE VERSIONS
 At least two versions of a design
 Gives the client some options and allows to
combine their favorite elements from each version

30. REVISIONS
 Encourage "mixing and matching" the designs
versions
 Find client’s suggestions

31. FOLLOW THE STEPS
 Must finish each step before moving on to the next
one
Create an outline With an accurate outline,
sketch out some ideas
Make revisions With the approval of these
ideas, create the actual design
Final piece
That's much better than having a client say "Where's the
Logo?" after the work is already done!

32. Defining different
areas

33. DIFFERENT AREAS
 Web design
 Graphic design
 UI design
 Multimedia design

34. WEB DESIGN
 Skill of creating presentations of content (usually
hypertext or hypermedia)
 Content is delivered to an end-user through World
Wide Web

35. WEB DESIGN (cont’d)
 Process may utilize multiple disciplines
 Like: animation, corporate identity, graphic design,
human-computer interaction, interaction design,
marketing, photography, SEO, typography etc.

36. GRAPHIC DESIGN
 Refers to a number of artistic & professional
disciplines
 Focus on visual communication & presentation

37. GRAPHIC DESIGN (cont’d)
 Refers to both the process (designing) by which
the communication is created & the products
(designs) which are generated.
 Uses various methods to create & combine
symbols, images and/or words to create a visual
representation of ideas & messages

38. UI DESIGN
 Design of computers, appliances, machines, mobile
communication devices, software applications &
websites with the focus on the user's experience and
interaction
 Goal: to make the user's interaction as simple and
efficient as possible

39. UI DESIGN (cont’d)
 Process must balance
technical functionality
+
visual elements
to create a system that is not only operational but
also usable and adaptable to changing user needs.

40. MULTIMEDIA DESIGN
 Media + Content
 Way of communicating a concept or information
via a website, CD-ROM, kiosk, usually in an
interactive form
 Includes a combination of text, audio, still images,
animation, video, and interactivity
Types
 Linear or non-linear
 Interactive or non-interactive

41. Quote:
Design drives innovation,
Innovation powers brands,
Brands build loyalty,
And loyalty sustains profit
So… if you want long term profits,
Don’t start with technology,
Start with design