The Basic "CRAP" of Graphic Design!
I thought I would jot this down for anyone who is interested, to read about the basics of graphic design. I spent years in design school earning my BS, so I thought to myself that sharing some of my knowledge might help solve some design issues. I promise to make it a quick read with a link to more info at the end.
Ok, before you get mad at me (!), the word CRAP above, stands for the basic principles of graphic design I learned during my first days in graphic design. C is for contrast. The idea behind proper contrast is to make the parts of the design (elements) "snap" that need to be noticed.
Next, we have R for repetition. Repetition isn't intended to repeat something just to fill up space, but rather, to again, make the reader notice something and to make the design more appealing.
A is for alignment. This is a big one for me because too often I see designs that appear out of balance due to cramming too many elements into a design, or centering text when left or right alignment would be a better job of providing the reader with a more visually appealing design.
P for proximity goes together with alignment in many ways. Proximity means to group like elements together with proper alignment to make the message obvious and easy to see. When speaking of proximity, familiar terms such as unity and continuity come to mind.
Well, there you have it, a very basic lesson of sorts about graphic design. I know that some of the WP themes allow for a small amount of customization, but if you understand the basics you may be able to improve on your theme by following and understanding these basic tips.
As promised, here's the link to a good article about this topic: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/...
Tom
Recent Comments
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You had me wondering for a moment but I am sure you will never forget those 4 letters. Thanks for the lesson, will bookmark the link for later as I am about to fall asleep; it was a 9 hour day in the studio today.
Hi, thanks for the follow. I'll do the same for you. Checked out your site. Good, I find it interesting. You have some good material there, stuff you know, which is great. Good luck, I know you'll do well. It's a great community here.
I have to admit I love to play at Canva too. I appreciate your advice in this post. It's amazing how changing things ever so slightly can make all the difference to design outcome! ~Mark
Hey Mark,
I didn't know about Canva. Thanks to you and Mike for the heads up. Do either of you think that more advice or training on graphic design work might be something the community would enjoy and find useful? If so, what kind?
Tom it may be an idea to ask it as a question to see what people want to know more about. Off the top of my head useful topics would be advice about using colors, fonts, layouts, logos... the kind of things that are important on websites.
That's exactly what my intent is. Graphic design addresses all those topics, and more. And, it will keep me sharp. Thanks Mark.
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Do you know if there are any free tools out there for someone (aka a total rookie) who may want a simple design but would prefer to try it themselves before paying for a design/logo?
Hi Lisa, I don't know of any free tools you could use for a well designed logo, but the least expensivee tool I know of costs around $40. It's Snagit by Techsmith. Here, you can create some awesome designs that allow for alignment, and it includes a color picker to customize your colors. It also has screen capture tool that allows you to zero in on any image on your screen for capture. It also records audio and video from your screen. Hope this helps!
Unfortunately, many of the free tools (GIMP) have very steep learning curves. Other free tools are not geared toward logo design but things like infographics and banners instead. Microsoft Paint isn't a bad design program and you can find multiple free tutorials on it as well. I suggest going to download,com and searching for free graphics programs for your particular computer platform.
Thanks so much! What’s silly is I can probably have a graphic designer create something for me for less than $50. I’m going to reach out and see and in the meantime, I’m going to check out the resources, I just happen to have a personal interest in GD. Thanks so much!!
Thanks so much @TomMarchido! I will definitely check it out over the weekend!
You're welcome, Lisa!