Design Post Update

How To Be A Graphic Designer

A graphic designer normally works to a brief (set of instructions) set by the client. They develop creative ideas and concepts choosing the appropriate media and style to meet the client's requirements. Graphic design requires creativity, knowledge of industry standard design software and a practiced approach to managing time and costs and meeting deadlines.

The Victorian style was deeply influenced by their nostalgia for objects from the past. The Victorian design style almost always filled the entire page with images and type. Typical design elements of early Victorian style were the use of outer decorative borders and elaborate typography. Symmetry was also used heavily in layout and design.

Later Victorian style tended to use the decorative borders less but still used ornate type and romantic imagery. Typography through the Victorian era generally appeared in a curve or wave and was commonly encompassed in a banner.

To Recap, the main characteristics of the Victorian graphic design style are...

Art Nouveau Style Graphic Design:

Sample of Art Nouveau Style Graphic Design

Art Nouveau is a style of decorative art, architecture, and design prominent in western Europe and the USA from about 1890 until about 1920 and was characterised by intricate linear designs and flowing curves based on natural forms and an 'earthy' colour palette.

These identifiable flat, outlined illustrations and hand-drawn typefaces leads to Art Nouveau sometimes being confused with Art Deco, but there is a clear distinction between the two. Art Nouveau looks hand drawn and prefers natural lines and shapes to the highly geometric shapes that define the Art Deco style.

Post-Modern Style Graphic Design:

Samples of Post Modern Style Graphic Design

Post-modernism didn't have much impact on graphic design until the middle of the 1980's. Initially, many designers thought it was just undisciplined self-indulgence. A hodgepodge of styles, with no unifying ideals or formal vocabularies, dreamed up by students in the new graduate programs. But in fact it was a new way of thinking about design, one that instigated a new way of designing. This mixed up style is characterized by a tilted axis, collage-like illustrations, overlying figures, and impulsive decoration. This style has been used in varying degrees since its first uses and, if used correctly, can give projects a unique expression.

They created works beginning in the 1970s without any set adherence to rational order and formal organization. They also seemed to entirely pay no attention to traditional conventions such as legibility. Yet, while post-modern design did not consist of one unified graphic style, the movement was an expressive and playful time for designers who searched for more and more ways to go against the system.

To Recap, the main characteristics of the Post Modern graphic design style are...

• collage like illustrations
• overlapping elements
• impulsive and playful
• tilted axis

Quick Overview...

The Graphic Design Timeline - Click to enlarge

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Open file in Photoshop

Select image

Create clipping mask

Step 4.

Add a background colour (if you want) and that's it, simple as that.

Completed text effect with image inside it

You can do a lot with text in Photoshop through both simple and advanced techniques

Photoshop was and still is primarily a photo editing software and always will be but it does have a wide range of text editing tools and capabilities that often go untapped or unnoticed by us. The tips below will help you to make the most of text in Photoshop.

Box Over Point

Always create a text box rather than a text point. Click and drag when using the text tool to create a text box. This gives you more control and options when positioning and formatting the text.

Diagonal Text

You can have text going horizontally or vertically. If you want to put it diagonally, type it horizontally first then use Edit > Transform > Rotate.

Divide and Conquer

Give separate pieces of text, such as paragraphs, a text box of their own. This will maximise your editing opportunities if you want to make major revisions or changes later. This is especially true with posters, magazines or CD/DVD covers.

Quick Access

To return into a text box double click on the ‘T’ beside the text layer. This is the easiest, fastest and most fool proof method. You may think to just double click on the box in the canvas but you need to be using the text tool first to do this while with the other method you don't.

Colouring In

To change the colour of text you must enter into the text box, highlight it and then choose a colour from the text colour picker at the top of the screen, not the colour picker on your tool bar. You never use the paint bucket or paint brush as this will force rasterisation of the layer. A layer style > colour overall will also work but takes longer to add and to edit.

Don't Rasterize

Never rasterize text unless it is totally necessary, read any pop ups that appear and if it says you must rasterize the text cancel it unless you had intended it. The text will no longer be an actual text layer once rasterized so If you rasterize text you will lose all the text editing capabilities like changing the font style or using text warps.

Text Warp

When using text warp you should reduce the text box to snugly fit the text. This is because the text warp actually warps the text box and not the text directly, so a snugger text box gives you more control with the text warp.

Styles before Filters

Layer styles can be applied to text without rasterizing it but filters from the filter gallery cannot be applied to text without rasterizing it.

Customising Letters

To edit the shape of text by editing anchor points you first need to convert it to a shape. To do this, select the layer, go to layer> type> convert to shape. This will turn the text into a shape layer. You can then edit the individual anchor points using the direct selection tool.

Images as Text

You can use the horizontal or vertical type mask tool to “cut” text from an image. It works by selecting part of the image in the shape of the text you have typed. This can be a nice effect to have an image running through your text as opposed to a flat colour or gradient. This tool works like normal text but after you have typed the text you will then need to use the move tool to move the selection to the canvas or canvas area you want it on.

Character and Paragraph

The Character and Paragraph windows give you additional text editing options such as line height, letter spacing, text height, font weight, alignment and much more. Good text is very important in design, spend time working on it and experimenting with the different options that can be achieved.

The Graphic Design Process

The Graphic Design Process is a series of steps that a designer takes when working on a graphic design project; put simply it is a more graphic design focused version of the general design process. The details of each stage will differ depending on the type of design but the approach should always be the same. It is vital to stick to the process during a design as skipping a stage, completing stages out of order of not using the process at all will result in a lower quality outcome, an outcome the client is not happy with or even worse no outcome at all.

The diagram above outlines the basic stages of the graphic design process and below each stage is explained in more detail.

1. Analyse The Brief

Each design project will begin when a client delivers the designer with a brief. The brief will outline what the client wants although as the client will likely have no design experience it is important for the designer to carefully analyse all details given by the client and if necessary to make further enquiries about the needs of the client.

2. Identify Key Requirements

Based on the analysis of the brief you must identify the most important parts/key requirements. Ask yourself, what requirements must I fulfil? For example when designing a poster for an event, the simple act of including the time, date and venue are much more important than any other aspect as a poster without the necessary details is useless. It is therefore important to identify and prioritise the key requirements of the brief. The graphic design style most appropriate to the brief should also be identified at this point.

3. Research Existing Designs

Research is important to identify possible design styles and ideas which may also suit the needs of your client. These samples can be used when meeting with the client to identify the style of image/design which they prefer. For students research will also help to familiarise yourself with industry standard designs and the quality of design which is required.

4. Generate Ideas

Coming up with an idea for the design, a slogan for a campaign, an image for a poster, a name for a website etc. can be difficult. However, by focusing on fulfilling the key requirements of the brief and allowing your research to inspire you it is possible to generate original designs for your project. Brainstorming is often used where a lack of ideas is a problem. Free writing is a type of brainstorming which simply involves relaxing your mind and writing down any and all ideas you have as quickly as possible without really thinking. Having your research around you can help when doing this. It may seem very simple but generally people have numerous ideas but they tend to dismiss them before writing them down, considering them down and allowing them to be developed into viable design solutions. For help and assistance visit our article on idea generation.

5. Develop Ideas

It is good practice not to settle on simply one idea but rather to choose 2 or 3 of your best ideas and develop them through simple sketches, drawings, colour scheme test pages and font style sheets. These steps all help to develop your ideas and highlight which one has the most potential for success. Sketching will also help to identify possible layouts/compositions that can be used.

6. Produce The Design

Once an idea has been selected and sufficiently developed it is time to begin producing/creating the design. It is important to note that this is commonly the stage that overeager student designers begin at and without stating the obvious this should never be done. Depending on the type of design different softwares or materials will be used to create the design but regardless of the means of production it is important that the previous stages are not forgotten and that the key requirements are fulfilled. For help and assistance with the graphic design production stage you may find our Photoshop tutorials useful.

7. Test The Design

This is a quick and simple stage of the process but one that is often overlooked. For printed designs testing simply involves printing the design to ensure the resolution and colours are of good quality, that no clipping of important details occur and that text is readable and without errors. For website design this stage will involve checking that all features are functional, that links are working and that page loading speeds are acceptable.

8. Place The Design Insitu

For printed designs this will involve placing the poster/logo/sign/banner etc. in its intended position and ensuring that text is readable from an acceptable distant, images are clear and that the colours do not clash with or blend into their surroundings. For websites this will involve publishing the website online and rechecking all features and functions. For other types of designs, such as architecture or interior design, a programme such as Photoshop can be used to digitally place the design into its intended environment.

9. Evaluate The Design:

Before presenting your final design to the client it is vital that you evaluate it without bias. The easiest way to do this is simply return to stage 2 where you identified the key requirements of the brief and see if you have successfully fulfilled them. It may also be useful to get the opinion of others at this stage if you fear you will be unable to objectively evaluate your own design.

10. Redesign:

This step is only necessary if, after evaluation, you feel you have not successfully met the key requirements of the design brief. This stage involves returning to the beginning of the process and returning through each step correcting the errors which led to the key requirements not been fulfilled.


If you enjoyed this article then perhaps our articles on the web, interior, games or furniture design processes may also be of interest.