Design principles - Separating content from structure

Artists can separate content from structure. Most people can't do this, and that's OK, because, well, most people aren't artists. It would be a crazy world if they were! If you can separate content from structure, this blog post will make sense to you. If not, don't worry about it. Here are some examples:

A painting of a landscape has trees and mountains and flowers as the content. The structure is the canvas, the paint, the colors.

A drawing of a dog has a dog as the content. The structure is the paper that it is drawn on, the pencil or pen that is used, the technique of achieving the lights and darks.

A movie about aliens has aliens as the content. The structure is the lighting, the camera angles, the way the story is presented visually.

A band playing country and western music has country and western music as the content. The structure is the instruments used, whether the song is in 3/4 time or not, the key that it is being played in.

A dancer dancing the tango has the tango as the content. The structure is body movement and feet placement.

If you think that you can separate content from structure, try describing something, like a movie that you went to, without describing the content. Not easy! But if you can do it, you can think, and see things, like an artist.

If you would like to get personal on-site software training in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, please contact me. Paypal accepted, morning appointments only.

Design principles - Contrast

Using contrast is an easy way to show intention. And it's much easier than matching, especially in "the real world", such as interior design. A curtain may look like it matches, under certain lighting conditions, and may not under others.

Blog post on Intention is here

On a computer, of course, you can match color and size easily. And that is the easiest way to show intention. The problem with matching everything is that it tends to create a bland and boring design. Yes, you are showing intention correctly, but you want to strive for visual interest. 

Blog post on Visual Interest is here

Your goal then, is to show intention without having to match everything. You are now started on the road to visual interest. From this point on, it isn't so easy, but it's fun! That is why good designers are well-paid, and are fun to watch on Home and Garden TV, etc. You start with contrast.

Contrasts achieves intention without having to match. It is a way of avoiding a "near miss" with color or form. You are selecting a color or form that is so dramatically different from the other color or form in your design, that no one would imagine that you tried to match it, and miss. The easiest contrast to white is black. In fact, that's the best place to start with Graphic Design. Make the background white and the lettering black. Shows intention, begins working with contrast. Still a little boring? I thought that you would say that!

Thinking in terms of color, what contrasts well with white? Light beige? No, try again. Faded yellow? Come on, you're not even trying! Ah ha! Your eyes just opened up wide! The possibilities are endless now!

Blog post on working with color is here

Now go and do some contrast!

If you would like to get personal on-site software training in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, please contact me.  Yes, I will also do a training session on setting up your blog on Google Blogger. Paypal accepted, morning appointments only.

Design principles - developing an eye

Designers often talk about having "an eye" for things. That is simply the awareness of design. I've seen some of my students go through the process of developing an eye for design, and for them it was like stepping out of the darkness into the light for them. Pure magic.

Anyone can develop an eye for design and continue to refine it. In fact, you probably would be surprised at how many people who don't consider themselves designers already have "an eye". And that's a very good thing for Graphic Designers like me. If the average person couldn't appreciate good design, I would only be designing for other Graphic Designers!

My favorite example of good design that just about anyone can recognize is the Ford Mustang from 1964. Yeah, I've been using this example for a long time! The difference between a Ford Mustang and a Ford Falcon is design, or styling. They are both exactly the same car, even many of the parts are interchangeable. The chassis is the same, the engine is the same, the suspension is the same. The two cars are the same size, they have the same number of doors, same number of headlights, same number of wheels. But the Mustang sold better. And that's because the buying public recognized superior style. That's the power of design.

By the way, this is the Ford Falcon on the right. Didn't sell as well as the Mustang. Still a fine car, made by the same company with essentially the same parts.

If you would like to develop an eye for design, looking is how you do it. You won't learn it out of a book or listening to a teacher lecture. The bad news is that as your eye sharpens, you will be more tempted to buy the Mustang instead of the Falcon. If you can't see the difference, you could save money, but you would put designers (like me!) out of work.

If you would like to get personal on-site software training in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, please contact me.  Yes, I will also do a training session on setting up your blog on Google Blogger. Paypal accepted, morning appointments only.

Design principles - visual interest

Creating visual interest in design is not an extreme, it's a balance. It's that wonderful place in the middle between "boring" and "cluttered". Many of my design students have been terribly frustrated by what I call "visual interest". That's because it's not easy. For me, as a designer, it's nothing short of a magical place. The best example of visual interest that I have seen is the movie "Avatar". Visual interest is eye candy.

Visual interest is different from clutter. Everyone knows what clutter is. That's when you have too much going on, too many different sizes, different colors, different textures. If your design is cluttered, it's a mess. "Uncluttering" a design is virtually impossible. In music, the term is "cacophony" - a jumble of sounds, no harmony, basically just noise. In visual design, clutter is visual noise. It is not interesting, it is just annoying.

At the other end of the extreme is boring. That is a design that is so simple, there just isn't really anything to it. In music, it would be someone tapping on a few keys on the piano, like "chopsticks". Annoying in its simplicity.

As a designer, you will constantly be trying to balance the two extremes, from clutter on one end to boring on the other. The midpoint is what I call "visual interest". And, no, it can never really be achieved, all you can do is move towards it. When you get close to it is when the magic happens. Designers struggle with this all the time. For designers, it is the "lost chord" - the perfect balance of sizes, colors, and textures, the perfect harmony of light and dark. No, it's not done with a formula. You don't learn it out of a book, or by talking about it. You learn it by doing. You learn it by "sharpening up your eye". When you start on this road, keep in mind that it never ends. No two designers will ever totally agree. But they can come close to it.

Here is where I suggest you start - start with "boring". Start with simple, start with functional. Begin to add to that. Your design will have the advantage of actually working right away. As you develop more skill in visual interest, add more. Keep adding until you've gone to far, then start taking away. Keep doing this, forever.

If you would like to get personal on-site software training in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, please contact me.  Yes, I will also do a training session on setting up your blog on Google Blogger. Paypal accepted, morning appointments only.

Design principles - working with color

Talking about color with a designer is like talking about flavors with a chef. So much of it just can't be put into words, but I will try! There is a lot of technical, scientific stuff related to color. But that really doesn't matter to a designer, what matters is the way it feels. I am not an expert on the technical side of using color, but I am a believer in using it. I love color.

I am assuming that you can see in color. Many people, especially men, are color blind, or slightly color blind. I am not kidding here. I remember seeing my Uncle Bob being asked to describe the wood paneling in the kitchen when I was a kid, which was green. He saw brown. From there, I realized that people have a sensitivity to color, the same way that people have a sensitivity to sound or taste. And for people who have a sensitivity to color, it can bring about an incredibly pleasurable experience.

When I taught design at The Art Institute of Phoenix, I tried to use the word "hue" instead of color. If you combine hue with "value", that is, lightness or darkness, you can greatly simplify the use of color. Hue is color, such as blue, or red, or green. To picture value, imagine having a can of paint and adding white. The more white you add, the higher the value. Some people call this "shade". There are many  ways to describe all of this, so I just stick with "hue and value". You can't change hue by adding white. Picture your can of blue paint and add white. What color do you have? Light blue. Add more white. What color do you have? Lighter blue. And so on.

Now take your can of red paint and add white. What color do you have? No, there is no such color as pink. You have light red.

Color is wonderful and delicious. Use it well in your design and it will bring indescribable joy to your viewer. And I just can't describe that!

If you would like to get personal on-site software training in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, please contact me.  Yes, I will also do a training session on setting up your blog on Google Blogger. Paypal accepted, morning appointments only.
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Design principles - Intention

The most important design principle of all is "intention". It means that your design looks like it was supposed to be that way. That is, the hand of the designer can be seen. Things are not just scattered around, they are done intentionally. This is the best place to start learning design. This applies to Graphic Design, Interior Design, any type of design that includes form and color. If you are unable to show intention with your design, you might as well just throw everything together with your eyes shut.

The easiest way to show intention is to make everything match. There is really no better way to show that you intended to do that than by matching. And if a size or a color is just a little bit off, that definitely shows that you made a mistake. It's no good telling people that's what you intended. Slightly crooked looks wrong. Angled looks right. If people are tipping their heads and saying, "uh, that looks wrong", it is. Don't argue with them. You can't follow people around saying, "that's how I intended it to be!" Intention is where you start with design.

Intention can lead to "matchy-matchy" - a common criticism of interior design where everything is the same. When in doubt, go with matchy-matchy. At the very least it will look like you tried. If you would like to achieve intention without matchy-matchy, learn to use contrast. Contrast, done well, can achieve intention without becoming matchy-matchy.

If you would like to get personal on-site software training in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area, please contact me.  Yes, I will also do a training session on setting up your blog on Google Blogger. Paypal accepted, morning appointments only.