Hi there! I hear you like design. :P

But what is this

of which you speak?Design

is much more than simply assembling, ordering or editing.

It serves to add value and meaning.

It is to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade, and even to amuse.

Design

Image Source: Soon Mo Kang (www.yankodesign.com/2010/01/07/hang-me-some-tea/), Donkey Creative Lab (donkey-products.com/shop/de/tee/tea-party/democratea-5-teebeutel)

Design is not advertising. It is focused on clarity and experience.

Design is not art. It is a creative science.

All designs are purpose-driven.

On that note...

Image Source: Ogilvy & Mather Chris (adsoftheworld.com/media/print/comfort_fabric_conditioner_good_soak_dark_meets_son), Decature (www.chrischrischris.com), Lapis Raro (adsoftheworld.com/media/print/minas_gerais_government_fire)

What do designers do?

• Designers are communicators.

• Our designs are ideas turned into visual form.

• Designers are architects.

• Our designs are crafted experiences.

• Designers are researchers.

• Our designs are the product of understanding.

• Designers are problem-solvers.

• Our creative process is purpose driven.

Image Source: Otilia Erdelyi (lovelypackage.com/student-work-otilia-erdelyi/)

Module 1: Visual Elements of Design

Image Source: Andrew Bannecker( andrewbannecker.typepad.com/bannecker/2009/11/hopenhagen.html)

Module 1: Visual Elements of Design

• An Introduction lol

• Form and Space

• Color Fundamentals

• Choosing Type

• The Image

• Putting it Together

Image Source: Andrew Bannecker( andrewbannecker.typepad.com/bannecker/2009/11/hopenhagen.html)

Disclaimer:

The content of this material was taken from Timothy

Samara’s book entitled Design Elements: A Graphic Style

Manual, save for the designs which are credited in the

bibliography.

Also, I suck at grids, so please don’t judge me based on my

slide designs. I try. >_<

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

1. Have a concept.

2. Communicate, don’t decorate.

3. Speak with one visual voice.

4. Use two typefaces families maximum. (Or maybe three.)

5. Focus your design. Use a one-two punch.

6. Pick colors on purpose.

7. If you can do it with less, do it.

8. Create negative space, don’t just fill it up.

9. Treat type as an image.

10. Type is only type when it’s friendly.

11. Be universal; remember that it’s not about you.

12. Squish & separate.

13. Distribute light and dark.

14. Be decisive. Do it on purpose or don’t do it at all.

15. Measure with your eyes.

16. Create images. Don’t scavenge.

17. Ignore fashion and trends. Srsly.

18. Create movement. Static equals dull.

19. Look to history, but don’t repeat it.

20. Symmetry is evil.

Have a concept.Designers focus on stories. If there is no message, story, idea, narrative or useful experience, then it

is not graphic design.

Without a message, your design is just an empty shell. just muddle it.

1

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: Alex Timohovsky (www.lextimo.com)

Communicate, don’t decorate.Form contains meaning. Form

that’s not right for the message

will just muddle it.

2

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Business Card by Alex Timohovsky

Image Source: Mikey Burton (mikeyburton.com/Detonator),Hiroko Sanders (hirokosanders.com/portfolio/food/digital/index.html)

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/100-really-creative-business-cards, Contract Advertising (www.thedieline.com/blog/2011/6/24/the-dieline-awards-2011-third-place-spikes.html)

Speak with one visual voice.

All parts should speak the same language. Harmony must be present, for

the purpose of visual and conceptual

reinforcement.

3

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: Kyle Steed (steedicons.com), Pentamobili (yakal.net/2009/07/24/colourful-kid-bedroom-style-decorating-ideas-by-pentamobili)

Use two typeface families max.

Or maybe three. Choose typefaces for

specific purposes. Too many will distract

the user.

4

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: Eric Kass (www.graphic-exchange.com/exellence/funnel.htm), Phase2 (www.phase2technology.com/design)

Focus your design.Use the one-two punch.

Focus the viewer’s attention on one important thing first, and then lead

them through the rest.

Capture your audience. Without focus, you’ve lost.

5

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: John Contarino (www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/100-really-creative-business-cards/)

Pick colors on purpose.Color carries psychological / emotional meaning, which varies

tremendously between cultural

groups, contexts & people.

They affect visual hierarchy, legibility

of type and connections between disparate elements.

6

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: R Design (lovelypackage.com/tesco-herbal-tea/)

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: Timur Salikhov (lovelypackage.com/firefighter-vodka/), Zeus Jones (lovelypackage.com/thymes-mandarin-coriander/), www.albionwestcoast.com

If you can do it with less, do it.Clarity. Focus. Less.

7

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: Olly Moss (www.mondoarchive.com/poster/the-avengers-black-widow/)

Less is not always more.!

Evoke, inform, impress. Achieve

your purpose:

communication.

There are other

ways to achieve focus besides

minimalism.

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: Marian Bantjes (www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/100-really-creative-business-cards)

Negative space. Create it. Don’t just fill it up.

Negative space calls attention to content and sets it apart from its

surroundings. It gives the viewer’s

eyes a resting place.

Too little space is overwhelming, but if

improperly used, it could become disconnected.

8

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: Jordan Sparrow (www.jordansparrow.com), dBOD (www.dbod.nl/en/packaging-design/str-bottle/)

Treat type as an image.

Type needs to relate compositionally to everything else in the design, no matter

how different they seem to be.

9

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: Matei Apostolescu (beaucoupzero.deviantart.com/art/poster-33497970), Netlife Research (netliferesearch.com)

Type is only type when it’s friendly.

Type is meant to be read. It can be anything in the design, but above all else,

type must transmit information, even as a

decorative element.

10

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: Leonardo Zakour (www.behance.net/leozakour), WakWaw (wakwaw.com)

Be universal. It’s not about you.Cater to your audience. Remember the purpose/agenda of your design and

fulfill it. Don’t compromise clarity for

individuality.

11

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: Corinne Pant (www.corinnepant.com/)

Create to relate.!You don’t always have to be universal. You just have to create designs

tailored for your audience.

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: Steve Smith (www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/100-really-creative-business-cards), BVD (lovelypackage.com/beckers-scotte-2/#more-28034)

Squish & separate.Create contrast in density and rhythm by pulling material closer together and pushing other material apart.

Give space a pulse. Add contrast.

12

Image Source: Trevor Rogers (lovelypackage.com/c-t-lockhart-tennessee-whiskey/), Chen Design Associate (www.graphic-exchange.com/exellence/)

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Make sure there is a range of tonal value. Concentrate areas of extreme

dark & light in separate places. Make

distinctions between them clear.

Distribute light & dark.13

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: www.bullyentertainment.com, Tom Whalen (www.mondoarchive.com/poster/the-avengers-hawkeye/)

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Be decisive. Do it on purpose, or don’t do it at all.

The process of understanding visual material is the ability to distinguish the

difference between things. Place material

with confidence, and make clear decisions.

14

Image Source: Amazon.com, Tostitos Brand Tortilla Chips, Enon Avital (dribbble.com/shots/364961-Power-Quotes/attachments/18375)

Measure with your eyes.Design is visual. A thing is what it looks like - make it look the way it’s supposed to

look. If it looks off, even if the ruler says it

isn’t, forget the ruler.

15

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Create images.Don’t scavenge.

Make what you need and make it the best you can, or pay someone else to

do it.

Even if it’s cheaper/easier, try not to rely on what already exists. Screw

stock images.

16

Image Source: Mara Rodriguez & Catarina Pinheiro (ovelypackage.com/student-work-mara-rodriguez-catarina-pinheiro/), www.xn--knstleragentur-thringen-cpcq.de/

Ignore fashion. Srsly.

Design around meaning, not expectations or trends. Don’t be cool. Be meaningful

and useful. Who knows? You might create

a classic.

17

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: Voice (lovelypackage.com/the-piece/)

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Add movement.Because static equals dull.

Just because it’s 2-D, that doesn’t mean it has to feel flat. Create a moving and

immersive experience. :)

18

Image Source: www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/100-really-creative-business-cards, MouseGraphics (lovelypackage.com/bruken/)

Look to history, but don’t repeat it.Design around meaning, not expectations or trends. Don’t be cool.

Be inspired, but also be meaningful and

useful.

Who knows? You might create a

classic.

19

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Image Source: Unknown source, White by Mehar (whitebymehar.blogspot.com/2012/05/summer-lovinginteriors-and-colour.html)

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Symmetry is the ultimate evil.Which is ironic, because I personally like symmetry. Symmetry, however, is static

and inflexible. It makes all asymmetrical

things awkward.

20

Image Source: Turnstile (lovelypackage.com/seven-salon/)

20 Rules for Making Good Designby Timothy Samara

Information takes precedence over asymmetry.

!Image Source: Stephan Rizon (www.stephanrizon.com), www.bullyentertainment.com, Matteo Zanga (www.matteozanga.it/)

Look at the poster to the right.

Which rules are present and which ones aren’t?

Why do you think it structured like this?

What is being communicated here?

Image Source: Andrew Bannecker( andrewbannecker.typepad.com/bannecker/2009/11/hopenhagen.html)

Activity 1:

Find 10 designs from any field of your interest. List which

rules were followed and which ones weren’t. Explain why

the design was structured that way.

It might help to:

Figure out the context, purpose, message and target audience of the design.

Sometimes, it also helps to know the designer’s background. :)

Good luck!

Image Source: Alex Timohovsky (www.lextimo.com)

Book Sources:Samara, Timothy. 2007. Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual. MA: Rockport Publishers Inc.

Web Sources:graphic-exchange.com

lovelypackage.comwebdesignledger.comthedesigninspiration.commondoarchive.comdeviantart.com

webdesignerdepot.comhongkiat.com

Identity

Alex Timohovsky Mikey BurtonAmazonTostitosEnon Avital

Stephan RizonMatteo ZangaJohn ContarinoJordan SparrowMarian Bantjes

Steve SmithLeonardo Zakour

Interior Design

PentamobiliWhite by Mehar

Packaging

Soon Mo KangDonkey Creative LabOtilia ErdelyiHiroko SandersContract Advertising

Mouse GraphicsMara Rodriguez & Catarina Pinheiro Corinne Pant Timur Salikov

Trevor RogersTurnstileR DesignZeus JonesdBOD

BVDVoiceEric Kass

Book Design

Chen Design Associate

PostersChris Decature

Andrew BanneckerTom WhalenOlly MossMatei ApostolescuOgilvy & Mather

Lapis Raro

Web DesignKyle Steed

Albion West CoastWakWawBully EnterainmentNetlife ResearchPhase2

Featured Designs: