10 Graphic Design Tips for Non-Designers

10 Graphic Design Tips
for Non-Designers
IxDWorks & Tallinn Summer School 2014
Valeria Gasik, Daria Tokranova, Roger Puks
Tuesday, July 29, 14

1.Good design has a reason
(...and isn’t random)
• Who are you designing for? What is the attitude of
your project? What is the message you want to
deliver?
• Why? Education and teaching, calling for action,
featuring and spotlighting?
• Do your research: Google your way to the market
knowledge.

Simple and easy? Serious and ofﬁcial?
Beautiful and girly? Good old retro?

2. Minimal is NOT lazy.
(Laconic design is a good design)

White color is not a reason to panic :)

3.Images can say a lot
(so don’t let them say stupid things)
Make sure your visual:
• ...has good quality (hi-res, no watermarks, avoid or correct
“noise”/chromatic aberration, good focus and light)
• ...tastefully used (don’t over-design with lot’s of graphics)
• ...ﬁts to the concept

4. Pick your colors carefully
(and stick to 2-4 color palette)

www.colourlovers.com/palettes

Pantone color of theYear
2014 - Radiant Orchid

5. Nail the typography
•Go simple!
• Limit use of different fonts to 2 (max 3)
• A good font can “be” your design
• Avoid “funny”,“gimmicky” and crazy
fonts.
• Find font that works for you and use it
with pride :)

Serif for headlines and Sans-Serif for text

google.com/fonts/

6.Create a hierarchy
• Choose ONE important thing in your
design and build everything else around it
• Emphasize and accentuate key-elements
with one color/font
• Don’t try to get everything to stand out

7. Seek for inspiration
• Check moodboard libraries or create your
own (can go digital with Moodboard app or
crafty with just scissors and printed media)

• Do sketches and doodles, just for yourself.
(things that you love, ideas that are better expressed on paper — anything)
• Invest time in your good taste — observe
good design and beautiful things around you.
(Communicate your tacit knowledge and gradually develop you aesthetic sense
and taste by setting a minimum of beautiful things you should see per day. It can
be a magazine, a blog, a gallery, a museum — everything you think will add a tiny
drop to the ocean of your good taste.)

8. Steal good ideas
(never copy and imitate!)
• Good ideas, that are worth to be continued
and developed further
• Techniques and styles, but only for re-
mixing with your own personality
• Design elements like great colorschemes,
font combinations, interesting composition
etc
• Your old designs and ideas
Do “steal”:

9. Don’t steal anything else
• Make sure images you use are purchased and
licensed accordingly
(every visual in Google Images has an owner and some of those owners are
well equipped with good lawyers)
• Re-check font license for commercial
projects
• Sound libraries and music tracks
• Even when license formalities are set,
crediting authors is a good manner

10. Use common sense
• Double check for spelling/grammatical
errors
• Be modern but not “trendy” as it goes old
• Add content that is relevant (unique and
interesting to read)
• Don’t over-design! (there has to be a
moment of letting go.)
• Listen to feedback from everyone, yet listen
to critiques of professionals only.

Bonus. Be yourself :)
• Use your personal hobbies and interests,
knowledge and skill set to make your
design unique
• Make your own photos/illustrations
• Work on your style and vision

10 Graphic Design Tips for Non-Designers

Recomendados

Recomendados

Mais conteúdo relacionado

Último

Último (20)

Destaque

Destaque (20)

10 Graphic Design Tips for Non-Designers