1. Design Basics
You will be…
- Designing the cover of the yearbook
- Making promotional posters
- Making yearbook pages
It is now time to learn some design basics
that will help you with these three tasks!

2. What is Design?
In general, it is a plan or drawing
produced to show the look or function
something. GRAPHIC DESIGN is the
process of visual communication through
the use of fonts, space, images, and color.

3. Elements vs. Principles
We’re going to talk about ELEMENTS of
design and PRINCIPLES of design.
Elements Principles
Line, shape, color,
value, texture, text, size,
and space.
These are the materials
you build designs with.
Contrast, repetition,
alignment ,and
proximity.
These are rules that help
you organize and place
the materials.

4. Elements of Design: Line
Lines can be used for a wide range of purposes: stressing
a word or phrase, connecting content to one another,
creating patterns, dividing up space, and much more.
Options:
Straight
Curved
Horizontal
Vertical
Thick
Thin
Dotted
Broken
Lines can create a sense of
movement or direction in your
design.

5. Elements of Design: Shape
Put lines together to create height and width, and you have
a shape. Shapes can be used to create patterns, organize
and divide space, and draw the viewer’s attention.
Options:
Geometric (triangles,
circles, squares, etc.)
Natural (plants,
animals, people, etc.)
Abstract (icons,
freeform graphic
representations)

6. Elements of Design: Color
Color is used to generate emotions, create unity, make
something stand out, and generally create visual interest.
Options:
Warm vs. Cool
Bright vs. Muted
Primary vs. Secondary
Neutral Colors
Complementary Colors + +

7. Elements of Design: Value
Value is how light or dark an area looks. Use value to create
depth and light, to lead the eye, or to emphasize.
A gradient helps us
visualize value: Any color has a range of value.

8. Elements of Design: Texture
Texture refers to what the surface of an object looks and
feels like. In graphic design, you can mimic the look of
different textures to add depth, contrast, and visual interest.
Options:
Wood
Cement
Glitter
Fabric
Paint
Glass
Metal
Paper

9. Elements of Design: Text
Different texts have different moods. They can be clean and
modern, classic and professional, Casual and fun, aggressive,
mature, immature, historical, futuristic, and so on. Try to match
fonts together that you believe complement each other.
Options:
Serif fonts: hello hello (have “hooks”)
Sans-serif fonts: hello hello
Script fonts: hello hello
Artistic fonts: hello hello

10. Elements of Design: Text
Mix font sizes
Mix bold and unbold
Mix straight and rotated
Mix fonts
Add shapes
(tips)

11. Elements of Design: Size
Size is how small or large something is. Interesting
choices regarding size can attract attention or define the
importance of an element in the design.

12. Elements of Design: Space
Space is the area around or between elements of the
design. It can be used to separate or group information.
Used effectively it can lead the eye through a design.
Options:
Positive Space:
the space the
subject takes up.
Negative Space:
the space
surrounding the
subject.

13. Principles of Design: Contrast
Separate elements in a design should stand apart from one
another. Think of contrast as a noticeable difference
between elements. You can achieve contrast using different
colors, textures, and sizes next to each other.
Color contrast
Value contrast
Texture contrast
Size contrast
BAD
GOOD

14. Principles of Design: Repetition
Repeating elements helps to create patterns. When you
repeat the use of any design element, it also creates
cohesiveness. For example, if you use a blue border on one
image, using blue borders on the other images creates unity.

15. Principles of Design:
Alignment
Alignment means that objects in the design are
visually connected so that nothing feels out of place
or disconnected. Objects “line up” with each other
when they are supposed to.
The elements on this page are not in alignment.

16. Principles of Design: Alignment
The elements on this page are now better aligned!
Alignment means that objects in the design are visually
connected so that nothing feels out of place or
disconnected. Objects “line up” with each other when
they are supposed to.

17. Principles of Design: Proximity
Proximity is how close or far away objects are from each
other. If two elements are related, they should be placed in
close proximity to each other. Doing so increases viewer
comprehension of the design.
Imagine how strange it would
look if you put distance between
and image and its label…
My Dog

18. Principles of Design: Proximity
Proximity is how close or far away objects are from each
other. If two elements are related, they should be placed in
close proximity to each other. Doing so increases viewer
comprehension of the design.
Imagine how strange it would
look if you put distance between
and image and its label…
My Dog

19. Task: search the
internet for two
professional examples
of graphic design that
you find beautiful,
interesting, or
impressive.
Your choices should
also demonstrate
some of the elements
and principles
mentioned today.
Upload your two
examples into the
designated google
folder, and see what
everyone else picked.