Getting Started
Use design guidlines and vary them to
add interest and excitement.
Group elements that are related.
Prioritize parts of your message.
Hand sketch your plans and experiment.
Understanding Your Message
Before starting a project, ask yourself these questions.
- Who is the intended audience?
What is the basic message you're trying
to communicate?
In what format will readers encounter
your message: computer screen or paper?
What similar messages have your readers encoutered from other sources
or competitors?
The more you define your project's purpose and environment, the stronger your design will be.
Train yourself to analyze the work of others. You can learn a lot from
effective and ineffective design.
When you get stuck on a project, spend a few moments reviewing your
favorite designs on file. Chances are, they'll serve as catalysts for your
design decisions.
In making design decisions, consider the degree to which design
enhances or detracts from the basic message you want to communicate.
With so much power at you fingertips, it's easy to forget that straightforwaredness is a virtue and that graphic design needs to be
invisible to the reader.
Successful design is based on attention to detail. Often the smallest offending details can sabotage the appearance of an otherwise attractive
project.
Tips for next time: Organization
If you want to be succesful, you'll want to get
organized. Effective graphic design is based
on organization as much as it is inventiveness.