Graphic Design
Graphic Design is a term that most everyone is familiar with in today’s business arena. Graphic design can loosely be defined as an art form of combining pictures with text, commonly used in advertisements, books, and magazines. With today’s technology just about anybody with access to Photoshop or anyone of the multitude of online designing tools can render “graphic designs” but I assure you there is more than text on a picture that truly defines a graphic designer and their skill set. A true graphic designer will have a solid understanding of color theory, as well as design trends and the emotional and psychological feelings that the finished product will provoke.
Photoshop Makes You a Graphic Designer, Right?
Did you know that visual designers traditionally go to school for around four years, earning a bachelor degree? Over the course of this time, each designer starts to develop their skill set which contains strengths and weaknesses. For instance, the head of Fusion’s art department earned his degree and spent the next 10 years working in art departments in the silkscreen and signage industry before taking on the responsibility of overseeing our art department. This has given him an amazing eye that allows him to combine great detail with limited color palettes.
Lines and Shapes
Brushstrokes, colors, lines, and shapes come together forming the finished piece are the building blocks of a quality design. These building blocks are carefully chosen and strategically placed to direct the viewer towards the CTA (call to action). Symmetry and asymmetry create a balance for the design. Did you know that most designers and artists have a tendency to prefer asymmetry for its eye-catching nature?
White Space
White space (also spelled whitespace) is also known as “negative space”. This is the blank or empty part of the design/advertisement. White space is commonly overlooked and neglected by newer designers but any veteran designer will be quick to point out that empty space allows our brains to distinguish the most important elements of what we are looking at. This is similar to the hierarchy of header tags in writing. The title of the article is traditionally the largest font on the page and subtitles help you to distinguish different information throughout the piece.
Go Buy a Graphic design template
Graphic design templates are quickly becoming as popular as stock photographs. They cut down on design time and allow anyone with a basic understanding of Photoshop to manipulate their placeholder text and elements. At Fusion Marketing we pride ourselves on avoiding the use of templates on our projects because we want our clients, and their projects, to stand out from the crowd.
Good Design Takes Time
Have you ever met someone that paints traditional art? If you’ve had the opportunity to pick their brain they have most likely mentioned that the finished pieces usually have multiple designs buried beneath the final product. Graphic design is no different. Many times a designer will start out with a sketch or a concept but quickly discovers that it simply won’t work as they start translating it into the digital medium. Over time and experimentation,
