Chapter 2 Review Questions and Answers

1. Explain the design elements used in graphic design. • Lines can be straight, angular, or curved and they may be drawn in horizontal,

vertical, or diagonal directions. A line’s visual quality is determined by how the line is drawn, whether thick or thin, broken or smooth.

• Shapes are usually considered closed forms or outlines. How a shape is drawn, like a curved shape or an angular shape, gives it a specific quality. A designer uses lines as outlines or edges to create shapes, like a pyramid or a circle. Color can also define a shape without lines. If the color creates an edge, it also defines the shape.

• Color is one of the most powerful design elements. A designer needs to understand where colors are appropriate to complement the message. Color is divided into three categories: hue, value, and saturation.

• Texture describes surface quality like rust, velvet, or sandpaper. • Value determines depth and dimension of an element by the range of lightness

or darkness of an element. • Formats have advantages and limitations that need to be considered in

creating a particular design.

2. Explain the principles of graphic design. • The concept of balance is to arrange elements within an area so that these

elements promote a harmonious response. • Using Negative space that is absent of visual elements in the background

is in itself a visual element that actually does more to promote luxury or elegance, and sometimes a sense of mystery, than most other effects. Positive space uses content to fill up space to identity or explain something in a particular page.

• Emphasis provides direction to various elements in a given design, promoting the concept that some things are more important than others.

• Rhythm is a visual pattern of repeating elements that creates a sense of movement. Variation in rhythm can be adjusted by changing the shape, size, color, spacing, and position of elements in a design.

• Unity is the organization of elements in a design as though they belong together. Unity establishes continuity with a variety of elements and promotes consistency within the piece. It combines balance, rhythm, type, imagery, and tone to evoke a particular emotion to the viewer.

3. Describe font, type family, font size, tracking, leading, and four kinds of type

alignment. • A font is a set of characters such as Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana, or

Wingdings by themselves.

• A type family, sometimes referred to as a typeface, is a group of fonts that share a basic character construction, like the Arial family, which includes Arial Black, Arial Narrow, Arial Alternative, and so on.

• A font size is the measurement of type in points, instead of inches (1 point = 1/72 inch).

• Tracking adjusts the spacing between characters and words. • Leading refers to the spacing between lines of text. • The style or arrangement of setting type is called type alignment. Left

aligned flushes type to the left and is easy to read, we associate right aligned with professional return addresses on letters. Centered lines of type are used in some headlines or titles, while justified alignment places text equally on left and right sides in a column.

4. Explain in general terms contrasting symbolism or emphasis for the colors white, black, red, blue, green, and yellow, or when a different shade of a particular color is used.

• White will usually stand for purity, but can also be utilized to generate a feeling of

emptiness. Websites sometimes use white backgrounds as a neutral color for images and for easier readability of text.

• Black can show “value” in terms of elegance, such as tuxedos and gowns. Black can be used as an attention getter as a background with white, or reversed, type. Black can also suggest danger or something negative. It is also used as a “neutral” background in designing web pages with many photographs.

• Red can make the boldest of statements and may draw the viewer’s eye more than most any other color. Red can be used in small amounts for emphasis. Red can symbolize love (bright or medium red), strength (middle or true red), or anger (dark red) depending on the tone.

• Blue, as one of the most widely used colors, has different shades of meaning. Lighter shades of blue may signify dream-like fantasies. Medium and dark blues may be used to signify honesty and professionalism, and sometimes spirituality. However, in some instances, blue used as the dominant color can adversely signify depression, dreariness, or isolation.

• Green signifies nature and can be used for produce, products related to healing, or for environmental issues. Green is also used to represent wealth, as in various institutions like banks. Contrarily, green can imply jealousy or greed.

• Yellow can produce feelings of warmth and may be used to signify fast service (taxis, fast food). In contrast, yellow can also suggest danger or warning.

5. Explain the design process from concept to completion when working with a client.

• Listen to the client to understand the design challenge. Make the client feel

involved. Try to assist the client gently when suggesting changes you feel would

create a better product but do not make the client feel incompetent. You need to fully understand the client’s project in order to help.

• You need to know the market the design is intended for and what the client’s design specifications are. Is this design going to be used for print and electronic media? If so, then understanding different ways images and text are going to be presented for each medium is crucial to the success of the project.

• What materials are needed for the project, and what is your experience with these materials? What software or hardware are you comfortable with and which ones will require that you rely on others for expertise?

• Know your budget and guidelines. Complete as much research as possible so that you are able to stay within your estimate. Set a time frame for completion of various components of the project.

Process

• Once you have your design idea, thumbnails help create different possibilities for that idea. Create a dozen or more thumbnails, and then narrow them down to about six to ten per concept to show the client.

• The final rough must be created on either the computer or as camera ready art if they are accurate enough with drafting utensils. Generating three to six roughs gives the client a good idea of what the final design will look like.

• Comps show exactly what the final design will look like when printed. The designer must take painstaking efforts to make sure everything is exactly what the client had agreed to in the final rough. This is where all text, color, imagery, and compositional elements need to come together for the final client approval before going to press, electronic media, or both.

• The client should have the proof that provides instructions for the pressman and finishing operator. The print proof should show indications for folding, cutting, bleeding, trapping, registration, or any special requirements. Keep in mind that most ink-jet proofs will not show exact color but may be close enough for client approval, as long as the client understands before going to press that there may be a slight difference in some colors in the final product. Another final proof will be generated at the print site, provided for and to be approved by the client, so he or she knows precisely what all the elements will look like. The designer should also furnish a disc to the client with fonts and images used, along with any other specific information needed.

• For website designers or multimedia designers, the electronic media proof should show indications for pixel dimensions, software used, resolution requirements, text and image locations, and information, if needed, for publishing to the web, along with any special requirements. A final printed proof is also needed for checking layout of type, imagery, and all elements used, along with the final layout supplied on disc to the client. The client should have the disc contents checked on a calibrated monitor to see as closely as possible what the web page or site will look like. When working with a limited color palette for web design, the client needs to check carefully to make sure that the colors are as accurate as possible to be displayed on the web.