Fundamentals of Graphic Design By CalArts
This is my study notes of Fundamentals of Graphic Design provided by Coursera. The notes below contain my summaries and lecture materials. All the images below are screenshots from the online videos © CalArts.
I. Fundamentals of Imagemaking
- Image
- Type
- Shape & Color
- Composition
Denotation
It is what it is!
Imagemaking techniques
- Techniques
- shape
- color
- volume
- texture
- weight
- Process, Generation, Iteration
Connotation
Not what it is!
An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal meaning.
II. Fundamentals of Typography
How we communicate with words.
The Lexicon of Letters
The anatomy of letters:
A lot of typographic terms are based on the human body:
Words and Spacing
Alignment:
Spacing:
Type Size: The Point System
POINT SIZE - the measurement system for type.
72 points = 1 inch => 1 inch = 1/72 point
Basic standard type size:
Typesetting Text - Leading (行距)
Height btw baselines
How to Choose a Typeface
Typefaces, Fonts and Type Families
Font vs. Typeface:
Serif vs. Sans Serif:
Typeface Categories
Serif:
Sans Serif:
Weight & Width:
How to “Read” Typography
Denotation vs. Connotation in Type
How to Use a Typeface
Letterforms (字体)
Experimenting with Leterforms
Typographic Composition
III. Fundamentals of Shape and Color
Topics:
- Simple & Complex Forms
- Negative & Position Space
- Figure/Ground Relationships
- Attributes of Color
- Complimentary vs. Contrasting
- Print vs. Screen
- Repetition, Rhythm, Pattern
Graphic Shapes
Graphic shapes are used to make marks, icons, symbols.
Visual Contrast
- simple geometry shapes vs. non-geometrical shapes with contrast
- small vs. large
- vertical vs. horizontal
- narrow vs. broad/wide
- (depth) shallow vs. deep
- moving vs. static
- (tone) light vs. dark
- soft vs. hard
- (weight) light vs. heavy
- line vs. volume
Marks, Icons, and Symbols
Marks = graphic shapes = normally no connotation => denotative form
Icons:
- pictorial
- represents actual things
- easy to read
Symbols:
- non-pictorial
- represents ideas/products
- learned/coded
Negative/Positive, Figure/Ground
An object on a background relationship that results in different perceptions.
Figure/Ground relationship examples:
- black shape on white background is brighter than white shape on black background
- different figures with different depth produce the different distance on same ground
- figures in same size but different tones produce different depth (darker denser shapes are closer than those lighter fuzzier ones)