March 04, 2007

Curious George: Visual Design Rules? Every once in awhile I need to create a logo, picture, or otherwise make gud art. And never had a lesson. So. What are the Rules for Visual Design? Or which ones do you know? Or follow? Some of the links are about webdesign specifically, but I mean just in general.

All I know is: (a) Don't pose the band in front of a brick wall and (b) Good looking members in front. Outside of that - Serif or Sans Serif? Orange and brown together, or no? I'm curious because there's more design on the Intertubes today than there was yesterday and some if it's good and some of its bad but I'm not sure why.

posted by petebest 17 years ago
  • The first two are interesting links for me. I'm trying to redesign some exhibits at the local historical society - they were put up last year but they look like they've been there since the 1930s. The woman who is 'in charge' of design was a commercial artist in the 1950s and refuses to deviate from old forms of design (I'm not allowed to put ANYTHING AT A DIAGONAL.) Needless to say, on those first two links the idea of conflict creating interest would kill her and are exactly what I think of when I think 'eye-catching design'. Outside of that, as an archae/anthropologist, I find that the key thing about design is to know what it evokes, and whether that works for you (per the snake & butterfly heading.) Orange and brown works in some senses - they're warm, kind of food tones, with a 70s or 'retro' vibe. This can be unpleasant or fun, depending on the usage and the user (viewer.) I think more than anything it's a 'know your audience' thing. Design to middle-aged women who like Anne Geddes (spits) is going to be quite different than if your audience is college-aged, or, you know, accountants.
  • The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web: "a practical guide to web typography"
  • Great question, Pete. I was in the same boat when trying to design a brochure and some business cards last year. What i drew/designed came out slightly odd but i couldn't put my finger on what was wrong. Robin Williams' book, "Design for non-designers" is a big help. (The book is the one cited in your first link, she's the one who came up with the CRAP acronym). The book gives you examples of both good and bad design, and you can see why the bad designs don't work. Unfortunately, she doesn't cover color principles. The problem with a lot of design advice is that principles are too vague - e.g. "unity - nothing distracts from the whole..." uh, okay... Also is it me or are the second and third links examples of bad design? While pasting in that Amazon link above, it turns out she's put out another book that I'll have to check out.
  • Thank you for that, kirkaracha. The original is classic. Design is like anything else. How good you are at it depends on how much you've studied and practiced. It's not like everything else in that everyone thinks they can do it. (ie "You should make it bigger and center it.)
  • Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law, petes. Rip up the rule book! Destroy the old guard! DADA FOREVER!!!!!!
  • Don't do what appears to suck? I think the rules are largely subjective and based on toast scrapings, scapulamancy and a camel's nightmares. Oh, but "know thy audience" seems to work, just look at the time cube website.
  • I would like to see the Time Cube guy's business card.
  • Thanks for the good suggestions & links all. I will check out the work of R. Williams as well as the webtypeface link. I was also just cuirous what "rules of thumb" you remember readily. I find that sometimes what I think looks good is often glanced at askance by others. And I wonder if I'm violating some cardinal rule of design such as . . well, I don't know any so - but I'd guess they're out there. Fortunately my overwhelming unrepentant narcissism settles the matter, but still it is of some . . ehh . . academic interest. :)
  • It's almost too obvious to mention, but KISS and "Less is more" always work for me. Design your stuff as if the viewers' time is valuable.
  • Yeah, what retrosurf said. KISS totally rocked - I liked the cat-guy best.
  • Contrast - if not the same make them very different Repitition - Alignment - no arbitrary placment Proximity - Oooohh - I get it - CRAP! I learndeded something! *claps hands, bounces in chair*
  • Also work for me proofread.
  • Huh, it's pronounced "Sair-iff" and not "ser-eef"? The things y'learn, eh?
  • I shot the Sair-iff ....but i did not shoot no deepooty.
  • Don't put stuff that's ugly in your design. Corollary: Put stuff that isn't ugly in your design. Plaids and stripes? Never together. Everyone loves puppies.
  • Lime green and black. If you can have everything moving very slowly, so much the better. Your art will be aesthetically pleasing, and a conversation starter.
  • puppies...
  • Tip 1: Do not, under any circumstances, use Comic Sans for type. Tip 2: For photos, please do not use Lens Flare. Please. Other little things will make a difference. If you devote a little time to the study of type, you'll learn just how many "little things" you can do to make things look good. For example, look at the letters in your logo. Does the letterspacing (aka kerning & tracking) look right? Chances are, some of the letters are going to be spaced unevenly when you type it. Fixing that can have a huge impact on the quality of your work.
  • Preferably animated puppy gifs. That bark.
  • "sair-iff": Font style. "ser-eef": Egyption actor in "Lawrence of Arabia." Also: Good designers steal. Find something that appeals to you, and then "pay homage" to it - either by snaking the font scheme, yanking the color idea, or outright copy it and just tweak it so that it looks different enough they won't sue. (Tongue in cheek there, but not entirely lying.)
  • "sair-aff": a fifth-ranking Jewish angel or top-ranking Christian angel. "sans sair-aff": used to describe an angel party to which the above have not been invited.
  • Does the letterspacing (aka kerning & tracking) look right? I wondered about this one specifically . . err . . how do I know? Sometimes it's on that fine line between appearing to be spaced correctly but maybe it's not. I used the "center" text alignment or something similar so - shouldn't it be aligned? Also - how can it be spaced unevenly just after typing it? Are most fonts . . just like that? (If so - wtf? I demand justification!) (And some more diet soda if you don't mind. Ta.)
  • how can it be spaced unevenly just after typing it? What ya need ta fixit is yer basic graphic tool, yer Kerning Sander with yer secret recipe ta shave yer bits so they're smooth. Ya get me?
  • Err - no! Not really. But I think I know what you mean. It's that point where I think I may have to learn Illustrator instead of Photoshop but I don't so I kind of kludge the fudge til it's smoothed or smudged? So why is type ever difficult in the first place? Stupid . . space . . things.
  • The documentation for FreeType on sourceforge is a good overview to computer-based typography. An old favourite.
  • sweet 'n geeky - thanks roryk!