Websites with beautiful designs

http://gentlemen-barberclubs.de/

Even though this website is a German website I love the way everything is set up. The typography and the choice of colors are amazing. The pictures speaks to the audience. Nothing it over crowded. It’s not basic like other website. This company decided to take the risk of trying something new and it’s working.

http://jh-behne.de/

i simply love this website. Everything is working together. They have little animations on their website which looks very cool. The creator of the website is a 27-years-old Designer/Animator from Hamburg, Germany. The work looks very sophisticated and simple. Even though the website has very little information you would still want to keep looking at it.

http://12musketeers.com/

I picked this website because Didot is one of my favorite font. I love the way everything is set. The background pictures and the articles matches with each other. Everything is very organized.

INTERESTING WEBSITES FOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

http://logo-archive.org/

The logo archive is a very interesting website for graphic designers. One this site it shows designers ideas of many different kinds of logo design. I personally like how the website is designed in black in white because it is appealing to the eye. Being that the design is in black and white it’s very easy on the eyes to look at the design better. But one thing that I do not like about this website is that there are no categories so basically you just keep scrolling down at the millions of logo designs.

 

http://www.sweetmagnoliagelato.com/

What’s interesting about sweet magnolia gelato is that it’s not your average designer website. It’s actually a website for gelatos. But what makes it a perfect website for graphic designers is that is the further you click on its content the more graphic elements you see. It has an amazing layout and can give great inspiration if you’re having trouble coming up with a design. Is has amazing typography and it’s also well balanced in color.

 

http://www.nationalposterretrospecticus.com/

The national poster retro is a great website because it shows a whole gallery of poster design created by designers all over the nation. This is also another resourceful website if you’re looking for poster design inspiration as well. Another downfall again is that they aren’t many selections. But once again if your just looking for some fresh ideas for a poster design. This is the perfect website that can do just about that.

Three Graphic Design Websites

http://www.aiga.org/what-is-design/

This website gives the viewer an idea of what graphic design is and what is is used for. It talks about the responsibility of a designer as well as describing the design field that an individual may take. It talks about the design jobs within the different job titles and the different medium there is for a graphic designer.

 

http://wegraphics.net/blog/articles/how-to-become-a-self-made-graphic-designer-getting-started/

This is a good website because it guides you into a self-made graphic designer. It provides a list of books to give you ideas for the design field and what may be advertised or designed. It gives you tips and free vectors that you may want to try out. It provides high quality products to help you in the design field.

 

http://graphicdesignjunction.com/2015/12/100-greatest-free-fonts-for-2016/

This website provides many fonts that you can use in your layout. It shows inspiration and gives tutorials. It also shows examples of logos you can get ideas from and create your own.

3 Graphic Design Websites

http://designshack.net/articles/graphics/5-ways-to-boost-contrast-in-your-web-design/

This article focuses on 5 different ways to boost contrast in your web design. These particular ways involve making certain objects or text bigger or smaller, to add a little texture, changing the shape, adding color, and doing something unexpected (innovative). Symmetry and order can cause your design to lose some form of hierarchy/contrast. By adding texture to a design it tends to create some type of visual focus. Changing shape or orientation of an element in a design can also add immediate impact. Last but not least, the final way to create high contrast in this article is adding an innovative and random shape or detail.

 

https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/vital-tips-for-effective-logo-design/

This article by Jacob Cass is about “Vital Tips For Effective Logo Design”. A logo should be recognizable, inspiring trust, admiration, loyalty and an implied superiority. Logos are mainly used to identify. When creating a Logo you must take into account the history about the company. You also can conduct a questionnaire or interview with the client you are designing for to get a design brief. The key to creating a Logo overall is lots of research, creative thinking, and reflection.

 

http://www.amberddesign.com/articles/

This article involves some graphic design tips for beginners. First off typography is one of the most important elements of any design that helps to create contrast. The grid approach also is an important aspect of graphic design in order to create outstanding visuals. Also another very important rule of thumb for graphic designers is to keep it simple. By making a design chaotic you will lose your audiences interest. My favorite tip overall is knowing the principles, a few of them are: alignment, balance, contrast, repetition, consistency, gestalt, white space and other basic elements.

Project No. 2: Chap Book

Now that the Type Book is finished, we are ready to begin the next project. We will began this project in class, but here are the details so that you can make certain you stay on track.

  • Your Chap Book project will be a 12-page booklet, including the cover.
  • It can be  autobiographical or on a topic of your choice that your interested in. Please have your topic cleared by me.
  • All of the content will be your own. You will do the writing and the photos or illustrations or graphic elements. Any content you find elsewhere must be properly created, otherwise that would be copyright infringement.
  • When you set up your pages in InDesign, the measurements are 5.5″x8.5″ (or 33picas x 51picas).
  • You will determine the number of columns for your grid system.
  • We will begin learning the anatomy of magazine pages, so you are expected to use these elements in your Chap Book design.
  • When the design is complete, you will assemble the layout for printing, then staple down the center of the spine to create saddle-stitching.
  • You may print in black and white to save money, but your design will be in color.
  • After the print version, you will be taking your design and adding interactive elements (video, music, etc) and producing the Chap Book that can be viewed on tablets as well as web browsers.

 

The project is on a tight deadline and I will try to keep you on track as much as possible. It may at times seem like I am rushing you. The print version of this project should be complete by the time we have our spring break.

Due Monday, 4/11/16: You should be finished with your cover design even though you may not have any idea about your coverlines yet—they can come later. The important thing is to have the cover design be finished with the suggested revisions from the critique. You should also begin layout for your interior pages. This means over the weekend, set up your master pages, paragraph and character styles. If you need help with these things, make use of the videos that I have already posted on this site.  This also means that you have already begun to collect the content for your project. In class on Monday we will continue to work on the interior pages.

Class 5 – The Grid System and Why We Use It

Here’s a brief recap from last Wednesday’s class. One of the main things we covered was how to work with the grid system.

A grid is a non printing system of horizontal and vertical lines which help the designer align the elements of the layout. This system of alignment helps to create a more organized layout. In multiple page documents, the grid assists in the consistent placement of design elements. Think of the grid as the skeleton of the layout.

Vocabulary used:

  • text page – the area on a page, within the margins, where text appears.
  • margin – the area of the page around the text area.
  • folios – the page number. In most instances this is at the bottom of the page below or outside the text area.
  • header – the area at the top of the page, outside the text area. A running header is a header that is repeated across many pages
  • footer – the area at the bottom of the page, outside the text area. A running footer is a footer that is repeated across many pages.
  • gutter – the gutter separates the columns and rows from each other. It is also the area where two facing pages meet.
  • active corner – the upper left corner of any field in a grid system. This is where the top of the text is aligned.
  • passive corner – the bottom right corner of any field in a grid.

Review pages 177-221 of our textbook for full details.

In InDesign we learned to set up columns for a grid, how to use a temple, and how to save a file as a PDF. We did this as we were introduced to the Type Book project.

Homework Due Monday, 2/22

Class 4 – Introduction to Adobe InDesign CC

After a few exercises to review letterspacing, tracking and kerning, we began to explore the working environment of Adobe InDesign.

Areas covered:

  • Creating a new document
  • The InDesign workspace
  • Working with text boxes, fonts, point sizes, leading alignment
  • Leading, measurements, kerning

 

Forms of text alignment:

  • flush right (aka flush right/ragged left) = the text is aligned on the right edge and the left edge is ragged
  • flush left (aka flush left/ragged right) = the text is aligned on the left edge and the right edge is ragged
  • center = lines of text with the midpoints aligned
  • justified = the right and left edges are aligned

If you missed the class, here is a video that might help you out. It is a bit long but complete in helping your get started:

 

Homework — Due Wed, 2/17/16

  • Reading Assignment in textbook: Grid System pgs 177 -221 (be prepared to answer one quiz question on this topic)
  • Typography in your neighborhood – As you travel through your neighborhood, look and the typography and take photos of the different type you see. Write 2 paragraphs explaining with the typography in your neighborhood reflects about your neighborhood. Use Google Docs and add the photos to the document. Use no more than 4 images. The typography might be seen on signs, storefronts, buildings, etc.
  • Spend a some time reviewing the articles posted by your classmates and leave comments.
  • Watch the video: Typography & Design below