Author: Neftaly Malatjie

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    Informative

    One purpose design fulfills is to provide information to the audience. Imparting knowledge, giving facts and increasing one’s understanding falls into the remit of any of the following:

    • Signs
    • Directories
    • Plans
    • Manuals
    • Guides
    • Instructions
    • Museums
    • Exhibitions

Some of the effects of colour occur only in the eye and brain of the viewer, and are not physical properties of light waves or pigment. These illusions, however, are very powerful, and have enormous impact on our responses to colour.

Colour Proportion refers to the impact of the relative quantity of a given hue or value used in colour compositions. In order to achieve over-all unity, and/or create emphasis, one should make a clear decision as to which colours should be assigned the largest and least areas. The colour proportion choice will also affect the impact of the colour composition. This can be seen in the set of panels shown here. The very same colours are used in each panel. Yet depending on the choice of dominant colour, the feeling of the composition, and even the appearance of each color, is altered.

Simultaneous Contrast is the phenomenon which occurs when a colour appears to change when seen against a different background. A set of principles were first laid out in the 19th century by Chevreul, a dye master for the Gobelin tapestry works, who became an important colour theoretician. His principles state that changes in the hue, value, saturation (purity of hue), and area of a background color will alter the appearance of the selected color. The print shown here is made up of wavy bands of colours. Some of the bands extend from the center panel to intrude into areas of contrasting hue in the side panels.

Optical mixture is the phenomenon which occurs when small particles of different colors are mixed in the eye; this type of mixture differs from pigment mixture in that it is based on light primaries. However,optical mixture differs from light mixture in which the primaries will mix to white, and from pigment mixture, in which the primaries mix to black. In optical mixture there is an averaging of hue and value, resulting in grey. Optical mixture is experienced when observing many textiles, such as this example, a detail from a handwoven tapestry. It can also be seen in natural objects, color television, and printed color pictures.

• • • There has been always a curiosity about understanding the  nature of creative process. Graphic design is no exception to  it. It is believed that creative people are ‘gifted’ and bestowed with special power or gift of generating beautiful ideas. Although, there is some bit of truth in this belief, since some people are naturally fluent in generating interesting ideas  and articulating them, it is also true that if a person makes efforts and understands various procedures and subtle dynamics of creative thinking and then follows it in a step by-step manner then it can yield creative results. Creativity is a natural gift as well as it can be nurtured. Intuition and

      inspiration certainly aid and enhance the final results of any creative activity but in general if a designer follows a process in a certain way then that can also lead to creative output. Each graphic designer develops one’s own method for solving design problems, then evolves that method over a period of time which culminates into a special ‘style’ of that designer. No designer will view a problem from the same perspective; on the other hand, uniqueness of creative solutions lies in this specific aspect of problem perception. However, it is possible to capture major commonalities across various styles and develop a broad outline of the design process

      

    • Another interesting fact about the design process is that in a professional set up, because of the work pressures and many other business compulsions, ideal design process is never followed or practiced. Always there will be compromises. Now in such a situation a graphic designer has to make a decision that to what extent one can compromise or what aspects of the process can be compromised. In spite of the harsh realities of the work environment, most of the designers try to remain as truthful as possible to the design process.

• • • 1. The design considerations phase is where you make a list of factors that need to be considered in broad terms. You do not need to go into the details (i.e. the specifics) at this stage. The type and number of factors you have is unique for each project. That means everyone will have their own set of design considerations specific to their design brief. A good set of design considerations accurately addresses the unique areas of concerns of your proposal as written in your design brief. 

      2. Design Constraints (or Limitations)

         Design constraints (of limitations) are the extensions of design considerations.  In every design attempt, there will be limitations or constraints or some form of hindrance. Some projects may be constrained by physical space or budget. Some limited by the choice of materials or colors. And most with a time constraint.

         Drafting your Design Considerations and Constraints

         To draft your Design Considerations and Constraints, you may begin with asking the following question out loud in your head:

         ‘To (insert your design brief here), what must I consider? I must consider ….‘

         
         

• • • As a design begins to take shape, functionally if not structurally, it begins to acquire attributes, or characteristics that make the design unique. Sometimes, by reasoning about the attributes, one can make headway towards a complete design. Each attribute of a design usually implies certain properties or behaviors of the product. Think about the properties that the attributes imply, and try to find ways to use those properties to improve the design.

      Certain properties of objects are obvious targets for this kind of reasoning. Some of these include:

       

      Shape

      If something is square or flat, can it be used as a base for something else? If it’s round, can it be rotated for some useful purpose?

       

      Weight

      Is something heavy? Can this be used to stabilize the product? How should the weight be distributed to achieve this?

       

      Density

      Low density materials make things light. What are the advantages of very light (or very heavy) things?

       

      Surface finish

      Roughly finished things tend to have high coefficients of friction. Is that useful?

       

      Conduction

      Is electric conduction an advantage or a disadvantage? Can something that is conductive be used safely as a ground?