The Ins & Outs of Digital Graphic Design for Beginners
Digital graphic design encompasses many facets, ranging from user interface (UI) design to videography and animation. Many digital designers work as freelance professionals with extremely flexible work schedules in a range of industries, but if you’re unsure what this field entails - read on.
Interactivity
Digital Graphic Design (DGD) is a form of visual communication that utilizes computer programs to design user-friendly interfaces for products, making them easier for consumers and more visually pleasing. Although Digital Design may sometimes be confused with Graphic Design, both digital design vs. graphic design actually serve several different functions. DGD specializes in optimizing top layers while GDD concentrates more on aesthetic elements.
Be mindful that people can be sensitive to change; accordingly, it is crucial that digital designers balance the amount of content included on each screen to reduce user error. When users must scroll through too much material they become more susceptible to making errors than when browsing less-than-ideal pages and screens.
Digital graphic design is an ever-evolving field that requires both creativity and computer programming skills to master. It encompasses everything from creating logos, brochures and other marketing collateral to analyzing target audience needs and designing products accordingly.
Responsive Design
Digital designers employ responsive web design techniques to adapt websites and apps to user devices or screen sizes, creating wireframes, mockups and prototypes to demonstrate this effect. Data analytics are often employed to gain an understanding of how a site performs (page views or clicks on links or buttons for instance). Once their designs have been passed off to developers for production.
Responsive web design uses proportion-based grids and media queries to adapt a web page's layout as the viewport changes, for instance reshuffling into two columns for tablets and one column for smartphones as the viewport shifts. Designers must consider content hierarchy at each breakpoint point and prioritize information that users may require, helping reduce scrolling while improving the user experience.
Skeuomorphism
Skeuomorphism is a design philosophy that mimics physical objects in digital interfaces which you can learn about here. This can create a sense of familiarity for users and encourage interaction with the product, as well as enhance its overall aesthetic - leather stitching on drop-down menus or shadows that mimic real cracks on wood surfaces are examples of such detail that make this style appealing and user-friendly.
First generation iPhones utilized skeuomorphic elements to assist new users in learning how to operate their device. For instance, the Camera app featured DSLR-esque imagery while its settings menu mimicked an old-fashioned car dashboard; these details helped bridge the gap between abstract concepts such as sending messages and their literal implementation (clicking an envelope icon).
Skeuomorphism certainly has its advantages, but it's important to keep in mind that flat design is fast becoming the go-to style. Designers are increasingly using combinations of styles in order to achieve a more contemporary yet still familiar aesthetic - beveled edges, shadows and reflections can create depth illusions while natural colors with muted tones create more polished aesthetics - these changes might seem minor but have significant ramifications on user experiences.
Visual Hierarchy
Visual hierarchy is an imperative design principle, organizing elements by priority and leading viewers through content in an orderly fashion. It uses size, color contrast and positioning to demarcate proprietary elements and provide a structured user experience. Visual hierarchy follows natural reading patterns of human eyes for seamless navigation experience while increasing effectiveness by helping viewers grasp information quickly and lead them towards specific actions.
When creating a visual hierarchy, it's essential that all elements have the appropriate sizes and colors (https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/visual-design.html). A general guideline would be to make the more important items larger so they stand out - this way the viewer will notice them first. Therefore, headlines and calls-to-action should be the main elements of a design, while body copy and supporting content should be reduced in size so as to not overwhelm readers.
Contrast can also help bring attention to specific elements, making them stand out more. This technique is especially effective for text. Making the text black-and-white creates stark contrast with its background, drawing viewers' eyes directly to it and drawing their focus towards what you want them to focus on - but be careful using too many contrasts as this could distract viewers from understanding your message.
Color Theory
Color is one of the key components of digital design. It can draw attention, set the scene, evoke emotions and even help brands establish visual consistency - yet getting it just right requires understanding color theory as a framework to choose and use colors efficiently.
Digital designers with a firm understanding of color theory can craft harmonious color schemes that are pleasing to both the eye and effective in conveying their messages. Color theory involves studying hues, saturation levels and values; complementariness/analogous color relationships are also key aspects.
There are various color schemes available, but the triadic scheme remains one of the most popular choices. Consisting of three equally distant hues on a wheel, this option is typically used for background and accent colors. Other choices may include the tetrad and quadratic schemes; with the former being harder to balance due to more complicated math; while quadratic schemes can often prove quite stunning.
Interactivity
Digital Graphic Design (DGD) is a form of visual communication that utilizes computer programs to design user-friendly interfaces for products, making them easier for consumers and more visually pleasing. Although Digital Design may sometimes be confused with Graphic Design, both digital design vs. graphic design actually serve several different functions. DGD specializes in optimizing top layers while GDD concentrates more on aesthetic elements.
Be mindful that people can be sensitive to change; accordingly, it is crucial that digital designers balance the amount of content included on each screen to reduce user error. When users must scroll through too much material they become more susceptible to making errors than when browsing less-than-ideal pages and screens.
Digital graphic design is an ever-evolving field that requires both creativity and computer programming skills to master. It encompasses everything from creating logos, brochures and other marketing collateral to analyzing target audience needs and designing products accordingly.
Responsive Design
Digital designers employ responsive web design techniques to adapt websites and apps to user devices or screen sizes, creating wireframes, mockups and prototypes to demonstrate this effect. Data analytics are often employed to gain an understanding of how a site performs (page views or clicks on links or buttons for instance). Once their designs have been passed off to developers for production.
Responsive web design uses proportion-based grids and media queries to adapt a web page's layout as the viewport changes, for instance reshuffling into two columns for tablets and one column for smartphones as the viewport shifts. Designers must consider content hierarchy at each breakpoint point and prioritize information that users may require, helping reduce scrolling while improving the user experience.
Skeuomorphism
Skeuomorphism is a design philosophy that mimics physical objects in digital interfaces which you can learn about here. This can create a sense of familiarity for users and encourage interaction with the product, as well as enhance its overall aesthetic - leather stitching on drop-down menus or shadows that mimic real cracks on wood surfaces are examples of such detail that make this style appealing and user-friendly.
First generation iPhones utilized skeuomorphic elements to assist new users in learning how to operate their device. For instance, the Camera app featured DSLR-esque imagery while its settings menu mimicked an old-fashioned car dashboard; these details helped bridge the gap between abstract concepts such as sending messages and their literal implementation (clicking an envelope icon).
Skeuomorphism certainly has its advantages, but it's important to keep in mind that flat design is fast becoming the go-to style. Designers are increasingly using combinations of styles in order to achieve a more contemporary yet still familiar aesthetic - beveled edges, shadows and reflections can create depth illusions while natural colors with muted tones create more polished aesthetics - these changes might seem minor but have significant ramifications on user experiences.
Visual Hierarchy
Visual hierarchy is an imperative design principle, organizing elements by priority and leading viewers through content in an orderly fashion. It uses size, color contrast and positioning to demarcate proprietary elements and provide a structured user experience. Visual hierarchy follows natural reading patterns of human eyes for seamless navigation experience while increasing effectiveness by helping viewers grasp information quickly and lead them towards specific actions.
When creating a visual hierarchy, it's essential that all elements have the appropriate sizes and colors (https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/visual-design.html). A general guideline would be to make the more important items larger so they stand out - this way the viewer will notice them first. Therefore, headlines and calls-to-action should be the main elements of a design, while body copy and supporting content should be reduced in size so as to not overwhelm readers.
Contrast can also help bring attention to specific elements, making them stand out more. This technique is especially effective for text. Making the text black-and-white creates stark contrast with its background, drawing viewers' eyes directly to it and drawing their focus towards what you want them to focus on - but be careful using too many contrasts as this could distract viewers from understanding your message.
Color Theory
Color is one of the key components of digital design. It can draw attention, set the scene, evoke emotions and even help brands establish visual consistency - yet getting it just right requires understanding color theory as a framework to choose and use colors efficiently.
Digital designers with a firm understanding of color theory can craft harmonious color schemes that are pleasing to both the eye and effective in conveying their messages. Color theory involves studying hues, saturation levels and values; complementariness/analogous color relationships are also key aspects.
There are various color schemes available, but the triadic scheme remains one of the most popular choices. Consisting of three equally distant hues on a wheel, this option is typically used for background and accent colors. Other choices may include the tetrad and quadratic schemes; with the former being harder to balance due to more complicated math; while quadratic schemes can often prove quite stunning.
