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What You'll Be Creating

I've always been amused by the designs on playing cards. They seem simple at first, but when you look closely you realize the image is a combination of smaller mirrored portions of the design. This mirroring is creating a kaleidoscopic effect, which keeps our eyes and mind busy and entertained.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to use these simple effects in order to create an impressive multi-functional design.

1. Create a New Print Document

This design can work on any rectangular working area, but let's try to do it on a traditional landscape-oriented poster template. Set the new document profile to Web and set the Width at 800 px and Height at 1100 px.

2. Sketch Some Simple Shapes

Try to create some simple geometric shapes. Do them on the side next to the artboard. I did the four playing cards symbols (spade, heart, club, and diamond). I also made a few others such as cloud, raindrop, thunderbolt, ghost, rainbow, etc.

3. Trace Your Sketched Shapes

Step 1

We will need to rasterize the sketches. Select the group of sketched objects and go to Object > Rasterize. A dialog box will appear. From the Resolution menu, choose Medium ( 150 ppi).

Step 2

Drop the opacity to 40% and lock ( Control-2) the traced image. Using the Pen Tool (P), start tracing the shapes you made

When using the Pen Tool, try not to add many anchor points. This way your lines will be smooth and you can create shapes with sharp edges, which are great for our task.

Step 3

Let's use some basic tools so we can make some more geometrically accurate shapes.

Using the Ellipse Tool (L), draw two circles over the cloud sketch. Arrange them so that they cover the upper part of the cloud.

Open the Pathfinder panel ( Shift-Control-F9). Select both of the circles and use the Unite command.

Step 4

After you merge the two circles, draw a rectangle using the Rectangle Tool (M) and place it on the lower half of the merged circles. Select the two shapes and use the Minus Front command from the Pathfinder panel.

The final shape should look like this.

Step 5

Moving on to the raindrop shape, it can be easily made by combining two different shapes: a rectangle and a circle. Use Pathfinder's Unite command to merge these two shapes into one raindrop.

Step 6

The same goes for this shape. Combine a circle and, using the Pen Tool, draw a "tail" shape which you can later merge with the circle, using Pathfinder's Unite command.

Step 7

Step 8

Add two long, portrait positioned rectangles in the lower half of the body. Use Pathfinder's Minus Front command to cut out their shape of the body. This way, we will get three extensions as legs of the pixel ghost.

Step 9

Ultimately, draw two squares and position them as the ghost's eyes.

Our ghost should look like this.

Step 10

Moving on to the next object: rainbow-like lines.

Using the Ellipse Tool (L), make three concentric circles. Select the Direct Selection Tool (A) and select the bottom half of the three circles. Press Delete.

Step 11

You should get rainbow-like lines. Give them stroke thicknesses of different values, starting from the inner one. Make the next stroke thickness value twice as big as the previous one. So for example, if the inner one's thickness is 5 pt, the middle one should be 10 pt and the outer one 20 pt.

Step 12

Select them all and go to Object > Expand. In the Expand window, check only the Stroke option. After the lines are expanded, swap the fill and the stroke (Shift-X).

Step 13

Let's do another one. Select the Ellipse Tool (L) and click anywhere on the artboard. In the dialog box, enter 170 px for both Width and Height values.

Step 14

Step 15

Make the stroke weight 55 pt.

Step 16

Select the semicircle and go to Object > Expand. In the Expand dialog box, check only the Stroke option. Swap the fill for stroke (Shift-X).

Step 17

Select the object and go to Object > Path > Offset Path. A dialog box will appear. Make the Offset value-23 px. Leave the other options as they are. A new half circle will appear inside, only a smaller and thinner one. We are done with this one.

Step 18

The rest of the shapes I did are quite simple and they require combining the Rectangle Tool and the Ellipse Tool, and of course, the inevitable use of the Pathfinder command.

4. Build the Design's Structure

Step 1

Now let's go back to the artboard. Make sure your Rulers are visible ( Control-R) and the guides are also visible ( Control-;). Draw a vertical guide in the middle of the artboard, and another horizontal one, also in the middle point of the artboard. They should intersect right at the artboard's middle point. Our working area will be only the upper left quarter.

Step 2

Do another sketch which will build the structure of the design. You can make a circle in the middle of the artboard which we will use as a face, and a few curved lines in the upper left quarter.

We will again need to rasterize the sketches. Select the group of sketched objects and go to Object > Rasterize. From the dialog box, choose Medium Resolution (150 ppi). Drop the Opacity to 40% and Lock (Control-2) the traced image.

Step 3

To get geometrically correct lines, we will use the Rounded Rectangle Tool, which is located in the same spot as the Ellipse and Rectangle Tool. Click on the working area and a dialog box will appear. Enter the following values: Weight: 400 px, Height 550 px, Corner Radius: 84 px.

Step 4

Step 5

Position this line over the sketch. Now let's move on with the other similar lines.

Step 6

Use the same process to create few more curved lines. Position them over the sketch.

Step 7

For the final line with a spiral ending, select the Spiral Tool, which you can find next to the Line Segment Tool. Click on the artboard and in the dialog box enter the following values: Radius: 40 px, Decay: 80%, Segments: 10 and choose the second style.

Step 8

Keep the spiral selected. Find and double-click the Rotate Tool (R). In the dialog box, enter-90 o for the angle value. Click OK. The spiral will rotate 90 degrees clockwise.

Step 9

Select the Direct Selection Tool (A) and select the last anchor point on the outside of the spiral and press Delete. This way, we will make the spiral shorter for one segment. Use the Pen Tool (P) to draw a straight vertical line from the end point of the spiral.

Step 10

Step 11

For the central face object of the image, we will need a simple circle. Select the Ellipse Tool (L) and click on the artboard. In the dialog box, enter 270 px for both values, Width and Height.

Step 12

Using the previously used technique, we will create the eyes and the mouth by cutting circle shapes in half and adjusting their stroke sizes. You can give the eyes a stroke value of 20 pt and the mouth 10 pt.

5. Arrange the Composition

Step 1

Now, start arranging the shapes in the upper left quarter of the artboard, which we already defined. Try to make a sort of a border by multiplying the objects you are using.

It's very important to add some objects over the guidelines, where the guideline will pass exactly over the half of the object and will split it into two equal, symmetrical parts. You can clearly see how I made that with the circles and the Xs over the horizontal guide, or the circles and the diamond shapes over the vertical guideline. These shapes will be very crucial over the next few steps.

Step 2

Keep filling the gaps between the objects. It's like building a design using toy bricks-I always find this game of juxtaposition fun and challenging.

Step 3

And finally, if you notice small gaps in the composition, try to fill them with a few more objects.

6. Add Colors

Step 1

Try to use few colors. If you want to use more colors, I suggest using shades of those few colors. For example, I chose shades of blue and red. I usually make the palette accessible by making little circle shapes colored in my palette of choice. I also label them so I can easily find the one I need. I place them next to the artboard.

Step 2

Start applying the colors. We can start with the dark red and move towards the bright one. Select any object and with the Eyedropper Tool (E) click on the circle with dark red color.

Repeat the eyedropper color selection step for all the other shapes, using all the shades of red and blue. Color the eyes and the mouth of the face in the center in white color.

Step 3

The design should look like this. I spotted an empty space below the spade object. So we can add some small objects, let's say circles, to fill this gap.

Add four different colored circles in that area.

I believe this quarter of the artboard is done. Let's multiply it on the rest of the artboard.

7. Reflect the Design

Step 1

Select the whole design without the smiley circle in the middle and Group it ( Control-G). Copy it(Control-C) and paste it. Then, selected the pasted group and go to Object > Transform > Reflect. In the dialog box, check the Vertical Axis option and click OK.

Step 2

Place the pasted group in a way where both groups overlap-in this case it's the circle and diamond shapes.

You should get a symmetrical composition, and if we did it right, it should match flawlessly in the middle. You can check that by zooming in on the overlapped groups.

Step 3

Now, copy the two groups we made and paste them. Again, go to Object > Transform > Reflect. In the dialog box, this time check the Horizontal Axis option and click OK. Align the two new groups where the shapes meet and overlap. Try to position them as accurately as possible, to get this awesome kaleidoscope effect.

Step 4

Just to shake things up, we can replace the corner spade shapes with the rest of the playing card signs-heart, club and diamond. This will break the perfect symmetry, but it won't disturb the balance in the design.

Step 5

I suggest that all designs or illustrations should have some space around them, to give them some breathing space. To do this, simply select the whole design and double-click the Scale Tool (S), and in the dialog box check the Uniform option and enter 90 as its value. Also make sure that the Scale Strokes and Effects option is checked. Click OK. You can see the notable difference with the free space around the whole design.

Step 6

Finally, as a last touch, we can add a dark background. We used quite bright colors, so they will even look better with a dark background.

Select the Rectangle Tool (M) and click anywhere on the working area. In the dialog box, enter the same Width and Height values as our artboard has: 800 px for Width and 1100 for Height. Click OK.

Step 7

Awesome Work, You're Now Done!

We are done! It might be confusing at first, but we simply worked hard on only one quarter of the design, and then we easily mirrored it three times. This way you can create fun designs for posters, greeting cards, invitations, gift wrap, and more.

You might want to use a product template if you want to make a preview of your poster. I am sure you will find many fun purposes for this tutorial.

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I've always been amused by the designs on playing cards. They seem simple at first, but when you look closely you realize the image is a combination of smaller mirrored portions of the design. This mirroring is creating a kaleidoscopic effect, which keeps our eyes and mind busy and entertained.

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As an artist / teacher I like to show my digital painting process to educate and promote better art production. If you have benefited from my videos or simply appreciate my work you can support my future creations on my Patreon page : https://www.patreon.com/jamesjulier Many thanks James Julier 😊

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Graphic design is a powerful way to communicate ideas and concepts. The right words, the right colors, the right imagery, and the right medium can really do wonders in making people take the desired action. In our fast-evolving world, there are different types of graphic design, and probably even more are about to emerge. But why do we need so many?

The wild use of technology and the internet expanded the opportunities for reaching people through many types of design. And while one person can do it all, you can really lose focus trying to make everything pitch-perfect. That's why designers usually specialize in a specific field of design. Today, we'll go through the main types of graphic design and explain the particularities of each. Ready to begin?

Brand Identity

Brand identity graphic design is the broadest and most influential graphic design type that is related to almost any other graphic design type that follows. Here is why.

In its essence, brand identity graphic design is responsible for creating the overall visual identity of a particular brand. Graphic designers who create a visual identity for a brand, decide on the color palette, typography, and imagery that communicate the brand tone and personality the best. They usually create various related assets and materials, as well, like a logo design, business cards design, stationery design, annual reports design, and more.

Visual identity graphic designers also create a brand book with guidelines that help other independent designers to keep the consistency of the visual identity when representing the brand across different media channels. They may have specialized in other types of graphic design like advertising, motion graphics, website design, packaging design, and more. The idea is that these independent designers will use these brand style guidelines as a reference to create a specific type of graphic design for this particular brand, so it keeps the same look and feel of the already established visual identity.

Logo design is an integral part of branding. Logo design is a unique and stylized image made of text, shapes, illustrations, or an artistic combination of these. Creating an effective and functional logo design is an extremely important task for graphic designers since it will represent the brand across all mediums. Once created, the logo design doesn't change very often or very dramatically, since this may cause confusion and the need for new adaptation in people's minds.

Want to browse even more brand identity examples?

Packaging Design

Packaging design is an incredible marketing tool that can sell you the product. This is the process of creating a customized, branded, and eye-pleasing look for the package or container that holds and protects the product, and also contains valuable information about it. Packaging design could be the label of a bottle, a can design, the box and container of a cosmetic product, a tea box, and so on.

While packaging designers must obey the brand style guide to keep the consistency of the brand identity, they can still experiment to a certain extent in order to create a super catchy product appearance. Packaging designers must have a deep understanding of packaging materials, printing processes, rules, and capabilities.

Advertising Graphic Design

From dynamic, animated motion designs for television and the web to vehicle wrap designs, advertising is a type of graphic design with an incredibly large scope, meant to popularize a brand, a campaign, a cause, a product, and prompt a specific action.

Designers who create advertisements, need to work closely with marketing teams, copywriters, illustrators, printing agencies, and even animation specialists, depending on the type of ad. Of course, these designers, like all, need to have knowledge of customer psychology and a deep understanding of what exactly appeals to the target audience - colors, imagery, message, etc.

The types of advertising design are so many, that designers usually specialize in a specific field of advertising design. Several examples of advertising design are digital banners for websites and social media, print ad banners for magazines and newspapers, postcards, billboards, brochures, and of course, digital animated ads that also fall into the motion graphics type of design.

UI Design for Website & Mobile Apps

The wild use of mobile devices and computers in the modern day created a whole new type of graphic design devoted to creating user-friendly interfaces that make interaction with a digital device easy and enjoyable. Designers who specialize in UI design for websites, mobile interfaces, software interfaces, mobile applications, etc, create a large-scope type of graphic design responsible for everything needed to create a functional and aesthetic digital experience.

From creating the design of buttons, icons, windows, menus to more complex designs like video game interfaces, UI graphic designers need to work closely with developers, and understand the capabilities and limitations of modern technology. UI design is closely related to motion graphics, as well.

Illustrations for Graphic Design

Graphic design is a powerful way to communicate ideas, and the most effective way to do it is through visual concepts, backed up with strong messages. This is where graphic illustrations and art come in. Illustrations for graphic design come into use in almost all creative fields. Think interfaces, websites, packaging, advertising, and even data visualization - illustrations are everywhere to help convey concepts, ideas, and emotions, and even create virtual realities (3d websites, game interface design, etc).

Motion Graphics Design

From a simple GIF image and a hover button animation to a complex video ad, motion graphic design covers all kinds of design that is animated. Motion graphic has been rising in popularity with incredible speed in the latest decade. Since animation engages the user times more, and makes the content even more comprehensible, motion graphic designers have been presenting more and more animated ads, animated tutorials, interaction animations on web pages and mobile apps, and even animated infographics.

Typeface design and Typography design

Although they sound similar, typeface design and typography design mean different processes. Typeface design is the process of creating and designing new typefaces. Typeface designers need to have a deep understanding of the science of lettering.

On the other hand, typography design means working with already-made typefaces and fonts with the purpose to create an eye-pleasing and aesthetic arrangement of written words. Typography design is used and applied across many other creative fields of graphic design.

Data visualization design

Speaking of infographics, the art of visualizing data is also a type of design that requires a keen understanding of how to present data in the most comprehensible way. The job of data visualization designers is not easy, at all. Not only do they have to know how to process a large amount of data but also to "translate" it into an engaging, enjoyable, and easily understandable way for the mass audience.

Editorial design

Editorial design is a long-history type of graphic design, traditionally presented on print medium but currently - equally distributed between print and digital publishing channels. The editorial design includes all kinds of long-form publications like books, newspapers, magazines, lookbooks, catalogs, and so on.

Designers who specialize in editorial design, are occupied with creating the covers and layouts of the product, including the eye-pleasing arrangement of graphics and text in order to create an easy-to-read publication. Of course, editorial designers must have knowledge of typography design, color management, and print processes.

Environmental design

Environmental design is a type of design you encounter every day. From navigational signage and arrows inside communal spaces, airports, hospitals, libraries, museums, etc. to complex environmental design like stadium branding or even the branded walls of your office space. Environmental design is tightly related to architecture and interior design. However, environmental design can be easily changed and adapted according to the necessary circumstances, e.g. designing a building space for a specific conference event.

To wrap it up,

Behind every complex or simple design, stand plenty of people, each of whom contributed to this design to become a reality. There are type designers who created the lettering, there are illustrators, photographers, and even art directors responsible for creating catchy imagery, there are copywriters and marketing specialists who made a compelling message, there are designers who put everything together into an easily understandable and aesthetically pleasing composition, and even more - there are animators and motion graphic designers who in the end, breathed life into the static design.

While one person can hardly do it all, the diversity of types of graphic design allows you to specialize and excel in a single creative field. However, the need of understanding other types of design and related processes still remains. After all, each great outcome requires specialists from different fields to work tightly together.

No matter if you are just starting a career in graphic design and wondering which way to head, or looking to switch creative fields, we hope this post shed some light for you on the subject of different types of design. Both ways, you will probably find it extremely helpful to check an article or two on our blog, since we post great freebies and insights especially for graphic designers.

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All Types of Graphic Design Explained with Real-Life Examples

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Learn about the 10 different types of graphic design and see plenty of awesome examples that will help you find the best creative path for you

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Graphic design is a diverse, creative field that uses visuals to communicate ideas and solve problems. Since it tackles a wide variety of challenges, graphic design can be loosely divided into eight different, but often overlapping fields. At Berkeley College, you'll be exposed to each of these fields as you build the skills to become a successful and impactful designer.

1. Web Design

In our modern world, web design is quickly becoming one of the most valuable skills for creative professionals. This field of graphic design blends technology and the traditional principles of composition and form to create digital media. At Berkeley College, you'll have access to the latest technology used by experts as you learn the practical skills of this important field.

2. UI and Interactive Design

Like web design, UI (user interface) and interactive design have become increasingly valuable skills. This field focuses on bridging the gap between complex computing and the user experience through visually pleasing forms and layouts.

3. Advertising and Marketing Design

Most every organization in the world relies on visual advertising and marketing, whether it's used to form an internal brand identity or attract customers. At Berkeley College, you'll learn to develop successful ad designs while gaining the creative problem-solving skills that will benefit you throughout your career.

4. Motion Graphics and Animation

By studying motion graphics, you'll focus on animating visual media. This includes everything from typography to imagery, and everything in between. As a relatively new field in graphic design, motion graphics and animation present exciting opportunities to balance technical and creative skills.

5. Packaging Design

Product packaging is everywhere, from the food we eat to the devices we buy. A career in packaging design lets you employ the creativity and branding strategies of ad design, along with the technical aspects of manufacturing, 3D mockups, and printing.

6. Game Design

Like UI and motion graphics, game design works at the forefront of technology and creativity. Studying game design at Berkeley College gives you the opportunity to work one-on-one with experts as you navigate complex tech and exciting creative endeavors.

7. Illustration

Drawing is the foundation of most artistic practices, especially illustration. As a graphic illustrator, you'll have the chance to create visual identities, cover art and more, all while using the fundamental principles of form, color, and composition.

8. Publication and Typographic Design

In this field, designers focus on the development, organization, and management of visual media that is often mass-produced. This includes books, magazines and more. By developing skills in printing, editorial layout design coordination and typesetting communication, publication and typographic designers create cohesive visual media.

Study Graphic Design at Berkeley College

If you're considering a career in graphic design, Berkeley College's Graphic Design degree program is ready to help you develop the creative and technical skills you need to succeed. Find out more by calling Berkeley College at 800-446-5400.

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The 8 Types of Graphic Design! Graphic Design courses are enrolling at Berkeley College! Call 800-446-5400 to start your graphic design career in one of 8 types of Graphic Design!

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Graphic design is the art of creating and arranging visual elements to communicate a message effectively.

While the term " graphic design" was coined in the 1920s, the art form itself has long been an essential part of visual communication. Early examples of graphic design can be seen in ancient manuscripts and even prehistoric cave paintings.

Today, the graphic design industry spans many different disciplines and specializations. It's an exciting field that's constantly evolving. Yet, its adaptive nature can make it hard to understand exactly what graphic design is and what types of work graphic designers do.

In this article, we'll cover what graphic design is, examples of different types, and how each design job differs.

What is graphic design?

Graphic design is the art of composing visual elements - such as typography, images, colors, and shapes - to communicate information or convey a message effectively. Designing the layout of a magazine, creating a poster for a theatre performance, and designing packaging for a product are all examples of graphic design.

In fact, almost everyone today practices some form of graphic design in their daily life - whether it's adding text to an image for social media or color-coding a spreadsheet for work. Basically, if you're creating visual content, you're practicing some form of graphic design.

What is the main purpose of graphic design?

The objective of graphic design is to convey or enhance a message.

Good graphic art streamlines communication. Picture a spreadsheet with data analytics. A graphic designer might use different colors to highlight which metrics are rising and which are dropping, making it easier for the viewer to quickly understand what's going well and what they need to adjust.

Well-executed graphic design can also elicit an emotional response from the viewer or even motivate them to take action. The "sign up" page on a website, for example, typically entices visitors to join an email list or start a free trial. Meanwhile, food packaging design aims to make the food inside seem more appealing to eat.

What does a graphic designer do?

As visual communicators of ideas, information, and messages, graphic designers use their artistic skills and technical expertise to undertake a variety of tasks and responsibilities, depending on the specific role or project they're working on.

A graphic designer's responsibilities range from brand and visual identity design to marketing design and advertising, web design, illustration, type design, infographic design, textile and surface design, packaging design, editorial or publication design, motion graphic design, and user interface design. Each of these aspects requires visual communication and team collaboration from graphic designers.

Visual communication is the foundation of graphic design, and it's the first step for each project you'll take on. Graphic designers start this step by working alongside their client, department, or team to understand the project, its background, audience, goals, and other items provided by the client and/or brief. What follows is a collaborative brainstorm of ideas and visual concepts until it's time to start the design, layout, and composition.

11 types of graphic design

Here are 11 of the most common types of graphic design with examples to help you get your creative juices flowing.

1. Brand and visual identity design

Brand and visual identity design are closely related aspects of graphic design; visual identity design is a subset of brand design.

Brand design is the practice of setting guidelines and best practices for a company to use across all branded materials to ensure a consistent brand identity. It encompasses a broad scope - a brand, its audience, and its strategy - whereas visual identity design focuses on specific visual elements or components within a brand's design.

Brand designers help brands or companies strategically communicate and appeal to an audience.

This process involves defining a brand's identity, mission, messaging, and values and translating them into personality with a specific voice and tonality, as well as visual identity.

Once a brand or company determines their brand design, a brand designer can hone in on the visual components and elements that will represent the brand - its visual identity design. This design includes anything from determining color schemes and palettes to logo design, typography, iconography, graphics and imagery, graphics and imagery styles, applications (where to apply these visual designs; think business cards, websites, packaging, and other touchpoints), and lastly, brand guidelines.

Peachy Smile brand identity and packaging design by Transform Design (Image source)

Brand design work includes but is not limited to:

Designing logos and setting clear guidelines for how to use them

Designing letterhead, icons, and various illustrations

Selecting brand colors and setting clear guidelines for their use

Creating or selecting fonts and typography guidelines

Creating templates that follow the brand guidelines and that marketing, growth, and other teams can use

Packaging design and graphics for product design

Good brand designers understand marketing design, web design, logo design, and many other aspects of graphic design because their decisions will affect all subsequent design projects for that brand.

If you've never worked with brand design guidelines before, check out Starbucks' creative expression website. This example shows how to include various initiatives in brand design and the type of guidelines a brand designer should create to maintain a consistent visual identity.

Other brand graphic design examples include Aráceas by Walter Mattos, Fernanda Galindo, and Bruno Krazler and PureBud by Motaleb Hossain.

Brand design is evolving at a particularly fast pace. As technology develops, brands are always looking for new ways to engage with their target audience - which means their brand design needs to support new and shifting channels. So, if you enjoy taking on new challenges and keeping up with the latest trends, brand design might be a great fit for you.

2. Marketing design

Marketing design is graphic design for marketing initiatives. Marketing designers may work on smaller, one-off projects such as promotional emails, as well as larger multi-faceted projects such as ad campaigns, seasonal campaigns, or designing booths, handouts, and other print materials for conventions and tradeshows.

Marketing design can include:

Social media campaigns

Email marketing campaigns

Newsletters

Billboards and other signage

Posters

Print ads

Trade show booths and other materials

Physical mailers

Web and mobile assets

Marketing design uses the guidelines and messaging set by brand designers to communicate a specific message for a single campaign, asset, or platform. Let's take a look at a few campaign and asset examples.

MODE Cold Brew's email marketing campaign designed by Anna Mabagos‍

3. Web design

While many graphic artists design visual elements for a brand's websites, it's important to note that web design is not the same as graphic design.

Redchurch by Joseph Berry

Designing a great website is a multidisciplinary undertaking as websites are interactive rather than fixed assets like brochures or magazines. You need graphic design skills as well as experience with user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design, which is why teams of multiple professionals with complementary skill sets typically design websites.

Web designers may work on projects including:

Creating icons and buttons

Designing web page layouts

Creating various interactive design elements on a website

Optimizing visual elements for all devices (desktop, mobile, etc.)

Working with web development, UX, UI, and marketing design teams to improve the overall experience for site visitors

Plenty of graphic designers are also web designers with knowledge of UX design and create beautiful websites and mobile apps without the support of a large team. With the help of platforms like Webflow, designers can create stunning interactive websites without needing extensive knowledge of coding.

4. Illustration design

Illustrations are often part of web, marketing, and brand design, but they're also useful in other ways. Some designers focus solely on offering illustrations and work with larger design teams, contributing individual assets for various projects.

Illustrators may design visual assets for:

Children's books

T-shirts and other wearables

Cards and stationery

Websites

Social media

Video and interactive media

Marketing campaigns

Illustration style and design process can vary drastically from designer to designer. Some artists work almost exclusively in digital formats using graphic design tools such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or Procreate, and others blend digital media with physical media, preferring to start with a pencil and paper.

Get inspired by these three incredibly talented illustration graphic designers:

5. Type design

Some graphic designers specialize in creating or selecting typography, typeface, or fonts.

Type design can include:

Creating custom lettering and numerals

Writing or digitally creating typography assets

Selecting fonts and creating typography guidelines for a brand

Humans rely heavily on words to communicate messaging, so type designers collaborate on a wide array of projects. Type designers contribute to brand design by creating, selecting, or pairing fonts. It's also common for type designers to create assets for web, marketing, product, or package design.

Here are four type design examples from:

6. Infographic design

At their core, infographics are simply representations of data or information that can be consumed visually. They can take the form of 2D illustrations, interactive elements on a website, or even videos. The common thread is that they help the viewer more easily understand a large amount of information or complex concepts.

Check out this infographic by bby Pororo. Not only is it beautiful, but it is packed with everything a curious onlooker needs to know about peaches and their nutritional value.

Peach infographic design by bby Pororo

7. Textile and surface design

Textile graphic designers may create designs for fabrics, wallpaper, carpets, and furniture. Many textile designers have experience not only designing graphics but also printing or creating textiles. To be a great textile designer, you need to understand design principles, such as color theory and hierarchy, as well as what's possible when using different dyes and fabrics because the material itself will affect the final look of a design.

Image Source: @unblinkstudio@evasonaike

8. Packaging design

From food to gadgets to designer jewelry, the packaging that items are transported in is often just as important as the items themselves. Product packaging designers aim to show off or complement the items inside the packages.

9. Editorial or publication design

Editorial or publication design is a form of graphic design concerning print and digital publications.

Print publication graphic designers consider not only visual elements such as color, typography, whitespace, and imagery but also tactile features such as texture and quality of the print medium's paper and cover and other print specifications.

Further, in today's digital age, a digital publication graphic designer would consider the same elements, apart from the tactical features. Instead, a digital publication designer would consider aspects such as functionality, interactivity, animations, web and mobile formats, and other specifications for the digital print medium.

Print and digital publication design spans:

Books

Magazines

Newspapers

Brochures

Catalogs

Newsletters

Emails and other digital publications

Publication design sets the tone for a publication and can amplify the written word. Just picture a well-placed pull quote in a printed interview or a beautifully laid-out recipe book.

Editorial design by Alexia Lim for Banded Purple's first volume of Purple Paper

10. Motion design

Have you ever looked at a graphic design and imagined what it would look like if it were moving, had life, or a bit of motion? A motion graphic designer's job is to do just that: breathe life into graphic designs by turning static graphics into captivating and engaging motion graphics.

Motion graphic design, or motion design, combines the principles of design with animation and film techniques to create dynamic visual content.

Common motion graphic design includes:

Title sequences, which are the opening sequence of motion graphics traditionally used to introduce a film, TV show, and nowadays commercials, video games, YouTube videos, and even streams

Explainer videos, anything from social media shorts to full-fledge productions

Marketing materials for social media, commercials, or web ads

Animations and microinteractions used in user interface design, web design, software, game design, and video game development

There's also an element of storytelling in motion design. A good motion designer is also a good storyteller, using visual elements to guide the viewer through the design's story, concept, or narrative.

Check out " This is Fine " by creative director Baron Maxime, graphic designer Angèle Bappel, creative front-end developer Risser Axel, and creative web developer Pierre Martinière. They do a wonderful job of creating a narrative and carrying it throughout the promotional graphics and the game itself, incorporating filmmaking techniques - an example of fabulous motion graphic design.

Promotional graphic for the "This is Fine" game

11. User interface design

Not to be confused with a user experience (UX) designer, a user interface (UI) graphic designer focuses on graphic designing user interfaces for digital products and applications.

This type of design incorporates elements of both UX and graphic design. From color-swatching buttons, icons, and menu bars to designing responsive layouts and microinteractions, user interface graphic designers facilitate smooth and intuitive interactions between users and digital products (or applications) via aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly designs.

Some user interface graphic design examples include:

Web and mobile app interfaces

Software interfaces

Gaming interfaces

Smartwatch interfaces

Smart appliance interfaces (i.e., smart refrigerators, smart TVs, and so on)

In-car interfaces

Interactive Kiosks and ATMs

Get started in graphic design

If you're thinking of pursuing a career in graphic design, there's no better way to get a feel for which disciplines interest you most than to play around with graphic design software and tools. Don't forget to explore physical mediums, too. Many great digital designers begin projects with a piece of paper and a pencil or paintbrush.

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What is graphic design? With examples for beginners | Webflow Blog

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What is graphic design? This beginner's guide walks you through the definition of graphic design and shares examples of different types.

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How to Draw KID GOKU From Dragon Ball Z - Step by Step Illustrator Tutorial

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Lately, I have been working on some children illustrations, creating some über cute creatures. In the following easy tutorial, I'll show you how to create a cute panda bear face icon all from ellipses (well, actually there is one rectangle for the background). The great part about this tutorial, is that you can easily apply the techniques to other icons, illustrations, logos, or other projects.

Notes
This tutorial was created with Adobe Illustrator CS4, but you should be able to create the tutorial in other Illustrator CS versions.
Final Image

Below is what the illustration will look like when we are done.

Step 1

First, create an ellipse with the Ellipse tool (L). Next, with the Direct Selection tool (A), select the bottom anchor point of the ellipse and drag it up about one fourth the way up the ellipse.

Step 2

With the ellipse selected, create a radial gradient from the gradient panel. Make the first Color Stop in the radial gradient white and the second Color Stop a light grey. Within the gradient panel, click on the Midpoint Indicator on the Gradient Slider and move it right, closer to the light gray swatch, making the white area of the gradient bigger.

Step 3

Copy (Command + C) the ellipse and Paste in Front (Command + F). Next, scale down the copied ellipse to a third of it's original size with the Selection tool (V). Still using the Selection tool (V), move the copy up to the top left side of the original ellipse and rotate the copy about 20 degrees to the left. This will be the first ear shape.

Step 4

Select the ear shape and change the gradient to a Linear Gradient from the Gradient panel. Change the first Color Stop to black and the second Color Stop to a dark grey color. Move the Midpoint Indicator on the Gradient Slider to mid-point of the two swatches. Next, send the copied ellipse to the back by choosing Object > Arrange > Send to Back (Command + Shift + [ ).

Step 5

Select the ear shape, Copy (Command + C), and Paste in Front (Command + F). With the Selection tool (V) scale the copy down slightly, squish it horizontally, and place to the lower left side of the first ear shape. Next, press the Reverse Gradient icon in the Gradient panel.

Step 6

Select both ear shapes, Copy (Command + C), and Paste in Front (Command + F). With the copies still selected, go Object > Transform > Reflect and chose Vertical from the Reflect dialog. Next, move the copied ear shapes over to the right side of the face shape.

Step 7

Create an ellipse over the panda face where you want the eyes to go. Fill the ellipse with the same linear gradient as the first ear shape. With the Gradient tool (G), click on the top of the ellipse and drag down, making the darker part of the gradient appear at the top of the ellipse.

Step 8

Use the Direct Selection tool (A) and move the bottom anchor point down and slightly to the left. Next move the the top anchor point slightly to the left.

Step 9

Within the first eye shape, draw another ellipse and fill it with a linear gradient. For this gradient we are going to need three Color Stops in the gradient. To add a Color Stop to the gradient slider, simply click right below the gradient slider in-between the first two swatches. Change the first Color Stop to a dark grey, the second Color Stop to black, and the third Color Stop to a grey color. Use the Gradient tool (G) and adjust the gradient by click at the top of the shape and dragging to the bottom.

Step 10

Copy (Command + C) the newest ellipse and Paste in Front (Command + F). With the Selection tool (V) scale the ellipse down slightly so you can still see the three Color Stop gradient ellipse behind it. Next, use the Eyedropper tool (I) and sample the original white radial gradient from the panda face.

Step 11

Copy (Command + C) the white eye ellipse and Paste in Front (Command + F). Scale the it down and move it the right slightly. Next, change the first Color Stop in the gradient to a dark cyan color and the second Color Stop to a cyan color.

Step 12

Copy (Command + C) the cyan ellipse and Paste in Front (Command + F). Scale it down and change the first Color Stop to black and the second Color Stop to a dark grey color.

Step 13

Draw three white ellipses over the eyes shapes to create some highlights.

Step 14

Copy (Command + C) all the eye shapes and Paste in Front (Command + F). Next, go Object > Transform > Reflect, select the Vertical radial button, and press OK. Move the copied shapes to the right.

Step 15

Draw an oblong ellipse in-between and towards the bottom of the eyes. Use the Eyedropper tool (I) and sample the gradient of the inner ear shape.

Step 16

With the new nose ellipse selected, go Effect > Warp > Arc. In the Warp dialog change the Bend to -40% and press OK.

Step 17

Copy (Command + C) the main white panda shape and Paste in Front (Command + F). Squish the copied shape horizontally to the width of the nose shape. Next squish the copy vertically. Change the gradient of the copy to a linear gradient and make the last Color Stop on the slider and darker grey. Next, adjust the gradient so the lighter part of the gradient is at the top of the shape.

Step 18

Draw an ellipse with the right anchor point roughly in the middle of the nose shape. Copy (Command + C) the ellipse and Paste in Front(Command + F). Move the copy up and to the left slightly. Select both ellipses and press the Minus Front button in the Pathfinder panel and change the color of the shape to a grey color.

Step 19

Select the mouth shape and go Object > Arrange > Send Backward (Command + [). Do this a couple of times until the mouth shape is behind both nose shapes. Next, Copy (Command + C) the mouth shape and Paste in Front (Command + F). With the mouth shape selected, go Object > Transform > Reflect, select the Vertical radial button, and press OK. Move the copied shape to the right, creating the other side of the mouth.

Step 20

Create an ellipse close to the end of the left mouth shape. Fill the ellipse with a radial gradient, with the first Color Stop a light pink color and the second Color Stop white. Next, set the Blending Mode to Multiply from the Transparency panel. Copy (Command + C) the pink ellipse, Paste in Front (Command + F), and move to the other side of the mouth.

Step 21

Select the all the shapes in the panda face and go Object > Group. With the group selected, go Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. With the Drop Shadow dialog open, change the Opacity to 50, the X Offset to 0, the Y Offset to .05 in, the Blur to .07 in, and press OK.

Step 22

Create a rectangle bigger than the panda face and fill it with a radial gradient. Make the first Color Stop white, and choose a different color for the second Color Stop.

Final Image

All done! Wasn't that easy? This tutorial is a good example of how some simple shapes can create a compelling illustration. Moreover, you can easily apply these techniques to other illustrations, logos, and projects!

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

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Create a Cute Panda Bear Face Icon - Vectips

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Lately, I have been working on some children illustrations, creating some über cute creatures. In the following easy tutorial, I'll show you how to create a cute panda bear face icon all from ellipses (well, actually there is one rectangle for the background). The great part about this tutorial, is that you can easily apply ...

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photography flowers photoshop howto natureofflowers flower "how to use photoshop" "beautiful flowers" "neck gaiters"

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Welcome to my Channel! Here you'll find comprehensive and easy to follow tutorials for both Photoshop and Photopea. With over 20 years of teaching Photoshop in secondary schools, I'm now also using Photopea as a free alternative so students can study from the comfort of their homes.

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In this tutorial you will learn how to create a cute character, Valentine's Bunny, in Adobe Illustrator. Using just the basic shapes you can create any cartoon animal you want. Also I will show you how to create a triangle and a heart shapes, which are not on the Tools panel.

1. Create the Head and Face

Step 1

First we are going to create the head. Start with a gray circle ( R=236, G=230, B=222) using the Ellipse Tool (L). Then, using the Direct Selection Tool (A) shift the left and right anchor point a little bit down.

Step 2

After that we are going to create the eyes. Use the Ellipse Tool (L) again and draw one dark gray oval ( R=60, G=66, B=53) and a small white circle.

Step 3

To create two of them, we need to select the whole eye and holding the Alt key slide to the right. To slide the eye straight, you need to hold the Shift and Alt keys together.

Step 4

Now for the nose. Draw one horizontal ellipse ( R=244, G=143, B=155), one smaller ( R=247, G=169, B=176) over it and very small white circle.

Step 5

Onto the mouth. Draw a circle using the Ellipse Tool (L) with no fill, and the stroke color R=207, G=195, B=179. Grab the Scissors Tool (C) and simply click on the left and right anchor points of this circle. Then press Delete button twice; you will get a half circle. Keep it selected and right-click your mouse. In the pop-up menu select Transform > Rotate. A dialogue window will appear where you will need to enter -130 degrees, and press OK.

Step 6

Now right-click your mouse and select Transform > Reflect. In the window check Vertical axis of reflection, make sure that there are 90 degrees and press Copy.

Step 7

Step 8

Let's add some volume to a head. Holding the Alt key slightly slide the head like in the image below.

You will have a result like in the image below:

2. Create the Ears

Step 1

Bunny ears are easy to create. Make two ellipses: the bigger R=236, G=230, B=222 and smaller inside the first one with the color R=226, G=218, B=206.

Step 2

Let's add volume. The same movements as we made for a head. Slide down bigger ellipse holding the Alt key. Then make one more copy of the first lighter ellipse by pressing Control-C, Control-F. Keep it selected and with the Shift key select the copy which was shifted down. In the Pathfinder panel press Minus Front. With the shape we get, set the fill color to R=226, G=218, B=206.

Step 3

Making two ears. Incline the whole ear and make a copy of it ( right-click > Transform > Reflect, Vertical, Copy).

Step 4

Put ears on the head.

3. Create the Dress

Step 1

First we will create a collar. Just two ovals, that's it. Fill with the color R=250, G=207, B=217.

Step 2

Step 3

Create an oval on the bottom of the triangle (color R=241, G=109, B=154).

Step 4

Place the dress on our bunny.

4. Create Simple Arms

Step 1

Step 2

Make two of them by Vertical reflection.

Step 3

And place on the bunny.

5. Create a Leg

Step 1

Take the Ellipse Tool (L) and draw an oval (color R=236, G=230, B=222). With the Direct Selection Tool (A) select the left and right anchor points. Shift them down.

Step 2

Holding together Shift-Alt, move the created shape to the left.

6. Create a Shoe

Step 1

Create a small ellipse with the color R=244, G=144, B=175. Hit Shift-Alt and move it up. In the Pathfinder panel click Minus Front.

Step 2

Make one more copy of the created shape. Then, keep it selected and with the Alt key move it to the left (see image below). Fill the newly created shape with the color R=241, G=109, B=154. And just add a little white circle for a highlight.

Step 3

Put a leg and a shoe together.

Step 4

Incline this leg a little to the right and make two of them by vertical reflection ( right-click > Transform > Reflect, Vertical, Copy).

Step 5

Simply place everything together like in the image below.

7. Create a Floral Swing

Step 1

First we will make a flower. Take the Polygon Tool and create a polygon with 6 corners and set the color to R=244, G=143, B=155.

Now go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Pucker & Bloat. Move a slider to the right to get around 60% and click OK. You will have nice petals. Put yellow circle inside ( R=233, G=214, B=102).

Step 2

Copy-paste flowers and change the color of petals ( R=200, G=8, B=80 and R=237, G=230, B=219).

Step 3

Let's create a leaf. Again an oval, now green ( R=120, G=162, B=47). After that take the Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C) and simply click on the top anchor point of the oval and on the bottom.

Step 4

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), draw a short rectangle (color R=144, G=73, B=45) and second thin long rectangle of the same color. Put them together like on this picture.

Step 5

Take off a fill color, set the stroke color to R=86, G=108, B=17 and using the Pencil Tool (N) draw a line. The Stroke Weight needs to be 1pt and check Round Cap on the Stroke panel.

Step 6

Place the flowers and leaves.

Step 7

Select the whole left part and make its vertical reflection.

Step 8

Put the bunny on the swing.

8. Create Some Hearts

Step 1

Make two identical circles (fill color R=200, G=8, B=80).

Step 2

Create a triangle of the same color (remember a polygon with three corners?). Make a vertical reflection of it ( right-click > Transform > Reflect, Horizontal, OK).

Step 3

Gather all parts together and in Pathfinder panel hit Unite button. But you still will have a hole in the middle. To remove it, double-click on the created shape, then select this hole and use the Delete button on your keyboard.

Step 4

Now you have a heart.

Step 5

9. Add the Hearts

Step 1

Add different hearts around the bunny.

Step 2

You can also decorate the dress of little bunny and the swing.

10. Create the Background

Step 1

Now for convenience you can create a New layer. Go to the Layers panel ( Window > Layers) and hit the button Create New Layer. Then lock the layer where you have drawn the bunny and - very important - drag (by your mouse) this new created layer under the layer where bunny is.

Draw a square with the fill color R=181, G=224, B=216 and at size 600px in the width and height.

Step 2

Change the fill color to R=53, G=189, B=178 and draw a lot of circles different sizes to have a big cloud. For a better view of what you are drawing, look at the Layers panel and hit the button Toggles Visibility near the layer with bunny.

Step 3

Now switch on the button Toggles Visibility and here it is!

Happy Valentine's!

Congratulations, your Valentine's Bunny is done! Hope it was fun creating your bunny.

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Create an Easy, Valentine's Day Bunny in Adobe Illustrator

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In this tutorial you will learn how to create a cute character, Valentine's Bunny, in Adobe Illustrator. Using just the basic shapes you can create any cartoon animal you want. Also I will show you how to create a triangle and a heart shapes, which are not on the Tools panel.

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Kendall Plant is a designer, content creator, and art director whose unique creations incorporate nature, street photography, and even skulls. She works at Adobe as an associate creative director.

Plant opened a photo for reference and reduced its opacity. She used Control+R (Windows) or Command+R (macOS) to show the rulers, dragged a guide to the center of the model's face, and locked the image layer.

Next, she selected the Curvature tool and clicked to create anchor points to draw an outline around the left side of the model's face. The Curvature tool creates geometric curves automatically, so she didn't need many anchor points. To create corner points and straight lines, she held the Alt (or Option) key as she clicked. To finish the shape, she clicked the original anchor point while holding Alt/Option.

With the shape selected, Plant used the Reflect Tool ("O" on her keyboard). She clicked on the center guide to set the reflection point. Then, she clicked on the shape, held Shift+Alt (or Option) as she dragged a reflected copy of the face shape.

Plant chose the Selection tool (V) and Shift+clicked both sides of the face. In the Properties panel, she chose Unite from the Pathfinder options and changed the fill to a warm brown color with no stroke.

Plant continued to draw facial features, sunglasses, and jewelry with the Curvature Tool while using the reference image to check proportions as needed.

As she worked, she reflected shapes across the center guide, united them, and changed the fill colors. She toggled the guide visibility by pressing Control+; (Windows) or Command+; (macOS), on her keyboard. She then hid the photo layer before adding hair in the next step. If the Curvature tool inadvertently interacts with other shapes, locking the paths within the layer can help to prevent undesired results.

To draw the hair, Plant chose the Ellipse tool and held Shift+Alt (or Option) as she dragged out a circle from the center of the face. Then, she filled the shape with dark blue and used Shift+Control or Command+[ to send it behind the face.

With the hair selected, she chose Effect > Distort and Transform > Zig Zag and experimented with the settings before settling on the effect she liked.

With the hair selected, Plant chose Object > Expand Appearance to convert the zig zag path to a shape so she could customize the hair with the Shape Builder tool.

To create a layered look, she held Alt/Option as she dragged to create overlapping copies of the hair, then used the Selection tool to select all the copies. Next, Plant selected the Shape Builder tool and held Alt as she dragged to remove the additional sections of hair outside of the original shape. Finally, she changed the fill color of the individual sections of hair.

To create a shadow, Plant used the Curvature Tool to draw a crescent shape, filled it with black, and reduced the opacity. Then she selected the shadow and the face and used Shape Builder as described in the previous step to trim the shadow that extended off the face.

Add shapes, trim, and embellish to make your portraits stand out on a solid color background.

Note: Project files included with this tutorial are for practice purposes only.

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What You'll Be Creating

I've always been amused by the designs on playing cards. They seem simple at first, but when you look closely you realize the image is a combination of smaller mirrored portions of the design. This mirroring is creating a kaleidoscopic effect, which keeps our eyes and mind busy and entertained.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to use these simple effects in order to create an impressive multi-functional design.

1. Create a New Print Document

This design can work on any rectangular working area, but let's try to do it on a traditional landscape-oriented poster template. Set the new document profile to Web and set the Width at 800 px and Height at 1100 px.

2. Sketch Some Simple Shapes

Try to create some simple geometric shapes. Do them on the side next to the artboard. I did the four playing cards symbols (spade, heart, club, and diamond). I also made a few others such as cloud, raindrop, thunderbolt, ghost, rainbow, etc.

3. Trace Your Sketched Shapes

Step 1

We will need to rasterize the sketches. Select the group of sketched objects and go to Object > Rasterize. A dialog box will appear. From the Resolution menu, choose Medium ( 150 ppi).

Step 2

Drop the opacity to 40% and lock ( Control-2) the traced image. Using the Pen Tool (P), start tracing the shapes you made

When using the Pen Tool, try not to add many anchor points. This way your lines will be smooth and you can create shapes with sharp edges, which are great for our task.

Step 3

Let's use some basic tools so we can make some more geometrically accurate shapes.

Using the Ellipse Tool (L), draw two circles over the cloud sketch. Arrange them so that they cover the upper part of the cloud.

Open the Pathfinder panel ( Shift-Control-F9). Select both of the circles and use the Unite command.

Step 4

After you merge the two circles, draw a rectangle using the Rectangle Tool (M) and place it on the lower half of the merged circles. Select the two shapes and use the Minus Front command from the Pathfinder panel.

The final shape should look like this.

Step 5

Moving on to the raindrop shape, it can be easily made by combining two different shapes: a rectangle and a circle. Use Pathfinder's Unite command to merge these two shapes into one raindrop.

Step 6

The same goes for this shape. Combine a circle and, using the Pen Tool, draw a "tail" shape which you can later merge with the circle, using Pathfinder's Unite command.

Step 7

Step 8

Add two long, portrait positioned rectangles in the lower half of the body. Use Pathfinder's Minus Front command to cut out their shape of the body. This way, we will get three extensions as legs of the pixel ghost.

Step 9

Ultimately, draw two squares and position them as the ghost's eyes.

Our ghost should look like this.

Step 10

Moving on to the next object: rainbow-like lines.

Using the Ellipse Tool (L), make three concentric circles. Select the Direct Selection Tool (A) and select the bottom half of the three circles. Press Delete.

Step 11

You should get rainbow-like lines. Give them stroke thicknesses of different values, starting from the inner one. Make the next stroke thickness value twice as big as the previous one. So for example, if the inner one's thickness is 5 pt, the middle one should be 10 pt and the outer one 20 pt.

Step 12

Select them all and go to Object > Expand. In the Expand window, check only the Stroke option. After the lines are expanded, swap the fill and the stroke (Shift-X).

Step 13

Let's do another one. Select the Ellipse Tool (L) and click anywhere on the artboard. In the dialog box, enter 170 px for both Width and Height values.

Step 14

Step 15

Make the stroke weight 55 pt.

Step 16

Select the semicircle and go to Object > Expand. In the Expand dialog box, check only the Stroke option. Swap the fill for stroke (Shift-X).

Step 17

Select the object and go to Object > Path > Offset Path. A dialog box will appear. Make the Offset value-23 px. Leave the other options as they are. A new half circle will appear inside, only a smaller and thinner one. We are done with this one.

Step 18

The rest of the shapes I did are quite simple and they require combining the Rectangle Tool and the Ellipse Tool, and of course, the inevitable use of the Pathfinder command.

4. Build the Design's Structure

Step 1

Now let's go back to the artboard. Make sure your Rulers are visible ( Control-R) and the guides are also visible ( Control-;). Draw a vertical guide in the middle of the artboard, and another horizontal one, also in the middle point of the artboard. They should intersect right at the artboard's middle point. Our working area will be only the upper left quarter.

Step 2

Do another sketch which will build the structure of the design. You can make a circle in the middle of the artboard which we will use as a face, and a few curved lines in the upper left quarter.

We will again need to rasterize the sketches. Select the group of sketched objects and go to Object > Rasterize. From the dialog box, choose Medium Resolution (150 ppi). Drop the Opacity to 40% and Lock (Control-2) the traced image.

Step 3

To get geometrically correct lines, we will use the Rounded Rectangle Tool, which is located in the same spot as the Ellipse and Rectangle Tool. Click on the working area and a dialog box will appear. Enter the following values: Weight: 400 px, Height 550 px, Corner Radius: 84 px.

Step 4

Step 5

Position this line over the sketch. Now let's move on with the other similar lines.

Step 6

Use the same process to create few more curved lines. Position them over the sketch.

Step 7

For the final line with a spiral ending, select the Spiral Tool, which you can find next to the Line Segment Tool. Click on the artboard and in the dialog box enter the following values: Radius: 40 px, Decay: 80%, Segments: 10 and choose the second style.

Step 8

Keep the spiral selected. Find and double-click the Rotate Tool (R). In the dialog box, enter-90 o for the angle value. Click OK. The spiral will rotate 90 degrees clockwise.

Step 9

Select the Direct Selection Tool (A) and select the last anchor point on the outside of the spiral and press Delete. This way, we will make the spiral shorter for one segment. Use the Pen Tool (P) to draw a straight vertical line from the end point of the spiral.

Step 10

Step 11

For the central face object of the image, we will need a simple circle. Select the Ellipse Tool (L) and click on the artboard. In the dialog box, enter 270 px for both values, Width and Height.

Step 12

Using the previously used technique, we will create the eyes and the mouth by cutting circle shapes in half and adjusting their stroke sizes. You can give the eyes a stroke value of 20 pt and the mouth 10 pt.

5. Arrange the Composition

Step 1

Now, start arranging the shapes in the upper left quarter of the artboard, which we already defined. Try to make a sort of a border by multiplying the objects you are using.

It's very important to add some objects over the guidelines, where the guideline will pass exactly over the half of the object and will split it into two equal, symmetrical parts. You can clearly see how I made that with the circles and the Xs over the horizontal guide, or the circles and the diamond shapes over the vertical guideline. These shapes will be very crucial over the next few steps.

Step 2

Keep filling the gaps between the objects. It's like building a design using toy bricks-I always find this game of juxtaposition fun and challenging.

Step 3

And finally, if you notice small gaps in the composition, try to fill them with a few more objects.

6. Add Colors

Step 1

Try to use few colors. If you want to use more colors, I suggest using shades of those few colors. For example, I chose shades of blue and red. I usually make the palette accessible by making little circle shapes colored in my palette of choice. I also label them so I can easily find the one I need. I place them next to the artboard.

Step 2

Start applying the colors. We can start with the dark red and move towards the bright one. Select any object and with the Eyedropper Tool (E) click on the circle with dark red color.

Repeat the eyedropper color selection step for all the other shapes, using all the shades of red and blue. Color the eyes and the mouth of the face in the center in white color.

Step 3

The design should look like this. I spotted an empty space below the spade object. So we can add some small objects, let's say circles, to fill this gap.

Add four different colored circles in that area.

I believe this quarter of the artboard is done. Let's multiply it on the rest of the artboard.

7. Reflect the Design

Step 1

Select the whole design without the smiley circle in the middle and Group it ( Control-G). Copy it(Control-C) and paste it. Then, selected the pasted group and go to Object > Transform > Reflect. In the dialog box, check the Vertical Axis option and click OK.

Step 2

Place the pasted group in a way where both groups overlap-in this case it's the circle and diamond shapes.

You should get a symmetrical composition, and if we did it right, it should match flawlessly in the middle. You can check that by zooming in on the overlapped groups.

Step 3

Now, copy the two groups we made and paste them. Again, go to Object > Transform > Reflect. In the dialog box, this time check the Horizontal Axis option and click OK. Align the two new groups where the shapes meet and overlap. Try to position them as accurately as possible, to get this awesome kaleidoscope effect.

Step 4

Just to shake things up, we can replace the corner spade shapes with the rest of the playing card signs-heart, club and diamond. This will break the perfect symmetry, but it won't disturb the balance in the design.

Step 5

I suggest that all designs or illustrations should have some space around them, to give them some breathing space. To do this, simply select the whole design and double-click the Scale Tool (S), and in the dialog box check the Uniform option and enter 90 as its value. Also make sure that the Scale Strokes and Effects option is checked. Click OK. You can see the notable difference with the free space around the whole design.

Step 6

Finally, as a last touch, we can add a dark background. We used quite bright colors, so they will even look better with a dark background.

Select the Rectangle Tool (M) and click anywhere on the working area. In the dialog box, enter the same Width and Height values as our artboard has: 800 px for Width and 1100 for Height. Click OK.

Step 7

Awesome Work, You're Now Done!

We are done! It might be confusing at first, but we simply worked hard on only one quarter of the design, and then we easily mirrored it three times. This way you can create fun designs for posters, greeting cards, invitations, gift wrap, and more.

You might want to use a product template if you want to make a preview of your poster. I am sure you will find many fun purposes for this tutorial.

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How to Create a Geometric, Kaleidoscopic Design in Adobe Illustrator

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I've always been amused by the designs on playing cards. They seem simple at first, but when you look closely you realize the image is a combination of smaller mirrored portions of the design. This mirroring is creating a kaleidoscopic effect, which keeps our eyes and mind busy and entertained.

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Tired of using stock silhouettes? I feel you. As designers, we like to be unique and special. Having our own stock vectors is always a good idea.

I used to download stock vectors all the time, well, the free ones. Being a graphic design student in college, I couldn't afford to pay for every single vector for my school project. So I really took the time to create my own silhouettes.

And plus, that's what Adobe Illustrator is good at. I've been using Illustrator for almost nine years now, I've found some effective ways to make silhouettes for my artwork.

Want to learn my tricks? Keep reading.

2 Easy Ways to Make a Silhouette in Adobe Illustrator
Note: Screenshots are taken from Illustrator CC 2021 Mac Version. Windows and other versions might look slightly different.
There are several ways to make silhouettes in Adobe Illustrator. Image Trace and the Pen Tool are commonly used for this purpose. The pen tool is great for making a simple silhouette shape, and Image Trace is best for creating silhouettes from a complex image.

For example, it'll take you forever to make a silhouette of this coconut tree if you use the pen tool to outline because there are so many complicated details. But using the Image Trace, you can do it in a minute.

Image Trace

This is, let's say, the standard way to make a silhouette in Illustrator. I totally agree that it's an effective way 90% of the time. The Silhouettes option is right there, but you can't always get what you want with one single click. Sometimes you'll have to adjust some settings manually.

I'll continue with the example of this coconut tree image.

Step 1: Place the image in Illustrator document.

Step 2: Select the image and click Trace Image under the properties panel Quick Actions section.

Step 3: Click Silhouettes.

You see what I'm talking about? You can't always get the best result at once.

If this is your case, you can change the threshold or other settings from the Image Trace panel.

Step 4: Click the icon next to the preset to open the Image Trace panel.

Step 5: Move the slider to change the threshold until you're happy with the silhouette.

Check the Preview box on the bottom-left corner to see how your silhouette looks while changing.

If you are making a simple silhouette shape without many details, you can use the pen tool to quickly create an outline, and fill it with black.

Let's look at an example of how to make a silhouette of this cutie cat in Adobe Illustrator.

Step 1: Place the image in Illustrator.

Step 2: Select the Pen Tool ( P).

Step 3: Use the pen tool to draw an outline of the cat. Zoom in to draw for better precision.

Step 4: Remember to close the pen tool path.

Step 5: Now you have the outline. Just color it black and you're all set 🙂

Other designers also asked these questions about making a silhouette in Adobe Illustrator.

How to edit a silhouette in Adobe Illustrator?

Want to change the color or add more details? A silhouette is a vector, you can click on the silhouette to change colors.

If your silhouette is created by the pen tool and you want to edit the shape, simply click on the anchor points and drag to edit the shape. You can also add or delete anchor points.

Can I make a white silhouette in Illustrator?

You can invert your black silhouette to white from the overhead menu Edit > Edit Colors > Invert Colors.

If your silhouette is made by the pen tool, simply click on the object, select white in the color panel.

How do I get rid of the white background of a traced image?

When you make a silhouette from an image using Image Trace, you can remove the white background by expanding the traced image, ungroup it, and then click on the white background to delete it.

Conclusion

You may find it complicated to make a silhouette if you're not familiar with the tools. Using Image Trace is quicker but sometimes you'll need to take time to adjust the settings.

The pen tool method can be really easy once you're comfortable with the pen tool, and you quickly create a shape outline.

Either way, take your time to practice and you'll get there 🙂

About June Escalada

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2 Easy Ways to Make a Silhouette in Adobe Illustrator

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Tired of using stock silhouettes? I feel you. As designers, we like to be unique and special. Having our own stock vectors is always a good idea. I used to download stock vectors all the time, well, the free ones. Being a graphic design student in college, I couldn't afford to pay for every single vector for my school project.

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How to cartoon for beginners // Adobe draw

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Adobe Draw | Cartoon Tutorial For Beginners!

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Having the right elements for your design is only half of the journey to creating an awesome visual. Now comes the part where you put everything together to create a harmonious combination of shapes, colors and typography.

Even as a non-designer, you've recognized the difference between awkward-looking visuals that make you think "something just doesn't feel right" and content that is so pleasing to the eye that it draws you in and compels you to look more closely at its different elements.

In this post, we'll go over some of the ways you can apply basic composition rules to create more effective, professional-looking visual content, even without a design background.

1 Create a focal point.

One of the most apparent marks of an effective design is the way it draws your gaze to a central focal point.

Just like with any other form of communication, every design must have a core message and a clear goal. This can't be achieved, however, if the viewer doesn't know where to look first because there is no one thing that stands out.

For example, take a look at the two images above. What makes them effective pieces of visual communication is the fact that both of them have focal points created with dominant elements. Some of the different characteristics you can vary to create dominance in a design include:

In the case of the poster to the left, the size of the central image and intertwined letters is bigger in comparison with the rest of the objects, which helps to create a central, dominant element.

Its contrast with the dark background, along with the illusion of depth and the lines leading up to it, cause our eyes to immediately hone in on this part of the poster.

The poster on the right also draws viewers' eyes to a clear focal point. In this case, our gaze is instantly placed on the face of the girl lying down on the floor.

Besides the contrast created by the green shirt over a muted background, the pattern of the pavement and the caped woman's arm both create implied lines that lead viewers to focus first on the subject's face.

2 Create visual hierarchy.

The goal of a good visual design is to orient viewers' eyes in a specific direction.

The first step to doing this is creating a visual entry point into your design using a focal point, as covered above. Then, you can provide a path for your viewers' eyes to follow by applying other rules, such as visual hierarchy principles, which guide the arrangement of elements in a way that communicates the relative importance of each.

The design on the left, for instance, does just this by varying certain characteristics, such as size, contrast, color, typography and spacing. Even a viewer not trained in graphic design can tell that the most important part of the message is the title "Camp Fair" in large, bold white letters.

The design on the right achieves the same effect by applying the same visual hierarchy principles. When you first look at it, your eyes most likely follow this same path from the most important element to the least: 1) The title; 2) The man below the words; 3) The woman next to the man; 4) The number "800"; 5) And then the text to the bottom right of the page spread.

3 Use leading lines.

Another effective technique for creating a visual journey with your design is to use what are called leading lines.

Either implied by the natural shape of objects (such as the woman's arm reaching out in the first example above) or explicit through the use of actual lines, leading lines are used to direct readers' eyes to other elements on a page.

A perfect example is the design to the left, which uses this technique to first draw attention to the focal point ("unspooling") and then orient the eyes toward the information on each of the different lines; first the list of names in yellow, then the words in red, and so on.

While the image on the right is not as eye-catching as the first, it also uses leading lines to orient the gaze toward the focal point. In this case, the leading lines are implied by the shape of the piano and the elongated stems of the flowers over the piano cover.

4 Scale elements to create effects.

Another way to indicate the relative importance of elements is to adjust their scale. For example, the most important elements are usually larger and more prominent than less important ones. In this way, scale is used to establish the dominance or visual weight of an object.

In an effective design, all elements shouldn't have the same visual weight; if so, they would all be competing for attention and the viewer wouldn't know where to look first.

The poster to the left, for instance, uses an oversized element to create a dramatic effect and quickly draw attention to a clear focal point.

The one to the right uses the same technique, but in this case it is used to emphasize the relative smallness of the bird in relation to the owl. The leading lines implied by the shadows also lead us to look from the owl to the bird and then back to the owl again.

5 Balance your elements.

In most cases, you will want to achieve a balanced design in order to create visual harmony. But what exactly does "balance" mean in the context of graphic design?

According to Smashing Magazine, the concept of visual balance can be compared to balance in the physical world. Just as the scene of one very small person and another very large one sitting at opposite extremes of a perfectly balanced seesaw would throw off most viewers (as this would be physically impossible), so would an unbalanced design.

Like in the real world, each element carries a visual weight determined by its size, color and shape, among other things. For example, a large circle would have greater visual weight than a small one; or a highly textured object would have more weight than a flatter element.

Just like you would try to balance physical objects on a seesaw (by perhaps having the larger person move toward the center), so would you adjust the placement of visual elements on a page to achieve balance in a design.

Knowing this, you can achieve balance in a design either through the use of symmetry or asymmetry. While the first is often regarded as harmonious and balanced, it can also be perceived as boring due to its static nature. Asymmetry, on the other hand, is not conventionally seen as appealing but can be interpreted as dynamic and stimulating.

Take a look, for example, at the design on the left. Although asymmetrical, with most of the elements placed to the lower right of the poster, it is balanced out by the illustration, which carries significant visual weight due to its contrast with the dark background image.

Or, consider the poster on the right. It is mostly a symmetrical design that, although static and simple, is captivating due to the dramatic effect created by the contrast of the orange against the background and the effective use of negative space.

6 Use contrast to send a message.

Contrast is one of the most effective tools for making certain elements in your design stand out. As human beings, one of the first things our eyes notice is difference, whether this be a difference in color, shape, texture, size or position, among other things.

By nature, we tend to group similar objects together and differentiate between those that are dissimilar. Take, for example, the poster on the left. Our eyes are immediately drawn first to the object that stands out the most: the yellow rectangle and the words contained within it. Our gaze then moves on to the subject's face, the title and then the surrounding text.

In the second poster, we see the same effect. Color is used to create contrast and thereby draw attention first to the subject's head and then down to his feet and the textual message.

7 Create a cohesive design.

To create a well-composed visual, you also want to tie elements together to form a whole. By using complementary elements throughout, you can achieve a sense of unity and cohesion.

The poster to the left, for example, effectively creates a unified whole by using a running theme that acts as the invisible thread that pulls the design together. In this case, this unifying theme is the use of shapes to create perspective, both in the text and the three-dimensional mountain scene composed entirely of simple triangles of different shades and colors.

The same goes for the design on the right. Throughout the visual, the same white flat icons are used against a vibrant and colorful background.

8 Use repeated elements.

Another way to achieve a cohesive design is to repeat certain elements. This way, the viewer recognizes a visual pattern and knows what to expect next, especially when creating a multi-page design.

In this magazine spread, for example, the same 90-degree triangles are seen on several pages, along with the same typefaces and geometric elements such as circles and hexagons.

The color orange is also consistently used throughout, although the final two-page spread introduces a new yellow and black color combination that might throw the viewer off a bit.

9 Effectively use negative space.

You've probably heard this before, but negative space (or white space) is just as important to your design as the positive elements. It has many functions within a visual: It lets the readers' eyes rest; it gives room for visual pathways that the eye can follow; it draws attention to the main elements of your design; and it makes your design look clean, sophisticated and efficient.

Just look at how the design to the left creatively blends in negative space with positive elements, drawing attention first to the colorful skyline, then to the buildings and rain, down to the lone man with the umbrella.

Or, consider the example to the right which uses a significant amount of negative space to create a sense of drama and suspense. Also, it is useful for highlighting the smallness of a cottage in the middle of a vast and barren setting.

10 Use grids to align your elements.

One way to ensure that your design doesn't look disorganized and unprofessional is to use grids to align your elements. (You can learn how to use grids within Visme here.)

Look at how these two posters use the same grid layout to properly place elements in a harmonious and visually appealing manner. Since the layout has already been predetermined, it makes the work of composing your design a whole lot easier.

So, instead of simply eyeballing the placement of your elements, try to use a grid to make your designs look more organized and balanced. They can also help you identify your focal points and lay out the visual path you want viewers' eyes to take.

11 Follow the rule of thirds.

Finally, there's the very important rule of thirds, which you can follow by simply dividing your canvas area into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, as seen above. According to this simple principle, your focal points should lie at the intersections of these lines.

Although not a principle that must be followed for each and every design, the rule of thirds is helpful for creating dynamic designs that are not completely centered and symmetrical.

Also related to the rule of thirds is the Fibonacci sequence. When expressed as a rectangle, it produces a golden spiral seen in many well-known artistic pieces, as well as in nature, from hurricanes to flower petals.

When you overlay the Fibonacci spiral on the two posters above, you see that both have elements placed in accordance with this golden ratio and have focal points at the intersection of an invisible grid of thirds.

How have you applied these composition rules to create better designs? We would love to hear your comments and questions. Or, if you would like to share your project with us, don't hesitate to drop us a line in the comments section below.

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11 Rules of Composition for Non-Designers

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Having the right elements for your design is only half of the journey to creating an awesome visual. Now comes the part where you put everything together to create a harmonious combination of shapes, colors and typography.

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You could have the most beautiful graphic elements in the world, but if your composition isn't up to scratch, all of that goes out the window.

So, it's safe to say that composition is pretty important. So, what exactly is a composition? Well, in very simple terms, it's the part where all the separate elements come together to form a whole. When all of your type, your images, your graphics and colors, come together to form one cohesive design.

A successful composition means that you have arranged, distributed, aligned and compiled your design in a way that not only looks good but is also highly functional and effective. So, let's run over a few tips, tricks and techniques that will have you mastering composition in no time.

01. Find Your Focus

Just like we were all told in school, having focus is a very important thing. A key element to any good composition is a strong focal point, as it helps your viewers' eyes naturally settle on the important pieces of your design first.

When choosing your focal point, keep in mind that the main goal of any design is communication. Whether you're communicating an idea, some information, or simply a feeling or emotion, your design is telling a specific story, so be sure to choose a focal point that helps this story get told in the strongest, most effective way.

Some ways to draw focus are through techniques like scale, contrast and leading lines, all of which we'll discuss in depth later on. But for now, let's analyze an example.

02. Direct the Eye With Leading Lines

Just like you point at something when you want people to look at it, by positioning certain lines and shapes in certain ways you can control the viewpoint of your design, aka where viewers' eyes go when they see your design.

A common use of leading lines that you might be pretty familiar with is within flowcharts. Flowcharts use lines to direct your eye from one point to the next in an obvious way. Check out this save the date card by Paper and Parcel that uses flowchart leading lines to present the information in a fun, unique way.

Leading lines can also guide you to various tiers or points of information. As previously discussed, you want the eye to first land on the main focal point, but then where does it go? By positioning and adjusting your leading lines you can not only direct the eye to the focal point of your design but also throughout the rest of your design.

Of course, not every design you create will have such obvious lines for you to adjust to direct viewpoint, but this doesn't mean you're up the creek with no paddle. Find shapes and lines within your images and graphic elements and use them to direct the eye in certain ways.

03. Scale and Hierarchy

Scale and visual hierarchy are some of those creative fundamentals that can really make or break your designs, so it's important to have a good hold on them to maintain a successful composition.

In a very brief explanation, hierarchy is the arrangement and design of elements in order to visually signal importance. So, you might make a more important element bigger and bolder than a less important element which might be smaller and fainter.

Hierarchy is particularly important when it comes to type. For a much more comprehensive and detailed discussion of typographical hierarchy, be sure to check out why every design needs three levels of typographic hierarchy.

Scale is often used to help communicate hierarchy by drawing attention toward and away from certain elements, thus signifying their importance to the communication.

Scale is also an incredibly handy tool for giving your design proportion and a sense of size. You can make things seem incredibly detailed, intricate and tiny, or you can make them big and grand.

By contrasting a small scale element next to a large scale element in your composition, you can create a number of different effects.

04. Balance Out Your Elements

Balance is a pretty important thing in many regards, and your designs are absolutely no exception.

But how do we strike that perfect balance within our designs? Well, let's run over two common types of balance and how to master it.

First, we have symmetrical balance . Symmetrical balance does what it says on the tin - it balances your design using symmetry. By reflecting certain design elements from left to right or top to bottom, you can create a strong sense of balance.

Another kind of balance, and an arguably more common type is asymmetrical balance . Asymmetrical balance is also a fairly self explanatory term, in that it concerns creating balance without symmetry.

In the above design, the three central circles are the largest elements in the design, but they are balanced out both by the type, the fine line graphics, and the small, heavily textured circle in the bottom corner.

A good technique for mastering asymmetrical balance is to think of each element as having a 'weight' to it. Smaller objects might 'weigh' less than larger objects, and heavily textured elements might 'weigh' more than flatly colored elements. Whatever the case for your design, balance these weighted elements out until you reach an effective equilibrium.

05. Use Elements That Complement Each Other

You've heard of complementary colors, but what about complementary design elements? One key element to a successful and effective composition is taking the time to carefully and purposefully select each element of your design so that each part complements the whole.

A common error in compositions is using images that don't complement each other. So, when using more than one image in your composition, try to make sure that they all look effective and cohesive when grouped together. There are a lot of different ways to achieve this, here are a few pointers.

Use photos from the same photoshoot. This is an easy way to ensure your photographs look cohesive as they were likely all under the same art direction and photographic style. Check out this magazine spread by Jekyll & Hyde and Elena Bonanomi that does just this to create a beautiful layout.

With the prevalence of filters and Color your photos similarly. image adjusting tools, you are able to color and adjust your photos to have more cohesive and complementary palettes. Check out this poster design by that runs a monochromatic filter over each photograph to tie each image together in a more natural way.

Choose photos that are shot in similar ways. Try to choose images that have similar aesthetics and styles, for example, if one image is heavily minimal, choose others that are minimalist-inspired to complement that. Have a look at this website design example by that has chosen images that all have a certain ruggedness to them with plenty of texture, wood grain and cooler tones.

Creating a cohesive layout also means pairing type and imagery that complement each other. Each different typeface when used under the right circumstances has certain tones and ideas associated with it - a detailed, cursive typeface with lots of swashes and curls for instance might signal elegance and sophistication. So, choose your typeface with purpose and intention.

06. Boost (or Reduce) Your Contrast

Contrast is an incredibly useful tool for both highlighting and hiding certain elements of your design. By upping the contrast or using a high contrast feature color, you can help an element stand out and draw attention. Likewise, by lowering the contrast, you can make an element fade into the background.

While the vibrant color in the previous case works to highlight the design, this next example uses a vibrant color to hide an element of the design.

In this way, contrast can also be used to 'hide' certain elements of your designs as well as create meaning within them. So, use contrast with purpose with your design, whether it's to adjust focus toward an element or away from it.

07. Repeat Elements of Your Design

Repeat after me: "Repetition makes for successful compositions."

To maintain consistency and a logical layout, try to take specific elements from one section of your design and apply it to other sections. Maybe a style of type can be applied to more than one section of your design, or perhaps a graphic motif can be used more than once. So, try to tie your design together with repeated elements.

Repetition is a key factor when it comes to multi-page layouts. Repeating elements of your layout and/or design helps each page flow into the next, creating a cohesive set of pages.

For example, check out these magazine spread designs by and Elizaveta Ukhabina . In this design, each layout's composition is similar, the only differences being in the written content, colors, and use of imagery. This repeated composition helps readers quickly recognize the format and therefore familiarize themselves with the information much quicker.

This poster repeats certain type stylisations, graphics, and line weights throughout to maintain a cohesive and effective design. If it were to suddenly use a thick, bold, pink line-based graphic somewhere in the middle, the cohesion would be lost. So, by keeping the font palette and color palette small and the graphic styles simple and alike, the design is kept beautiful and strong.

When designing, keep a record of the typefaces, line weights, colors, etc. that you use, and try to repeat them somewhere else throughout your design to tie the piece together as a whole.

08. Don't Forget the White Space

The easiest way to offend white space is to refer to it as 'empty space'. Emptiness implies that it should be full of something, that it's not doing its job, but this is not quite the case.

White space when used strategically can help boost your design's clarity and overall look by balancing out the more complicated and busy parts of your composition with space that helps your design to breathe.

So, how do we use white space in our designs?

Scale down your graphic elements. By scaling down your imagery, type, graphics etc. you can create some luxurious white space around your focal points while staying within the frame of your original graphic. For example, check out this recipe card design by Serafini Creative that scales down the central design to create a beautiful frame of white space around the design.

Don't fill up every space with content. As mentioned just before, white space is not empty space, it's doing its own job and serving its own purpose, so don't feel the need to fill any white spaces you have with more content.

When designing your piece, ask yourself if each element of your design is 100% necessary. Do you need all of that type, do you need the bright blue title, do you need 3 different images? By subtracting the unnecessary bits and pieces of your design, you can create a more direct design that makes the most of white space.

09. Align Your Elements

When designing a composition that has many elements in it, don't just throw them all on the page and call it a day, because aligning these elements is a quick and easy way to transform your design from shabby to chic.

Aligning your elements in a strong and logical way also helps you create order amongst many elements. So, if you're using a lot of images, a lot of type and/or a lot of graphic elements, alignment might just be your very best friend.

Alignment is also very important when dealing with type. There are many ways to align your type, but a good rule of thumb for longer pieces of copy is to stick with left alignment as this is the easiest for the eye to navigate and make sense of.

10. Divide Your Design Into Thirds

The rule of thirds is a simple technique where designers divide their designs up into three rows and three columns, and at the points where the vertical and horizontal lines meet is where your focal points should be.

Designer William Beachy plays by this rule with his designs as you can see in the example below. By placing focal points at each line intersection, his design is made striking and effective. Beachy also notes that "By avoiding a centered design you add some motion and interest."

Using the rule of thirds is a great way to kick off your design's composition as it gives you a quick and guide to positioning and framing your elements.

Check out this website design by Gajan Vamatheva for National Geographic and take a moment to imagine where the rule of thirds lines would intersect. You might notice that the lines would intersect over the focal point of each image - the two hikers in the first timage, and the largest bird in the second. The lines would also intersect at points around the text boxes, drawing the eye to these points.

When you find a design that you think is very effective, try to mentally break it down and look for the underlying structure that it was built on. Did it use the rule of thirds? Or maybe it used a specific grid layout. Either way, dissect inspirational examples and take a leaf from their books wherever you can.

Over To You

There are a lot of things to consider when putting together your design's composition. Particularly if you're a beginner, it might take you some effort, and a lot of time spent moving things around, resizing elements and then moving them around again, but keep at it.

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10 rules of composition all designers live by - Learn

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You could have the most beautiful graphic elements in the world, but if your composition isn't up to scratch, all of that goes out the window. So, it's safe to say that composition is pretty important. So, what exactly is a composition?