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Graphic Design and Web Design Courses in South Shields
Most people do not have a faint understanding of what a graphic artist is doing—creating logos for companies? Fixing the photos in Photoshop? Making ads for magazines? Yes — designers do these things — but they’re just elements of a much larger picture.
Look around you. Design is everywhere — from the morning cereal box to the music festival poster to the Uber ordering process. Combining creativity with strategy, communication with a smart brand, and aesthetics with logic, the design is just about everywhere you look — and it matters. There are countless opportunities for graphic designers to make their mark.
Graphic Design and Communication
Excellent communication skills are a vital part of the designer’s toolkit. It’s nice to make pretty pictures, but the most important part of the graphic design process happens before you even put a pen on paper. Designers have to interpret the needs of the client.
All design is based on the five concepts of graphic design: stability and structure to create balance, organisational and path hierarchy, impact-generating contrast and focus areas, repetition to unify and improve, and alignment to produce a more reliable, smoother result. Learn more about the fundamentals of graphic design and how we teach them in our course and approach.
So, we’ve refined five basic principles of graphic design:
- Alignment
- Repetition
- Contrast
- Hierarchy
- Balance
Alignment
The most basic, but also the essential principles of design, is alignment as it enables our eyes to see order, which is quite comforting to the reader.
Have you ever seen a design and not known where to look – left, right, centred? Having a precise reference point within the interface enables our eyes to pass through the visual message smoothly. Aligning the items with each other in such a way that each object has a clear relation to everything else on the web, tightens the template and avoids the haphazard, sloppy impact of arbitrary positioning of the components.
The alignment of elements that are not close to each other can provide an invisible connection, communicating the idea that they belong to the same piece.
Alignment can be observed outside of 2D graphic design, as paintings hung evenly on an invisible line, between right/left/centre alignments in Microsoft Word documents to paragraph text.
Repetition
Repetition strengthens a design by linking separate parts otherwise, thereby creating associations. Think of repetition as being consistent. You automatically establish familiarity or identification by repeating elements of a design.
Repetition is a critical factor in the unity of multiple page documents. Repeat duplicates the characteristics of similar elements that contribute to the consistency of the design. Repeat can also create rhythm in a design. The entire unit is described as a collection of bulleted interest points of the same colour, form, and scale.
Repetition helps people to identify that separate things belong together. Just think of it a little like a family. Each individual in the family looks a bit different, but there are enough similarities that you can see all of them related to each other.
Contrast
Contrast is the most effective way to create emphasis and impact on your design. Contrast is created when two elements are opposite. For example: large/small size, classic/contemporary fonts, thin/thick lines, cool/warm colours, dark/light, smooth/rough textures, horizontal/vertical, etc.
In the management of data on a list, contrast plays a crucial role. It gives the reader a guide on where to look first; what’s the essential point? What’s the most unusual thing?
This must be solid and clear in comparison to function. Our eyes like contrast; don’t make the difference look like a mistake. The differences have to be clear and extreme to have impact
For example, when you agree on online conditions, you can see that “I accept” is bold, while the colour of “I decline” seems to disappear in a lighter colour.
Hierarchy
Hierarchy is building an organisation. Think about it— hierarchy is often something that we think of describing a ranking in a company or organizations such as politics and the Church. This is a system in which people or objects are organised according to their value.
In design, the hierarchy provides a visual framework for the design and gives the reader an idea of where to start and finish reading.
Each element that is part of the design can be given a ranking of priority. e.g.
- Headline
- Image
- Subhead
- Website call to action
- Body Copy
In order to achieve the appropriate hierarchy, a designer may then determine the place, scale, contrast, colour, etc.
Clients also request that the size of individual items on the website be increased, as they believe, like many of these points are “very important.” The problem with this strategy is that nothing stands out when doing so.
Typically there is a single message that is more important than all the others, which will stand out the most and lead the viewer to the rest of the content.
Balance
Many good graphic designers achieve visual harmony by using symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial symmetry around the visual centre.
• In symmetrical balance, both sides of the page layout are the same in terms of weight, shape, lines, and other elements.
• An asymmetrical balance occurs when the two sides of the design are not the same, but they have similar features.
• Radial symmetry puts the elements in a circular pattern. While it is common in print layouts, there is not much radial symmetry on websites because circular placements are difficult to achieve.
Sometimes a graphic designer deliberately creates an unbalanced design that usually focuses attention on one element. In design, you must know the rules before you can effectively break them.
Web Design
Web design is a process of developing a website that focuses on aesthetic factors such as layout, user interface, and other visuals to increase the visual appeal and ease of use on the site. To achieve the desired look, web design uses different programs and tools like WordPress, Elementor, and Adobe XD. Web designers must think of their audience, the intent of the website, and the visual appeal of the design in order to produce a winning design.
Job Description of a Web Designer
The work of a web designer includes all facets of building a website. Through visiting clients and evaluating their needs, web designers help to develop and manage the product. Their duties include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Reading and editing of content
2. Design of web page layout
3. Determination of technical requirements
4. Update of websites
5. Create backup files
6. Solving code problems
A web designer/developer usually works between 37 and 40 hours a week, from 9 am to 5:30 pm, from Monday to Friday. Extra hours, including evenings and weekends, may be necessary to meet deadlines.
A web designer/developer is expected to:
Have skills in software programming and graphics
Creativity and fantasy
Be adaptable and be able to adopt new techniques
Have good interpersonal and communication skills;
Keep up to date on innovations and how this impacts the market situation of computer technology.
Expected Salary of Web Designers in the UK
Wages beginning can be approximately £ 18,000 a year.
Web designers/developers can gain approximately £ 30,000 with experience.
Salaries may be above £40,000 for senior designers/developers.
