Graphic designLesson 1 of 4 in the course Layout and composition

Graphic Design: Communication, History, Practice, and Applications

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Graphic design combines visual choices and communication goals to help messages reach particular audiences. This lesson introduces the field, the designer’s role, and the ways a visual composition can communicate beyond words.

Graphic design is the practice of creating visual communications intended to convey specific messages to social groups and achieve particular objectives. It brings together design and the fine arts, using creativity, innovation, and lateral thinking. Designers may work manually, digitally, or through a combination of both.

All flashcards

What is graphic design?
A profession, discipline, and applied art that creates purposeful visual communications for particular audiences and objectives.
What does it mean to call a designer an encoder?
The designer interprets a message and gives it a visual form through choices such as typography, imagery, and composition.
What is a design brief?
A client's or organization's stated need or request, expressed orally or in writing, that the designer interprets and turns into a design solution.
How can design communicate beyond language?
Visual choices such as imagery, color, type, and composition can express emotions, attitudes, identity, and emphasis in addition to the literal words.
How do advertising and graphic design differ in purpose?
Advertising ultimately aims to sell goods or services. Graphic design has wider purposes, including organizing information, expressing ideas, and communicating public or cultural messages.

Quiz questions

  1. What contribution is associated with Johannes Gutenberg's mid-fifteenth-century printing method in Mainz?Answer: It used movable metal type to produce printed pages more quickly.
  2. In typography, what does tracking adjust?Answer: Spacing across a range of characters.
  3. Which distinction best describes interface design and user experience design?Answer: Interface design focuses on interaction points, while UX considers the broader product experience.
  4. Which type of graphic is suited to a logo that must remain sharp at many sizes?Answer: A vector graphic, because it can be scaled without becoming pixelated.
  5. In crowdsourcing, what kind of task asks participants to choose among existing design options?Answer: A convergent task.

Based on the Wikipedia article Graphic design, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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