Process: VI Congreso Latino Americano de Ciencia y Religion
Following a succesful first project, Oxford University’s Ian Ramsey Centre for Science & Religion approached me to produce the poster for a new conference in Mexico.
Otavalo Blankets, Ecuador
Latin America is a region full of inspiration – vibrant colour, artwork, architecture and staggering technical achievements from the ancient civilizations.
I settled on using the area’s bright textiles as the base for the poster.
Recommended Graphic Design Books
You can find out just about anything about Graphic Design online, but sometimes it’s nicer to read a good book on the subject. Particularly if you’re working with a computer all day long, and want to give your burning eyes a rest from the monitor!
Over the last ten years or so, I have built up quite a collection of design books, and here I recommend some of the better ones – along with links to their page on Amazon. Making a purchase after using these links (even for something completely unrelated) will help support this site.
ISO Paper Size Reference
ISO 216 paper sizes are based on an aspect ratio of approximately 1:1.4142 – the square root of 2. The base format (A0) is a sheet spanning 1m² in area. Successive sheets in the series are made by halving the preceding paper size along the larger edge. I’ve gathered the dimensions of ISO 216 sheets here for you to bookmark the article, or you can download a PDF if you prefer.
Process: Decay
I had an idea of creating a piece where elements of it are decided by chance. The technique I decided on was rolling a pair of die, and somehow making use of the numbers generated.
Before starting anything however, I had to establish rules, and have some form of a plan as to what the finished article would look like!
Design Elements: Space
Easily one of the most misunderstood aspects of layout design is white space (also known as negative space). The term refers to the parts of a composition left unmarked by text and graphics – including margins, gutters and space between lines of type.
Lemons. Expensive.
When used effectively, space can aid the hierarchy of information, push out elements, and simply give the eyes a break. White space needn’t actually be white – it can be any colour – as long as we subconsciously see it as the background.
Animals in logo design
A number of the worlds most famous brands feature animals in their identity – an age-old technique of implying characteristics to a brand – such as the confident and brave lion, or a loyal dog.
Image appears courtesy of Flickr member: Pyntofmyld
Here are some of my favourites – both high profile, and others that I have stumbled across over the last couple of years…
The rules of typography
Over the centuries, as type has developed, guidelines and best practices have emerged that – when followed – can ensure that textual content is clear and easy to understand. A clear message is surely the goal of graphic design.
Image appears courtesy of Flickr member: Pheezy
Describing letterforms
The field of Typography employs a number of technical terms to describe letterforms.
The Baseline refers to the imaginary line that all characters 'sit' on. The Median is the imaginary line defining the X-height of the letterforms.
If you take the time to learn these, you will find it much easier to identify specific faces, and will amaze all your friends with your knowledge of type (well, maybe).