First of all let’s be clear, what are the basic fundamentals of graphic design?
The fundamentals of graphic design are like the base of a building. It is about seeing (and understanding) how the qualities of visual materials and layout – work together and then being able to decide which qualities of each are relevant and engaging and used for visualizing a problem solution. If you want to design something incredible you should know some basic elements of graphic design, such as line, shape, space, balance, typography, etc.
Want to learn those fundamentals in-depth? You are in the right place, here I am going to discuss those 7 important fundamentals of a visually successful graphic design. So, let’s jump into it.
Fundamentals of graphic design:
- Line
- Color
- Shape
- Size
- Texture
- Space
- typography
1. Line
The line is one of the common basic elements of graphic design, it could be the connection of two or more points.
But in graphic design, lines are mostly used to divide the space, focus on a specific location, or control the viewer’s eye.
Lines have many different variations, fat, thin, wavy, and form you can imagine connecting two points, and every type of line has a different kind of feeling. You will find lines in almost all graphic design projects or vector illustrations as they are used as graphic elements, textures, patterns, and backgrounds.
When you use lines, keep in mind to focus on weight, texture, style, and color because the variety of these qualities has the power of changing emotions or the visual effect on the eyes.
2. Color
Color is one of the most important elements of fundamentals of graphic design and the most mandatory one. In a design, color is used for everything like shapes, lines, typography, or other graphic elements in the composition. Color can make the composition completely different.
There are millions of colors in the color wheel, but that does not mean every color will work well in a single composition. Every color has its own emotion, feelings, and psychology. You should find out the personality of your message, then choose one or two colors.
Most of the public think that color is an easy graphic design fundamental, but they are completely wrong due as many colors don’t work well together for the eye and they might feel the opposite of actual feelings.
So for being a good designer you should learn color theory and color psychology. For learning color theory in depth you can read these 5 stunning color theory books.
3. shape
The shape is also a powerful fundamental of graphic design. Shapes in design have two dimensions and are mostly measured by their height and width and they are defined by their bounding elements such as lines, color, or negative space. The fun fact is every visual element is one kind of shape.
There are two types of shapes mostly seen in graphic design, Geometric and Organic shapes.
Geometric shapes are those which are mathematically complete, they can be drawn by using a ruler or compass and geometric shapes produce a feeling of control or order whether they are simple or complex.
On the other way, organic shapes in graphic design are fully opposite. These are freehand drawings, and also can be found in nature that is why people called them organic shapes, and these shapes produce a natural feel to the eye.
4. Size
Size is also one of the basic elements in graphic design.
Did you notice one thing? Why did you read the title first?
Because the size of the title was so big and bold than the entire paragraph.
The same thing also happens in design. By maintaining size you can give more or less importance to your elements of design. Size and scale are also used in graphic design to create more dynamic design projects and to focus the eye on certain elements of the design.
5. Texture
The texture is a physical quality of a surface. We can make texture through a designing tool or can use pictures to feel the same way.
Might be thinking of why texture is important for graphic design?
Basically, graphic-design projects are visually based and you can’t touch them physically unless the design is printed. It’s important to transmit the look and feel of the elements through the eye, and this is the reason why we use texture in graphic-design.
People have memorized the texture of certain things and by looking at them they already know-how will be the touch them, that’s why texture images work well in graphic-design.
If you need free texture you can download it from here.
6. Space
Space is one of the elements which makes a design look great. But many rookie graphic designers underestimate this. They don’t keep any blank space for their projects.
Space is the area around the graphic elements in a design project, and it helps to give the eye a rest and focus on other graphical elements in the compositions. Sometimes space is used to divide irrational content.
Did you hear about negative space? Negative space is a place where a hidden shape lay down and tries to convey something or help the main message. also, play a vital role. Look at the FedEx logo, you will see an arrow mark between the middle of the letters E and X.
7. Typography
Typography is the last of the 7 fundamentals of graphic design we promised to share in this article.
You can define it as the style of appearance of text. Every typography style has its own different personality and emotion like lines and colors. So choosing a font is one of the hardest tasks for a composition.
There is lots of variety of typography styles like as playful, serious, elegant, minimalistic, and many more. So before jumping to the designing tool be clear about your project message, and find the emotion you need to convey. it could be modern, sci-fi, classical, etc. After understanding the message choose the right font.
Conclusion
So, those were the 7 basic fundamentals of graphic design everyone should learn at the very beginning of their graphic designing career. How many did you know before this article? Was it helpful for you? Write a comment if you want to share anything.
