The Use of Colour in Graphic Design

Colour is one of the most important parts of graphic design, it is one of the formal elements and it can completely change the look of an image. Different colour combinations or monochrome has to be decided upon depending on what the design has to convey. 

In graphic design, colour choices are strongly influenced by the demands of the marketplace and popular culture. Graphics requires fresh ideas in exciting and stimulating designs continually and this includes exploring the whole range of colours and combinations. Saying this, colour has broken away from its traditional restrictions; in  some parts of graphic design colour may be used for specific practical purposes such as logos or signage.

The phycological effects of colour should be taken into consideration when choosing colour for a design, it has been proven that different colours bring up different emotions. Bright oranges reds and yellows tend to stimulate us, while blues and greens often make us feel more peaceful. Colours can therefore be used to express emotions and even evoke them. We associate the the colours of fire (reds, oranges and yellows) with warmth. This isn't just an abstract notion, physiological research indicates that under red lighting our bodies release more adrenaline and our blood pressure rises. We associate blues and greens with the cooling qualities of water and trees, physiological research shows that green or blue lights will slow our heartbeats, decrease our temperature and relax our muscles. Dark and light tones can also have a big impact on how we feel. The somber mysterious hues of paintings in Rothko’s chapel is said to make people become very quiet and contemplative. 

Balance and proportion of colour also changes the impact of a design, emphasis on a certain aspect of the design can bring this to the viewers attention. This can be a very useful technique in advertising, the viewers attention must initially be seized and then guided in such a way that they get all the information about the product. in contrast, unity of colours can have an impact by blending the design, neutral tones or a similar colour combination can be more refined and pleasing on the eye. certain colour groupings are thought to be far more aesthetically appropriate than others.

Lavish colours such as purple, black, gold and silver can be used to show a higher end design or product. Gold and silver have long been associated with wealth and higher class, often branding and advertisements use these colours to show the luxury of the product. Primary colours such as red and yellow stimulate and draw attention and are often used in cheap quick purchases. 

RGB and CNYK

RGB

The RGB colour model is an additive colour model in which red, green and blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three primary colors, red, green and blue. RGB is used in electronic systems such as televisions and computers. 






CMYK


CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and key(key is black).  The difference between RGB and CMYK is With the CMYK colour mode, all of the colours are subtractive and therefore, the more colours you add together, the darker the colours are going. The CMYK colour model is used for offset printing for full colour documents because many printers use these 4 colour inks. 

Pantone

Pantone

Pantone is the standardised system of matching colours. Used specifically in printing inks. In the pantone solid palette, there are 1,114 colours all with a specific 3 or 4 digit number  which can be referred to. The system allows colours to be picked and matched very precisely. Pantone first developed the system in 1963 originally for the graphics industry but is now used by a wide range of industries. The pantone system is universally recognised. this means a client can request a certain colour for a design and it can easily be selected and put into use. An example of this, would be finding the iconic 
                                                macdonalds red and yellow, a designer could easily find the                                        
                                                colours unique code in order to create the logo. 

Jo Blaker

Jo Blaker

Illustrator/Graphic Designer/ Fine Artist

Jo came in to gives a sketchbook tutorial, she studied Graphic Communication Extended Diploma at leeds college of art a while back. 

She stated that the key to a good sketchbook is looking, observing and noticing everyday things around you.  Her work is very analog and she works primarily with rough sketches and these are then later developed. 

Her sketchbooks have given me the inspiration to do more analog work, her drawings are very free and quick and proves that to make good work you don't need to be perfect and clean cut and the best work often comes from free quick ideas that aren't overthought. 

OUGD403 Design Context

I put the logo into context by placing it onto a paint tin to see how it would fit, I think the simplified design without the word paint underneath works nicely as wehn it is inn context the word is unneccisary. 

OUGD403 Studio Brief 2 Evaluation

Studio Brief 2


In this brief I have learnt new skills using Adobe Illustrator, I had not used the software before the start of this module so had to learn as I went along, although this meant i was slow with my designs my future work will be done faster as I now have the skills. 
I think that my final typeface conveys the word surprise well, I think simplifying the idea was a good idea as the message is now much more clear as there is not too much going on. 
Having an interim crit gave me feedback to push my designs further to see where I could take them. The feedback I received helped me to push the illustrative approach to my designs, it also helped my narrow down my ideas so i could start refining just a couple of designs. 
For this brief I started out by hand sketching ideas, this enabled me to quickly come up with a range of ideas, it also gave me more creative freedom as I didn't have the limits of computer software holding me back. 

With more time I would like to have put the Typeface into context, such as a type specimen or put it into a logo or heading. If I had used my time more effectively I would have had time to produce one. Next time I must be more organised in order to get all of the work completed to a higher standard. 

OUGD403 Studio Brief 1 Evaluation

Studio Brief 1

Overall I am happy with my logotype design. I think that the research I conducted into the context of the words meaning really helped me come up with a rounded design concept . The word was very obscure so I had to make sure I had done a good amount of research into the meaning beforehand.

Having and interim crit during the development process gave me the chance to ask questions and get feedback on where to go next with my designs. From this crit I established that in order to make my brand a mid range paint brand, the logotype should by monochrome, people stated that multicolours cheapens the brand. The crit also showed me that the paint splatter is affective but the typography should be the most important part and should be able to stand alone as a logo and not need a symbol. 

The final crit gave me feedback on a major flaw in my designs that I hadn't initially spotted myself. It also meant i could easily narrow down my 5 final designs to the most affective design. 

With more time I would like to work on the paint splatter on the typography, as this is the first studio brief my design skills were not up to scratch as I had never used Illustrator before. Now I have more skills on illustrator I would like to push the design further using more advanced techniques. 

This brief has taught me lessons in time management and that I must keep ontop of the work at the start of the brief in order to avoid stress at the end. I now know the standard of required each week in order to keep ontop of this so hopefully i will manage my work better next time. 

OUGD403 Research

From looking at the expression of surprise, I want to look at reaction to shock my accidentally dropping something, from this i thought I would look into the formation of shards in order for me to be able to accurately portray them in my design work. 

I looked into the expression of surprise and how someones face looks when they are shocked. Also looking at emojis and how the expression is universally recognised. From this research i have established that universally surprise is described as i wide eyes and mouth and raised eyebrows. 

OUGD403 Module Evaluation

Evaluation Module 1

As this was the first module I have learnt many things as I have gone along as I was doing pretty much everything for the first time. One of the main things I have learnt is ICT skills, I had basic photoshop skills and had never used illustrator before this module, my skills have drastically improved on this software especially illustrator as I have had to learn as I went along. I think that my design skills overall have improved during this module, I have learn how to generate quick sketches before I put them into a digital format, this has been good for developing a wide range of ideas quickly. Another thing I have learnt during this module is time management, coming to university has given me a lot more freedom and work is set and needs to be regularly kept onto of from the start. I ended up having lots of work to do at the end because I had not kept on top of it early on and this will have affected the overall quality of my work. I have also learn how to find relevant research and how to correctly link it to my own work. 

The skills I have learnt from this module will hopefully impact my future design work as I now have the computer design skills in order to go about other projects. I have gained a rounded knowledge on how I get from initial ideas to a final outcome I should now be able to speed up my timing as I get more comfortable with the software. My time management should be learnt upon as I now know that I need to keep onto of work at the start of the module so it doesn't pile up at the end. this will also give me opportunity to improve my work as I can spot things earlier on and have time to improve upon them. I feel that at the end of this module I have a better overall understanding of what is expected of from a module was obviously at the start of the module I was doing everything for the first time. Knowing how to find and link relevant research to my work will improve my work later on as it will give me inspiration and help me to push my work further. 

After this learning curve I will now be able to take these principles forward into my future work. I will be able to work quicker as I have faster skills with the software i am using, but also with time management so work will be completed in a more organised way to avoid stress at the end. Overall my future work will tie together better as i have the skills to back up my work with relevant research. 

OUGD403 Crit feedback

Crit Feedback 

Lowercase or uppercase A?

feedback: 

6 people think i should use lowercase and 3 people think i should use uppercase

What should my colour scheme be?

4 people think i should stick to a monochrome colour scheme and 4 people think it should be a colourful design.

the feedback told me that if it is quite colourful it bring the design down to a lower price range as it is not as tasteful but i think if i use colour tastefully it will work well for the logo, i don't think black is a good colour to use as it is too plain but i should stick to 1 or 2 tasteful colours. 

Should i use the paint splatter?

5 people think i should use the paint splatter and 4 people think i should not.


Very varied feedback, I think this has given me lots to think about as there is not a clear decision. 

currently I'm not happy with the paint splatter idea as i think it is a bit basic so i have developed it further so instead of a separate splatter it is part of the typography. 

The drip on the g isn't too over the top like when it is on all of the letters. It doesn't take away from the typography like the paint splat did in earlier designs. 

I want to make the colour changeable for what paint colour is being advertised, this would be a simplistic way of displaying the colour of the paint product. 

From my market research I have established that my brand is a mid range paint brand i don't want to go over the top with colour because this makes the brand a lower range. 

The final logo is very simplistic because most paint brands have a simplistic logo but then the product will have other visual information showing the product.

OUGD403 brand research

Dulux uses a bold typeface to clearly display the words, it does have a minor serif this gives the impression that the logo is flowing like a brush stroke. The coloured splash over the typography adds context and excitement to the logo. deluxe is a mid range paint brand and i feel is quite closely compared to my logo due to the colour scheme and choice of typeface. the paint splash at the top uses colours in order of the colour wheel like my analogous colour scheme. 

Farrow and Ball is a high end paint brand, the typography used in this logo is much more classical and classy using a serif font. high end paint brands need to show quality and sophistication. This logo also has a label that shows what the brand is so it says paint and paper, i would like to do this with my logo because my word is quite obscure. 

OUGD403 Design Development

Here are some experiments with the colour scheme using 4 analogous colours. 
I started experimenting with the kerning of the type and how the word changes personality depending on the kerning. 

I experimented with line settings on illustrator to try adding in an illustration of paint splatters and strokes to put the typography into context. The feedback I got from this is that it is that the paint mark can't be used to take away from the typography. 

on friday we had a group crit to analyse where we were currently with our work. i have established that i need to figure more out about the brand, i need to establish if my brand is high or low end, people said that currently the logo ideas i have are somewhere around the mid/ low range and have given me a comparison to Dulux paint. when people are looking for a paint brand they want to know that the paint is reliable, durable, clean, will freshen up a room.

OUGD403 Research into fonts and word meaning

Analogal- analogous, obsolete (no longer in use)- bearing some resemblance or proportion- corresponding to something else. functionally similar, but arising through convergent evolution. a resemblance or equivalence between two situations. 


Analogous colour schemes use colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel. They usually match well and create serene and comfortable designs. 

I was given the choice between 6 fonts some serif, some sans serif. I wrote out all of my designs using the given fonts to see how each would look and what personality each would give to the word.

Garamond

Designed by Claude Garamond in the 1500s.

It is a classic and timeless font that still looks good today.

mainly used on paper, in books, etc

has been used for Dr. Seuss and Harry Potter

the font has also been used for famous logos such as Abercrombie and Fitch swell as apples think different campaign logo. The typeface has a pattern to be used for very classical purposes and classic branding campaigns.

Bodoni

Designed by Giambattista Bodoni in the 1970s

good display font has a unique style with pronounced contrast.

Used widely for logos and signs 

famously used as nirvanas name and high fashion brands such as Calvin Klein and Elizabeth Arden. this typeface would be good for a fashionable brand or something quite high end. 

Century

Designed by Linn Boyd Benton in 1892.

its a traditional serif type and used widely as a book font.

century was used for Ronald Reagan's campaign buttons in the 80's. This font is very classic and uniform used to convey a clear message, but it is quite old and outdated. 

Futura

Designed by Paul Renner between 1924 and 1926 inspired by the bauhaus.

The font is still fresh and current today. 

Famously used as the logo for absolut vodka, red bull, dominos pizza and Louis Vuitton

Times New Roman

Times New Roman gets its name from the Times of Lon­don, the British news­pa­per. In 1929, the Times hired typog­ra­pher Stan­ley Mori­son to cre­ate a new text font.

Famous brands such as HSBC and Google have used the font in their logos

Helvetica

Designed in Switzerland in 1957 by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann.

Sleek modern typeface 

used for the New York subway, american apparel and many other modern designs 

used widely in graphic design. 

The sans serif fonts give a much more modern and sleek look to the the word. I think the serif fonts that i have been given to use are often used for more analog methods and i don't want to portray this in my brand as i want it to be new and exciting. 

After my research into the word i decided to focus my brand around analogous colours. so used adobe colour to find analogous colour schemes I could use.

OUGD403- Studio Brief 1- Ligatures

Studio Brief - Ligatures 

yeah = yh

Me and my partner started out by looking at the word yeah and how, often, people shorten it to yh while texting. using 'yh' and taking it forward into a symbol that could be placed on the keyboard as a shortcut, much like the '&' symbol.








We started experimenting with different ways of presenting the symbol, using more stylised approaches. I feel these were not effective due to the use of the symbol, it is not for decorative use but more functional.     

 
This experiment using a sans serif font is much more functional and the structure helps emphasise the symbols meaning. 


Digital experimentations using photoshop using helvetica letters and merging them. the one on the left is my favourite as it is sharp and simplistic and clearly conveys the symbol.

Trying to abstract the symbol further using a more curved format, i like the idea but the outcome looks slightly like a swastika.

This italic version of the symbol looks really effective it it lets in a bit of intricacy to the design without overpowering.

This experimentation is how the symbol would be shown on a phone keyboard. I have used a thinner font so it fits with the characters on the keyboard already.

Using the symbol I wanted to take it into a different context, so using the symbol to graffiti. 

Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes Gallery

The branding for the gallery was done by Sara De Bondt 

Colour is used to give the brand an identity. colour comes from the art it is sitting next to, there is no set colour scheme it is all changeable depending own the context.

The form of the brand is based around a gird system modelled on milton keynes's street  grid system, based abound a square. 

Type is simplistic series of system fonts, the only design detail is the fused 'mk'. The brand doesn't use a specific font. 

The brand doesn't need any designers to make the identity because no materials are needed as the designing can be don't on microsoft word. 

I think Sara De Bondt approached the project in this way because it creates an unusual and thought provoking brand instead of being a normal uniform brand. looking at the branding from a different perspective makes the final outcome more effective. 

Sarah De Bondt is trying to communicate the purpose of the gallery in her branding, the grid system helps her to subtly show the gallery brand 

The work is interesting to me due to the angle that de Bondt has taken, the variations of the design adds interest. the design is subtle but effective.

the work communicates an order to me, the whole design idea is based around the order and other elements can be brought in to bring the idea together. 

The work communicates the information the gallery wants to convey from the website to the gallery.

Helvetica

Helvetica
Helvetica documentary (2007)

It was designed in 1957 by Eduard Hoffman after WW2, there was a feeling of idealism , design was used to rebuild, designers felt a sense of social responsibility. 

Ubiquitous
Helvetica is a ubiquitous typeface used for many purposes, it fits anything and good for everything. Many brands have adopted the font for their logos over the years caring greatly from fashion brands like urban outfitters and american apparel to panasonic, and government schemes like the space shuttle. In later years the typeface was criticised as being too safe and it was too confirmative. it was thought of as a visual disease because it was being too widely used. 

Universal
Helvetica has been used for almost everything it is very universal. Massimo Vignelli used to it to design the New York subway as well as American Airlines. He used helvetica for these logos as it is universally recognised clear and classic. American airlines was the only airline not to be rebranded for most of the 20th century, this shows that the logo worked. The NYC subway also is still current today as the font is neutral and universally recognised. 

Neutral
Vignelli states that type does not need to be expressive because the words used tell the story. Helvetica was a big step from 19th century fonts because it was neutral. Swiss designed, it is a rational typeface which was a visual expression of the modern world at the time it was created. it is clear readable and straight forward. Neville Brody stated that "if you bought a product with helvetica as the logo its like buying a pair of jeans from gap, you won't stand out, it would be reliable and safe." People say that Helvetica is the typeface of capitalism but lars muller prefers to think of out as the typeface of socialism. The most important part of typography is the white space behind it. 

Idealistic
Helvetica marks the shift to a modern way of designing. Many people believe that helvetica can't possibly be improved so it is the image of ideals. Wim Crouwel uses grids to create order and helvetica fits into this perfect design idea. 

Modern
Helvetica was different to anything seen before it and kickstarted a visual disease of the overuse of the font. The font is now more than 50 years old and is sill as cutting edge as it was back in the 50s. One the years helvetica induced the change of may forms of design fro corporate branding, to advertising. it was open to interpretation. 

American Airlines 

I think that Massimo Vignelli chose to use Helvetica for the logotype of american airlines because it is universal font. 

OUGD403 Rationale

Rationale

My adjective for my typeface is surprised. I want to initially start with capital letters as they show more impact and shock than lowercase. I am exploring an illustrative approach to my alphabet where i will illustrate the reaction to surprise by dropping something and it smashing into fragments. 

OUGD403 Final crit

This is my final alphabet for the final crit, I went with the understated smashed objects idea,   having less cracks emphasises the cracks that are on the letterforms so the design is not too busy. 

Crit

Feedback I received 

"I think you should have the fragments of the letters more spaced out so you can see them more clearly."

"I think the crack on the letter A and L are really effective."

"I like the way that all of the letters are cracked differently wich also shows surprise because you can predict a pattern."

"The design could be simplified even further and the cracks only appearing on some of the letters."

"Fragments could be spaced out further"

"I think this typeface well conveys the element of surprise, i like the way it isn't completely obvious, i like the context you have gone down with the smashing plates."

"Helvetica works well with the cracks because it is neutral so the cracks are nit overpowered by any serifs or anything."

Here is my revised alphabet from after the crit, people has said i should move the fragments further apart. i tried this and i think the distortion works better than the first typeface.