Graphic Designer's Essential Reference

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I have often compared graphic designers and the work they

do—composing visual stimuli and organizing it into clear

and dynamic structures—to architects, chefs, and musical

conductors. Each confronts an empty space, charged with

the task of producing a memorable, meaningful, and

hopefully enjoyable experience. To do so, each peruses his

or her catalog of content, styles, methods, and details to

envision an end result that will speak to his or her audience

with depth, drawing on the history of his or her particular

craft and interpreting it with distinction.

THE DESIGNER

AT THE

READY

Introduction

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Job:07-26153 Title:RP-Graphic Designer’s Essential Reference PB Edn

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Job:07-26153 Title:RP-Graphic Designer’s Essential Reference PB Edn

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Accomplishing a virtuoso

performance means being

ready—having the right

tools on hand and knowing

the possibilities they offer.

A good chef knows the fl avor and texture

of every ingredient; a conductor is intimately

familiar with the tonality of each instrument

and how it affects the others. Likewise, a good

designer is aware not only of all the different

ways of visualizing an idea but also how each

combines to deliver their message, and which

combinations will best create experiences that

are ideally suited for the specifi c needs of the

client and the intended audience.

For whatever reason, be it an entrenched

routine, an outright creative block, or the pres-

sure of a tight deadline, designers sometimes

fi nd themselves at a loss for how to proceed:

Photo or icon? Violet or gray? Oldstyle or slab

serif? To ensure readiness and spark ideas on

the fl y, this book offers designers an at-a-glance

resource of essential options for spurring the

imagination and getting the job done

—

with

style, originality, appropriate meaning, and aes-

thetic delight for client and audience alike.

What is it, after all, that a designer does

that is so different from the work

of these other creative professionals?

A designer gives form to ideas by inventing

images through painting and drawing, choos-

ing and manipulating photography, selecting

colors, formatting type and all these other

elements into various confi gurations, spaces,

rhythms, layers—much the way an architect

shapes a building, a chef conjures a new dish,

or a conductor orchestrates a performance.

Testing conventions of page structure, type

style, and pictorial options, the designer arrives

at a vision for conceptualizing the content he

or she must convey—and proceeds, through

iterative experimentation, with the precise

drawing techniques, color palettes, sharper or

softer serif typefaces, textural fi elds or blocks

of pattern, the larger or smaller instance of a

photograph, to arrive at a design that delivers

its message clearly, forcefully, and memorably.

And, like his or her creative counterparts,

the designer must have a fi rm grasp not only

of the historical framework and conventions

in which he or she is working, but also of the

myriad options on hand for transcending mere

formula to create something that is entirely new.

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Job:07-26153 Title:RP-Graphic Designer’s Essential Reference PB Edn

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