Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual: Understanding the Rules and Knowing when to Break Them

Design Elements is a fun and comprehensive manual for graphic designers that includes hundreds of tips and examples for designers to attain the fundamental skills that contribute to successful design. It is the most compact and lucid handbook available outlining the basic principles of layout, typography, color usage, space, image, and how to put it all together. Design Elements not only offers great tips on the basic, but also shows you how to break the rules without compromising communication or confusing your audience. Features : • Twenty rules for making good design, including: Communicate-Don’t decorate (RULE 2); Pick Colors on Purpose (RULE 6); Be Universal (RULE 11) • A refresher course on graphic design’s basic visual toolkit-dot, line, plane, and texture-and how to use such elements effectively • An in-depth look at color, from its optical qualities to its effect on type • Methods for integrating type and image, including a tutorial on using grid system to structure layouts • When and why to challenge anything in this book and the best way to break the rule