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Graphic Elements - Key rules
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 | Have a clear concept
What is the message you're trying to get across?
What is Apple trying to inform you about in this ad?
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| To keep the Product (Red) brand consistent across clothing, mobiles, iPods etc. a clear and simple logo was created
Any business can now join in the fight against Aids in Africa by marketing Product (Red) goods
Do you think it gets the message across?
Or rather, what message do you think a Product (Red) consumer is wanting to send out?
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| How effective do you think this is as a way of raising awareness of the need for blood donors?
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| Communicate, don't decorate
Get your idea across clearly
If you can say it with 1 word, don't use 10!
If you can't say it with 1 word, rethink the message!
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| Use a hierarchy of elements
(from big down to small, from most important to least)
Start with a big, main object - this is the most important part of the message
You've now caught their attention
Then get progressively smaller as the objects become less important to the message
Now they're interested, you can show them the boring, crucial stuff
What order have the objects been placed in in this ad?
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| Go for universal appeal
It's not just for you - appeal to all the target audience
Would female drinkers buy these 1970s lager cans?!
Test your designs with other people
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| Use legible type
If they can't read it, they can't get the message
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| Less is more
How has this billboard poster for the Commission for Racial Equality used this rule to good effect?
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| What kind of target market is this ad aimed at?
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| Milton Glaser's logo sums it up...
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| Make your own images - or make them your own
There's nothing worse than sticking in an image you haven't created
If you're using an image you've found - adapt it, alter it, draw from it....
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| Use negative space well
This ad for Highland Spring shows a spider hanging off a thistle, with a bottle of water below. The tagline reads "We protect the little guy".
The white space, without anything in it, is negative space.
How has the negative space been used here?
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| Measure visually
The eye sees things differently from the computer
If it looks right to you, it is right!
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| Use history - don't just copy it
Compare this magazine ad for Stella McCartney's new perfume.....
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| ..... with a painting by Ingres from the Musée d'Orsay
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| Symmetry is bad news
Make sure you don't have a symmetrical layout - it looks uncomfortable.
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| Avoid static designs
Use images or other graphic elements to keep the design moving
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| Treat type as an image
Don't just slap type onto the page.
How does this anti-sectarianism ad manipulate the type and to what ends?
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| Do it on purpose or not at all
If this was purely an ad for beer, the trompe l'oeil effect would be mildly interesting, however the addition of guitars and amps gets you thinking...
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| Have a range of tonal values
Use different tones to keep the eye interested and moving
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| Two typeface families (or 3 at a push)
Using more than three different type families creates a muddle.
Here the main body of the text uses only 2, but with different colours and weights.
Use italic, bold and different sized type from the same two type families and you'll have plenty to choose from, while keeping it readable and visually coherent
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| One visual voice
This campaign for s1jobs uses the same look or visual voice in each ad and across TV and print campaigns.
Think about why they might do this?
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| The Guardian newspaper's re-design has a consistent look throughout
What message are they trying to get across?
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| Use colours purposefully
Why has this Commonwealth Games bid poster for Glasgow used a lot of blue and a little red?
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| Squish together and separate
Give your design different densities
Have some areas busy and some quiet
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| Times change, but some things should stay the same
Don't throw the baby out with the bath water...
If something is a strong part of the branding or original design, keep it, but make it relevant to the new message
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| Ignore fashion
These ads are simple in their look, but everyone remembers them
Irn-Bru's graphics are very different to Coke's. How is their message different and how do they show this?
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