Questions and Assignments for the Graphic Design Class Final Exam Semester 1.

Intro

Greetings of Peace and Goodwill!

I would like to present my answers and outputs for the Graphic Design Class Final Exam Semester 1 by @atim1234, the Graphic Design Headmaster in the Steem Skillshare Community. I learned a lot from our committed and competent Graphic Design Instructors namely, @lhorgic, @printskill and @niglys8.

What is the Definition and Category of Graphic Design.

Graphic Design is a visual tool and art in communicating information with the use of graphics, images, colors, and text. It is a widely used advertising tool in education, business, social media, and the likes. It needs to be correct, presentable and persuading to serve its purpose well.

Graphic Design can be categorized into various types and functions such as banners, streamers, posters, leaflets, cards, logos, and many more. These outputs can be presented digitally on websites and social media, or in print thru magazines and advertising ads.

Tell the History of Graphic Design Development, Briefly.

Certainly, Graphic Design has been present even in ancient times, pre-historic people used stones to carved images and symbols in caves to communicate and give information about their lives, experiences, and observations. It has developed over time into print and now in digital format.

Mention the Role of Graphic Design in Visual Communication.

As said in the previous item, Graphic Design is a visual tool for communication. The images, graphics, illustrations, and texts will convey a message or information to people. For example, in a sachet of shampoo, we can see on the packaging the name of the brand, logo, ingredients, and the brand's promotional advertisement or tags.

Mention and Explain the Components of Graphic Design

As mentioned above, Graphic Design is a tool and art to communicate visually to people which has to be precise and presentable. Thus, Graphic Design uses the basic elements of art such as line, shape, color, texture, type, space, and image.

Mention and Explain the Principles of Graphic Design

Here are the Principles of Graphic Design

1. Balance - When designing, you have to consider the weight of your images and text or balance. Try to imagine again a sachet of shampoo, the front side contains all the text and the image of a beautiful woman with very shiny and healthy hair. But the backside of the sachet is empty and blank. Do you think it looks pleasant and good? No! Do you think it will have good implications and comments from the potential buyers? No!
2. Alignment - The Graphic Designer should also consider the alignment of texts and images when creating a banner or poster. It can be aligned left, right, or center. The Graphic Designer should also be very careful with the purpose of his design if it is to be utilized in business, education, and or for aesthetic purposes only. For example, you cannot make the letters are not horizontally straight in a poster used for business and education because these things are serious matters.
3. Hierarchy - This one can refer to text and images. The biggest text should be the main information of your Graphic Design to attract more customers. Imagine the word "SALE" in malls. This word is printed so hugely because this is a strategy to attract more buyers. So, that's hierarchy!
4. Contrast - This is also an important principle in Graphic Design because you allow the viewers to decide and compare between the different elements of your design. Without this, your graphic design will look dull and boring. For example, Imagine again a sachet of shampoo, all texts and fonts are using the same size and fonts - the name of the brand, the ingredients, the promotional tags, and other things. That will appear very unprofessional. It is just like a page of a boring book.
5. Rhythm - Another important principle in Graphic Design is the rhythm or the consistency and organization of your design. When this one is used effectively, it will surely attract and persuade people.
6. Color and Space - Without color your design is boring. Without proper spacing, your design will appear disorganized and messy.

Briefly Describe Graphic Design Applications and Software

In the first semester, our instructors introduced applications and software that we can utilize to create a graphic design or banners. These are Corel Draw and Pixel Lab.

1. Corel Draw is a desktop application for making graphic designs and logos. It has the basic tools needed for making a graphic design such as color, line, shapes, text, and many others.
2. Pixel Lab is a mobile application that can be installed for free. Similarly, they have the basic tools need to create a graphic design.
3. Canva, since I do not have these two applications, I use this as an alternative application. Canva has many templates that you can use immediately for different purposes like banners, streamers, Facebook, and Instagram post, and many more. You can also add text with different fonts and styles, add images that you can crop, remove background, and edit.

Create a Banner Design. Explain all the Design Concepts and Principles.

This is the banner that I designed using Canva. I will explain why I utilized these elements below.

1. Purple Background - I used a purple background because this is a color for imagination. Since the course "Graphic Design" utilizes our imagination and creativity, I decided to make this my motif for this banner.
2. Image of a Man - I added this man on this banner to symbolize the Graphic Design Instructors. I decided to use this image because I indicated in the banner that the instructors are all experts, so I need an image of a very professional-looking man. I removed the background, duplicated it, adjusted it, and placed it at the back to create a drop shadow to create a texture.
3. White Circle Background - I use this white circle as a background to spotlight the man who represents the Graphic Design Instructors. I also used a circle because it does not clutter with the other elements for it symbolizes unity.
4. Fonts - I used three fonts here because I learned that the maximum font style that can be used in a graphic design is three. Even if the banner is used for educational purposes, I styled and used script fonts because the course is about Graphic Design.
5. Graphic "FREE" - I added this element to emphasized creatively that this course on Steem Skillshare is for free. This icon will automatically attract the viewer.
6. Graphic Design Logo - I also added in the banner a logo that is connected to the course being offered.
7. Other Logos - I also added logos of Steemit, Steem, and Steem Skillshare because they can have only access of the course on Steemit, specifically on Steem Skillshare.

Create a Simple Logo and Explain the Concept and Meaning of the Logo

This is the logo for Seven Lines. If I will have a Graphic Design and Art Shop in the future, I will call my business Seven Lines. The logo is very simple, it is just a number 7 and another number 7 that is rotated to ninety degrees. I want that my logo to be enclosed with a circle because it means eternity in business and life. I also wanted to make my logo to be an ambigram to create a sense of flexibility because you can read it upright or upside-down. I used 7 because of the "Lucky Seven" and I came from a family with 7 members. I used an inverted 7 to represent "L" or "Lines" because Lines is very connected to me because I am an Artist and a Technical Draftsman.

Conclusion

The whole duration of the Graphic Design Class for the First Semester has taught me a handful of lessons that I can apply in my field as a Teacher, Artist, and Blogger. I cannot forget the lessons on Typography, Alignment, and Color Psychology. I hope I can also access in the future the applications that were introduced in the semester. But for now, I can do more practice with Procreate and Canva.