50

Things You should know

before starting a
Graphic design course

Eligibility Test Book

 50 Things You Should Know Before Starting a
Graphic design course
1. Demand for Graphic designers
The demand for graphic designers is very high in India and it is only
set to go up in the future. Graphic designing is like bread and butter for any
company. At least 40 % of communications that a company does with its
customers is visual. Every product first needs to sell visually first before a
buyer picks it up. Almost every business including media houses, publishing
firms, FMCG, retail, software sector need good graphic designers.

2. Graphic design
Graphic design is the process of visual communication and problem-
solving using one or more of typography, photography and illustrations.

3. corporate design works

Uses of graphic design include corporate design (logos and branding),
editorial design (magazines, newspapers and books), environmental
design, advertising, web design, communication design, product packaging
and signage. Other examples of design for entertainment purposes include
novels, comic books, DVD covers, opening credits and closing credits in
filmmaking, and programs and props on stage. This could also include
artwork used for T-shirts and other items screen-printed for sale.

4. Page layout
Deals with the arrangement of elements (content) on a page, such
as image placement, text layout and style. Page design has always been a
consideration in printed material and more recently extended to displays
such as web pages.

5. 3D Printmaking
Is the process of making artworks by printing on paper and other
materials or surfaces. The process is capable of producing multiples of the
same work, each called a print. Each print is an original, technically known as an
impression.

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 50 Things You Should Know Before Starting a
Graphic design course

6. Raster images
Are made up of thousands of pixels that determine colour and form.
Photos are raster images.

7. Photoshop
Is the most common raster editor, enabling you to manipulate the
colour and other properties of the pixels.

8. Vector-based
Images (such as those created in Adobe Illustrator) are made up of
points, each of which has a defined X and Y coordinate. These points join
paths to form shapes, and inside these shapes you can add colour fills.

9. CMYK
Is the standard colour mode for sending documents – whether it’s
a magazine, newspaper, flyer, brochure, annual report and so on – to the
printer. It stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and key.

10. RGB
Stands for red, green, blue, and is used for screen output. Because CMYK
has a more limited colour gamut than RGB (which is essentially what the eye sees
and how screens output) you can experience a loss of colour when converting
from RGB to CMYK in these applications.

11. DPI
Is only of concern when you’re creating work for printed output. It stands
for ‘dots per inch’ and refers to the number of dots per inch on a printed page.
Generally, the more dots per inch, the better quality the image. 300DPI is the
standard for printing images.

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 50 Things You Should Know Before Starting a
Graphic design course

12. PPI
Stands for ‘pixels per inch’ and, as you’d expect, refers to the number
of pixels per inch in your image. If you make an image larger in Photoshop,
you will increase the number of pixels per inch (with Photoshop making up
the data) and you will lose quality.

13. Pixel
A pixel is the smallest unit of a digital image or graphic that can
be displayed and represented on a digital display device. A pixel is
represented by a dot or square on a computer monitor display screen.

14. Logos
Are powerful things; a great logo works as an instant reminder of a
company or product, and for designers they represent the challenge of distilling
a brand’s essence into a single graphic.

15. GIF
Stands for Graphics Interchange Format. A GIF is a never-ending loop
of images or video clips.

16. Offset printing

This is the most common type of printing for bigger jobs – especially
in publishing – where the inked image is transferred from a plate to a
rubber blanket, and then onto the printing surface. You’ll usually supply
your files to the printer as PDFs (making sure you check the Separations
panel), before they make them into separate CMYK plates for printing
(with Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black all being applied separately).

17. Digital printing

It’s exactly the same as printing at home or in the office, but probably
better quality (unless you have a top-of-the-line inkjet at your disposal). If you’re
doing a lot of printing work for small-scale jobs.

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 50 Things You Should Know Before Starting a
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18. Rule of Thirds

Is a theory that if you divide your image with two vertical and two
horizontal lines, the areas where your lines intersect will become focal
points of your design.

19. Brand identity

The visualisation of your brand in a way that represents the values,
content and ethos of the company. This can include things like a logo,
business cards, letterheads, uniforms, packaging design, etc.

20. Thumbnail sketches

Are rough drawings of potential design concepts or solutions. These
sketches are used to visualise and grow various ideas and concepts by
hand before moving to the screen.

21. Grid
A framework made up of evenly divided, intersecting columns and
rows. Grids help designers to align and arrange elements in a quicker,
neater, and more consistent way.

22. Scale
The change of size of an object while keeping its shape and
proportions intact. Large scale can create drama, and smaller scale can
create fine detail.

23. Texture
When it comes to design, texture can refer to the actual tactile surface of
a design, or the visual tactility of your design. By layering textured images and
graphics over your design, you can often create a visual appearance of tactility
that mirrors actual texture.

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 50 Things You Should Know Before Starting a
Graphic design course

24. White space

Also called ‘negative space’, white space refers to the areas of a
design that are not filled with content. White space is an important
design element as it helps to let a design ‘breathe’, helps avoid overly
complicated designs, and keeps designs looking clean.

25. Margin
The space around the edge of a page. By increasing or decreasing the
size of your page’s margins you can create a more calming or a more tense
design respectively. The example below has larger, more open margins.

26. Lorem Ipsum

Also known as ‘dummy copy’, lorem ipsum is a generic filler text
used when the real text is not available. It’s used as placeholder text to
demonstrate how a design will look once the real body copy has been
included.

27. Typography
The artistic arrangement of type in a readable and visually appealing
way. Typography usually concerns the design and use of various typefaces
in a way that helps to better visually communicate ideas.

28. Body copy

The main part of text in your design or publication – the written
website content, the book contents, even this type you’re reading right now,
it’s all body copy.

29. Alignment
The lining up of elements to achieve balance, order, and a more logical
layout. There are also four common types of typographical alignment – center,
left, right, and justified, each with their own time and place for application.

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 50 Things You Should Know Before Starting a
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30. Palette
The selection of colors that you choose to use for your design.

31. Monochrome
A color scheme built out of only one color, including lighter and
darker tones of that color.

32. Pantone
The ‘Pantone Matching System’ is a standardized system of colors for
printing. Every Pantone shade is numbered, making it much easier for people to
reference and identify exact shades of color.

33. Warm colors

Colors that make you think of heat and warmth, like reds, yellows,
oranges, etc. These colors tend to feel cozier, friendlier, and more cheerful.
You are able to add more warm tones to an image or photograph by
increasing the orange tones in your image.

34. Cool colors

Colors that make you think of colder temperatures, like blues, greens,
violets, etc. These colors tend to create a calm and soothing atmosphere. You are
able to add cooler tones to an image or photograph by increasing the blue tones
in your image.

35. Color theory

The study of how colors make people feel and respond. Certain colors
tend to evoke certain subconscious emotions and feelings in people – for
example, we tend to associate blue with trust and dependability, and hence why
so many corporate businesses have blue logos and branding.

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 50 Things You Should Know Before Starting a
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36. Gradient
A gradual change in color from one tone into another. Two common
types of gradients are the linear gradient where each color sits on
opposite sides of the frame, and a radial gradient where one color sits in
the middle, and another at the edge.

37. Opacity
The degree of transparency an element has. The lower the opacity,
the more transparent an element is.

38. Resolution
The amount of detail an image has. Generally speaking, the higher
your resolution, the better your images appear, and the more detail is
rendered. Whereas lower resolution images or graphic tend to appear
blurry, pixelated or muddy.

39. Contrast
The degree of difference between two juxtaposed elements. Some other
common types of contrast are dark vs. light, thick vs. thin, rough vs. smooth,
etc.

40. Saturation
The degree of intensity and vividness of a color. For example, a low-
saturation color may appear paler, and faded, whereas a more heavily saturated
color may appear more vibrant and colorful.

41. Infographic
A highly visual piece of content that is very popular among digital
marketers as a way of relaying complex concepts in a simple and visual
way.

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 50 Things You Should Know Before Starting a
Graphic design course

42. Photoshop files

Photoshop files have default file extension as .PSD, which stands for
“Photoshop Document.” A PSD file stores an image with support for most
imaging options available in Photoshop.

43. PS tools
These tools typically fall under the categories of drawing; painting;
measuring and navigation; selection; typing; and retouching.

44. 3D extrusion
With the Extended version of Photoshop CS5, 2D elements of an
artwork can easily become three-dimensional with the click of a button.
Extrusions of texts, an available library of materials for three-dimensional,
and even wrapping two-dimensional images around 3D geometry.

45. Video editing

In Adobe CS5 Extended edition, video editing is comprehensive and
efficient with a broad compatibility of video file formats such as MOV, AVI,
MPEG-4, and FLV formats and easy workflow. Using simple combination of keys
video layers can easily be modified, with other features such as adding text and
the creation of animations using single images.

46. Adobe Illustrator

Is used to create logos, icons, infographics, cartoons, Tracing, sketch
digital arts etc.

47. Adobe indesign

Is used for Books & magazine design & layout. Large XML file can also
be imported, if you have any thing published online you can layout those
text for print easily.

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 50 Things You Should Know Before Starting a
Graphic design course

48. Interactive content

Using Indesign: You can add animation, design button, menu, gallery,
fillable form and generate output as interactive PDF or swf for online
publishing.

49. Corel Draw

Is a PC-based graphic design vector drawing program. You can use
Corel Draw to tackle a wide variety of projects - from Illustration and
logo creation to Web graphics or multi-page marketing brochures, or eye-
catching signs. You can also Draw shapes, work with text, add colour and
effects, Corel Draw is a very flexible vector and graphic package.

50. After gaining few years of experience, the Graphic designers can upskill
themselves with Video editing, Motion Graphics, UI UX designing etc,
which will elevate their career even further.

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