Distribution- Distribution involves how multimedia
Introduction to Multimedia content is distributed via various media, such as wired
What is Multimedia?
The definition of multimedia has gone
through a large number of evolutionary steps from the
time the concept emerged, to what it signifies today,
and it will definitely evolve into something new
tomorrow. In layman’s term, multimedia is about
playing computer games, video conferencing,
listening to Spotify or any MP3 songs and audio, or
watching a movie on the Internet. Most of these
Multimedia scenarios are tightly bound to the use of a
computer. Fact is, these are correct things about
multimedia but the truth is Multimedia, as the name
suggests, it consists of all applications that involve a
combined use of different kinds of media, such as text,
audio, video, graphics, and animation.
A presentation that involves all these
different media types can be termed a multimedia
presentation. Software that involves animations,
sound, and text is called multimedia software. Also,
any system that incorporates different flavors of media
can be termed as a multimedia system.
Historical Perspective
The word multimedia was coined in the
beginning of the 1990s. After the success of the digital
audio recording industry, and the distribution of digital
audio in the form of compact discs (CDs), the next
anticipated step was to create digital content involving
images, text, and video along with audio and distribute
it in a similar fashion.
Outcomes of this were multimedia CD-
ROMs, which included informational content as well as
games. Examples of these include, Encyclopedia
Britannica and interactive CD-ROM games with simple
graphics, animations, and audio. These experiences
were then only limited to a single person interacting
with the content on a PC computer. But this single
person-to-PC experience changed dramatically with
the advances in digital networks and digital distribution
technologies. In fact, the whole multimedia world
started to deeply alter our ways of communication with
the (1) availability of low-cost capture devices,
rendering devices, and smarter software to create
content; (2) larger, less expensive storage devices
along with research in better compression of media
content; and (3) technological advances in digital
networks and standardization of distribution protocols.
The preceding three points directly map to three
processes that are now inherent to multimedia
systems:
Multimedia content creation or multimedia
authoring- This process involves digitizing media
(audio, images, video) using capture devices and
assembling/processing them using smart software
and hardware.
Storage and compression- Multimedia content
created today has significant memory requirements
and has to be engineered so as to minimize
necessities for Multimedia: Historical Perspective 3
storage and distribution. The process mostly involves
state-of-the-art compression algorithms and
standards for audio, video, images, and graphics.
cables, optical networks, satellite, wireless networks,
or any combination thereof, to specific platforms
ranging from television, computers, personal digital
assistants (PDAs), and so on.
This threefold view is not new and has been used for
information in general— creating or gathering
information, storing or recording it, and distributing it
to the end user.
**The table shown gives an evolutionary perspective
on the type of information that people have grown
accustomed to through the ages**
Multimedia Data and Multimedia Systems
Multimedia information can be defined as
information that consists of one or more different
media types. This definition, however, is a changing
one because media types themselves are constantly
changing. Today, multimedia information consists of
text, audio, video, 2D graphics, and 3D graphics.
These are the media types that are used extensively
today because of the availability of devices to capture
them, as well as capabilities of authoring software
applications to combine them to produce a variety of
informational and entertaining content.
Inherent Qualities of Multimedia Data
Before we delve into each media type in
detail and the way they can be combined to produce
multimedia content, it should be noted that there are
certain inherent qualities generic to all media, which,
in turn, define its multimedia nature. These qualities
are as follows:
Digital- Multimedia information is always digital. In
fact, it is the digital nature of the information that allows
it to be combined together (or to keep its own identity)
to produce rich content. Whether it is digital images,
video, audio, or text, the underlying representation of
the information is always bits and bytes.
Voluminous- The size of the data resulting from
combining video, audio, and images together is
understandably large and voluminous. This causes
problems when such high-volume data has to be
stored, searched, and, worse, when it has to be
transmitted over bandwidths, which might be narrow,
wide, and even varying. The storage and transmission
bandwidth limitations require that the data be
compressed.
Interactive- Multimedia content can be interacted with
from a high-level application point of view, such as
choosing a video to watch or a set of images to browse
down to a low level, where you can click on areas of
an image causing an action to be taken. For example,
on a Web site consisting of hyperlinked text, images,
or video, you can read, jump to different Web sites, or
browse video in any order you want. Another practical
example of interactivity is the navigational capability to
jump to chapters as well as browse additional related
content in a DVD experience.
Real-time and synchronization- When transmitting
content involving different media types, real-time
requirements and resulting synchronization issues
play a crucial role in the system’s architecture and
design. Real-time needs imply that there can be only
a very small and bounded delay while transmitting
information to the end client. Synchronization imposes
time-respected rendering of the media, which might be
self-contained or interdependent. For instance, video
has to play at a certain rate (intramedia) while the
accompanying sound must match the video playback
rate (intermedia).
Elements of Multimedia
Text
Text has been
commonly used to
express information
not just today but
from the early days.
Literature, news, and
information being archived today and accessed by
browsing on the Internet include a large amount of
text. The representation and writing of text information
has evolved from simple text to more meaningful and
easy-to-read formatted text, using a variety of fonts.
Today, hypertext is commonly used in digital
documents, allowing nonlinear access to information.
One aspect that needs mention is the role
text plays in multimedia. It is very natural to downplay
the role textual information plays in the context of
multimedia, perhaps because of its simplicity,
especially when compression, display, and distribution
technologies all concentrate on serving the video,
audio, and graphical media types. Text has been—
and still is—the single most widely used media type to
store information, and it has been attributed with
aspects of revolutionizing society similar to what
multimedia is doing today.
Images
Images consist of a set of units
called pixels organized in the
form of a two-dimensional
array. The two dimensions
specify the width and height of
the images. Each pixel has bit
depth, which defines how many
bits are used to represent an
image.
There are various
kinds of images, which can be characterized into
groups depending on the following:
Bit depth- Bit depth represents the number of bits
assigned to each pixel. Accordingly, images are
categorized by the bit depth as binary images where
every pixel is represented by one bit or gray-level
images where every pixel is represented by a number
of bits (typically 8) or color images, where each pixel
is represented by three color channels.
Formats- Formats are application-specific, for
example, faxes are also images that have a format
different from digital photographs.
Dimensionality- Images can be enjoyed singularly or
combined in a variety of ways. Stereo images are
commonly used for depth-perception effects. Images
can also be stitched together to form mosaics and
panoramas.
Video
Video is represented as
a sequence of images.
Each image in the
sequence typically has
the same properties of
width, height, and pixel
depth. All of these
parameters can be
termed as spatial parameters. Additionally, there is
one more temporal parameter known as frames per
second or fps. This parameter describes how fast the
images need to be shown per second for the user to
perceive continuous motion. Apart from this basic
definition, video can be classified depending on the
following:
Aspect ratio- A common aspect ratio for video is 4:3,
which defines the ratio of the width to height. This has
been the adopted standard for the major part of the
last century. Today, however, we have a variety of
different aspect ratios for high definition,
cinemascope, and so on.
Scanning format- Scanning helps convert the frames
of video into a one-dimensional signal for broadcast.
The interlaced scanning format was invented to make
television work in the middle of the last century. Today,
in the digital world, display devices can support
progressive scanning and provide better quality for
visual information.
Audio
Digital audio is
characterized by
a sampling rate in
hertz, which gives
the number of
samples per
second. A sample
can be defined as
an individual unit
of audio information. Each sample also has a size, the
sample size, which typically is anywhere from 8-bits to
16-bits depending on the application. Apart from these
properties, audio is also described by:
Dimensionality- The dimensions of an audio signal
signify the number of channels that are contained in
the signal. These may be mono (one channel), stereo
(two channels), which is by far the most common.
Recent standards also use surround sound which
consists of many channels, for example 5.1 surround
sound systems have one low frequency speaker and
five spatially-located speakers.
Frequency Range- Audio signals are also described
by the frequency range or frequency band that they
contain. For example, audio voice signals are referred
to as narrow band because they contain lower
frequency content. Music is normally referred to as
wide band.
Graphics
2D graphics
2D graphical elements have
become commonplace in
multimedia presentations to
enhance the message to be
conveyed. A 2D graphic element is
represented by 2D vector
coordinates and normally has
properties such as a fill color,
boundary thickness, and so on. Additionally, 2D
graphical elements are effectively used to create 2D
animations to better illustrate information.
3D Graphics
3D graphics are primarily used today for
high-end content in movies, computer games, and
advertising. Like 2D graphics, 3D graphics largely
make use of vector coordinate spaces. 3D graphics
concepts and practices have advanced considerably
as a science but, until recently, were not a
commonplace media type. This is now changing with
affordable consumer-level software, scanning
devices, and powerful graphics cards now becoming
available.
Classification of
Multimedia Systems
A multimedia system, defined end to end, is
a system that takes care of all content creation,
storage, and distribution issues to various platforms.
Depending on the application, multimedia systems
can be classified in a variety of ways, such as
interaction style, the number of users interacting,
when the content is live, and so on. A few common
classifications are discussed in the following list:
Static versus Dynamic:
Static – refers to cases when the multimedia data
remains the same within a certain finite time.
For example: A slide in a Microsoft PowerPoint
presentation; A single HTML Web Page.
Dynamic – refers to cases when multimedia data is
changing.
For example: A video
Linear versus Non-Linear
Linear – refers when multimedia is not interactive
For example: A movie
Non-Linear – refers when multimedia is interactive
For example: Courseware
Real-time versus Orchestrated
Real-time – refers to cases which relate to on-time
data delivery and synchronization. A whole new set of
engineering constraints are added to the compression
quality.
For example: A live broadcast over the Internet.
Orchestrated – refers to cases when there is no real-
time requirement. The most important constraint here
is the quality of the compressed data.
For example: Compressing content on a CD or DVD
and distributing it has no real-time requirement. Single
user, Peer-to-peer, Peer-to-multi peer, and Broadcast
Single User – refers to cases when a user is using a
multimedia project or system such as browsing the
Web.
Peer-to-Peer – refers to cases when the information
is exchanged from one person/computer to another,
for example two friends instant messaging over the
Internet.
Peer–to–Multi Peer – refers to cases when the
information is exchanged from one person to a set of
intended viewers such as in a chat room.
Broadcasting – refers to the most general-purpose
scenario, where information is sent not to any specific
listener(s) but available to all those who want to listen,
such as television and radio broadcasts.
Multimedia Systems can be logically
grouped into three parts whose primary functionalities
are (1) content production, (2) compression and
storage, and (3) distribution to various end users
and platforms. The multimedia experience today has
transcended a simplistic one person-to-PC scenario to
become a very sophisticated one, which involves a
distributed and collaborative medium. This has been
made possible because of sophisticated, inexpensive
devices for capturing and rendering content, as well as
smarter software to create content and the availability
of increasing digital bandwidth. A typical end-to-end
multimedia system today has been graphically
depicted in Figure 1-2. It consists of three logical
sections, which as explained earlier, correspond to
content creation, compression, and distribution. The
content creation section shows a variety of different
instruments, which capture different media types in a
digital format. These include digital cameras,
camcorders or video cameras, sound recording
devices, scanners to scan images, and 3D graphical
objects. Once the individual media elements are in
their digital representations, they may be further
combined to create coherent, interactive
presentations using software (S/W) applications and
hardware (H/W) elements. This content can be stored
to disk, or in the case of real-time applications, the
content can be sent directly to the end user via digital
networks. The second section deals with the
compression of multimedia content. This entails the
use of various compression technologies to compress
video, audio, graphics, and so on. Shown in the Figure
1-2 are hardware and software elements, such as
media encoders and storage devices. The last section
deals with media distribution across a variety of low-
bandwidth and high-bandwidth networks. This ranges
from cellular, to wireless networks, to cable, to digital
subscriber line (DSL), to satellite networks.
Distribution normally follows standards protocols,
which are responsible for collating and reliably
sending information to end receivers. The commonly
used end receivers are computers, televisions, set-top
boxes, cell phones, or even more application- or
entertainment-specific items, such as video game
consoles.

The Media Revolution

Digitization of virtually any and every device—
Today, you have digital cameras, camcorders, sound
recorders or even your mere smartphones that make
good-quality digital media available for processing and
exchange. At the same time, digital displays such as
high-performance liquid crystal displays, plasma
Multimedia Purpose
screens, light-emitting diode displays and so on allow
There are a number of fields where
us to view information at good resolutions.
multimedia could be of use. Examples are:
Digitization of libraries of information—Virtually all
libraries, whether general purpose or specific, are
- Business
making their way to be digital
Use and Applications
Evolution of communication and data networks—
Sales / Marketing Presentation
The research in digital networks and networking
Trade show production
protocols have made it possible to exchange huge
Staff Training Application
amounts of data over wired, optical, and wireless
Company Kiosk
mediums. Deployments in this area are making
- Education
availability of bandwidth on demand.
Use and Applications
New algorithms for compression—Because
Courseware / Simulations
multimedia information is very voluminous, abilities to
E-Learning / Distance Learning
compress information prior to sending it over networks
Information Searching
allow us to engineer applications that perform in real
- Entertainment
time and with a high fidelity.
Use and Applications
Better hardware performance—Microprocessors,
Games (Leisure / Educational)
along with graphical processing units (GPU) are both
Movies
getting faster and perform better. Also, large capacity
Video on Demand
storage devices are becoming common place now, not
- Home
just with computers but also other hardware devices
Use and Applications
such as digital cameras, camcorders and so on.
Television
Smarter user interface paradigms to view/interact
Satellite TV
with multimedia information on a variety of
SMS services (chats, voting, reality
terminals—As personal communication devices get
TV)
compact and smaller in size; the role of user interfaces
- Public Places
becomes important when it is expected for them to
Use and Applications
have information access capabilities similar to a
Information Kiosk
computer. User interface designs based on touch
Smart Cards, Security
screens are now playing an increasing role in how we
access information on our cell phones, PDAs and so
Multimedia Products
on.
1. Briefing Products
Small, straightforward, linear products used
Authoring Tools
to present information quickly and concisely.
- Use to merge multimedia elements (text,
Characteristic of briefing product:
audio, graphic, animation, video) into a
- Short Development Cycle
project.
- Limited Number of Presentations
- Designed to manage individual multimedia
- Usage of text to present information with
elements and provide user interaction (if
limited use of graphic, audio and video.
required).
- Have few navigational controls. (Mouse click
Example:
and button press to move from one page to
Macromedia Author ware
another)
Macromedia Director
- Content and the format are suitable for the
Macromedia Flash
audience and fulfill the purpose of the
Microsoft Power Point
presentation.
Good briefing presentation depends on:
- the understanding of the presented subject.
- Seamless integration of content.
- Consistent layout
Example:
- Corporate Presentation
 - Sales Presentation
- Educational Lectures
2. Reference Products
Often used for answering specific questions
or for general browsing of information. (Stored on CD/
DVD ROM)
Characteristic of reference product:
- Used by wide range of user (small – adult)
- Have navigational menu, book marking,
searching, printing utility
2 Basic classes of reference product:
- Generalized Content (dictionary/encyclopedia)
Broad treatment of content at a limited depth
- Detailed Content - Focus on specific area and
provide extensive information.
Good usability and success depend on:
- the developers understanding the body of
information and how the end user will want to
access it.
- Help function should always available to
explain how to access and use the
information
Example are electronic forms of:
- Encyclopedia
- Dictionaries
- Cookbooks, Historical, Informative
- Scientific Surveys
3. Database Products
Similar to reference product in a sense that
large amount of information is made available to the
end user.
Focus on storing and accessing the actual
data (multimedia data such as text, graphic, audio,
animation and video)
Characteristics of Database Products are:
- Manages multimedia data (large data)
- Descriptive finding methods
- Content based search
- Simultaneous access
- Online database
- Relational consistency in data management.
Examples are:
- Google Search
- Google Earth
4. Education and Training Products
Similar to textbook or training manuals but
have added media such as audio, animation, and
video.
Make up a significant share of the multimedia
market ranging from pre-kindergarten to postgraduate
offerings from technical to corporate training products.
3 categories of education product:
- Instructor Support Products
- Standalone or Self-paced Products
- Combination Products
Shares the same characteristics as Reference
Product
5. Kiosk
A product which is usually stationed at public
places and allow the user to find information
interactively and also other types of transaction.
Characteristics of Kiosk Products:
- Limited target users and usage
- User friendly and easily used by user.
- Fast response.
Categories of Kiosk
- Point of Information – provide certain
information (example: map, timetable etc.)
- Point of Sales System – Allow users to
purchase or make orders
Example of Kiosk Products:
- Instant Photo Booth
- Banking Kiosk (Money Deposit, ATM)
- University Information Kiosk
6. Entertainment and Games
Most Popular
Shipped in the form of Interactive CD/DVD
ROM
Characteristics of E&G Products:
- Immersive.
- Requires constant feedback and interaction
with the user.
- Challenging and sometimes intriguing for
user
- Enabled online play for more than one user
experience.
Lesson 2: Text and Graphics
Text
- Of all multimedia elements, text is the
easiest to manipulate
General Guidelines
- Be concise
- Use appropriate fonts
- Consider different type styles
 - Be consistent Adobe Illustrator
- Make the text readable Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics
- Use restraint editor developed and marketed by Adobe
Systems. Originally designed for the Apple
Be concise Macintosh, development of Adobe Illustrator
- Large amounts of text began in 1985.
- Alternatives - animation, video,
narration. Scanner
- Show a preview and allow user to A device that optically scans images,
request more printed text, handwriting or an object and
o Hyper linking converts it to a digital image.
o Pop-up messages, scroll bars,
drop-down menus OCR-Optical Character Recognition
The mechanical or electronic conversion
Use appropriate fonts of images of typed, handwritten or printed text
- Decorative into machine-encoded text, whether from a
- Hard to read scanned document, a photo of a document, a
- Used for emphasis scene-photo or from subtitle text superimposed
- Serif on an image.
- Creates illusion of a line and guides the
eye across the screen facilitating Graphics in Multimedia Applications
readability Graphical images
- Used on large blocks of text - Used to add emphasis, direct attention,
- San serif illustrate concepts, and provide
- Clean, simple background content
- Good for headings
Two types of graphics:
Font Type Styles 1. Draw-type graphics or vector graphics –
Type styles: bold, italic, underline represent an image as a geometric shape
- Used for emphasis 2. Bitmap graphics – represents the image as an
- Use for links – hypertext array of dots, called pixels
- Be consistent Draw type or vector graphics
- Similar headings – typeface, size, style - Geometric shape stored as set of
- Use same font for similar sections instructions
- Graphic image for headings - Smaller than bitmap
- Consistency vs. file size - Resize, rotate, no distortion
- No photo quality
Make Text Readable - Use Restraint
- Choose fonts found in most systems Bitmap graphics
- Avoid “ransom note” effect - Bitmaps – array of dots or pixels
- Choose only up to four variations of type styles, - Color depth per pixel
fonts and sizes - High quality pictures
- Photo realistic
Creating and Editing Text - Larger than draw-type
Word Processor - File size = pixels x color depth / 8
A word processor is software or a device
that allows users to create, edit, and print Graphic Image File Sizes
documents. It enables you to write text, store it - Image file sizes can become large, you
electronically, display it on a screen, modify it by must balance the need for quality
entering commands and characters from the images with the need for small file sizes
keyboard, and print it.

Corel Draw
CorelDraw (styled CorelDRAW) is a
vector graphics editor developed and marketed
by Corel Corporation.
Drawing programs – used to create draw-type
graphics
Paint programs – used to create bitmap images
Image editing programs – useful in making
changes, or applying textures or patterns to
existing images
Graphic Image Sources
Alternative image sources
•Clip art
• Stock photographs
• Video images
• Still images
• Scanned images
• Photo CD’s
• Screen-capture programs
Some of the sources for font shopping
• EyeWire (www.eyewire.com)
• garageFonts (www.garagefonts.com)
• LetterSpace (www.letterspace.com)
• BitStream (www.bitstream.com)
• MyFonts (www.myfonts.com)
• T26 (www.tw6.com)
• P22 (www.p22.com)
• FontHaus (www.fonthaus.com)
Lesson 3: Animation
Animation
Animation is the art of creating a series
of differing images that create the appearance of
movement when played in rapid succession over
time.
Websters: The act or process of
imparting life, spirit or motion.
Art in movement - The art of movement
Movement
Movement makes static drawings come
alive.
It is the quality of the movement (the
life) that matters, not the quality of a particular
image or drawing or frame of film.
Whether it is a drawing or a lump of clay,
the animator places life and meaning into the
material by making it move!
What does it take to be an Animator?
1. A fascination with the way things moves.
2. Sharp observational skills
3. A willingness to be an actor!
4. Problem solving skills
5. Lots of patience
6. A little bit of perseverance!
How do pictures move?
1. A trick of the human eye and the brain
2. Obviously, the images don’t actually move!
3. The illusion of movement is created by a
physiological phenomenon called persistence of
vision.
Persistence of Vision
• Light is captured by the eye
• The image is focused upon the retina.
• The brain reads and interprets the image.
• The brain retains the image slightly longer than
it is actually registered on the retina.
Timeline: A History of Animation
1893 – The Thaumatrope
A simple mechanical toy that created
the illusion of movement was made popular by
Paul Roget.
1893 – Theatre Optique
Emil Reynaud opens his Theatre Optique
in Paris. The contained mirrors placed on an
inside column that reflected out the sequential
drawings that were on the inside of the drum. He
was able to project 80 frames without changing
reels and could project 10 to 15 minute "films".
But the advent of film drove him out of business
and in 1910 he threw all his equipment into a
river and died destitute in a sanatorium in 1918.
1893 – The Kinetoscope
Thomas Edison invents the
Kinetoscope. Reels of celluloid were stretched
over a set of wheels that passed in front of a
viewing window. Only one viewer at a time could
watch.
1893 – First Copyrighted Film
Thomas Edison copyrights the first
motion picture, The Record of a Sneeze. Thomas
Edison opens his Kinetoscope Parlor in New
York.
1906 – First example of Frame-by-frame
Animation
James Stuart Blackton makes
Humorous Phases of Funny Faces. This film is
usually considered the first known example of
animation as some of the drawn sequences are
shot frame-by-frame. Blackton used a
combination of blackboard and chalk drawing
and cutouts to achieve animation.
1920 – Felix the Cat
Felix The Cat, the most popular
character and series of this period, is created by
Otto Messmer of Sullivan's studio.
1926 – Adventures of Prince Achmed
Adventures Of Prince Achmed, a one-
hour shadow puppet film was released. This film
is considered to be the oldest surviving feature-
length animated film.
1928 – Mickey Mouse is born
Steamboat Willy, starring a little mouse
named Mickey, opens in New York in November
1928. It is the first successful animated film with
sound. It made Mickey Mouse a star and
launched the Disney Studios.
1932 - Animation wins an Oscar
Flowers And Trees, by Disney Studios,
won the first Academy Award for Animation.
This film was the first to use three strip
Technicolor in animation.
Line & Cell Animation becomes the
standard animation technique for the next 60
years!
1993 - Stop Motion Animation
Nightmare Before Christmas, by Tim
Burton, is released. A departure from traditional
cell animation. Uses stop-motion object
animation.
1994 - A Billion Dollar Animation
The Lion King is released by Disney. This
animated film made over $1 billion in theaters. It
became a world-wide phenomenon!
1995 - Computer Animated Film
Toy Story, is the first computer animated
feature film released and it takes in more money
at the box office than any other film in 1995.
Lesson 4: Colors
Introduction to Color Theories and Color
Palettes
Colors have the immeasurable power to
inform our mood, emotions, and thoughts.
Research conducted by the Institute for Color
Research reveals that people make a
subconscious judgment about a product within
90 seconds of seeing it, and between 62% and
90% of that assessment is based on color alone.
User interface (UI) designers have the
challenging task of incorporating color into their
interface in a way that poignantly communicates
a brand’s visual identity. While it might seem like
a website’s color palette is a matter of the client’s
personal taste, in reality, UI designers rely on a
framework called color theory: a multilayered set
of guidelines that informs the use of color in
design.
In this chapter, we will discuss
everything you need to know about color
theory—from mastering the fundamentals of
color variants right through to choosing the right
color palette for your user interface.
What is Color Theory?
Color theory is a framework that informs
the use of color in art and design, guides the
curation of color palettes, and facilitates the
effective communication of a design message on
both an aesthetic and a psychological level.
 Modern color theory is largely based on
Isaac Newton’s color wheel, which he created all
the way back in 1666. The basic color wheel
displays three categories of color; primary colors,
secondary colors, and tertiary colors. If you
remember learning about these in art class, then
you’ve already grasped the basics of color
theory.
Let’s have a quick refresh on what these color
categories entail:
- Primary colors are colors you can’t
create by combining two or more other
colors. The primary colors are red, blue,
and yellow.
- The secondary colors are orange,
purple, and green—in other words,
colors that can be created by combining
any two of the three primary colors.
- Tertiary colors are created by mixing a
primary color with a secondary color.
The tertiary colors are magenta,
vermillion, violet, teal, amber, and
chartreuse.
Color Wheel
The color wheel doesn’t just chart each
primary, secondary, and tertiary color—it also
charts their respective hues, tints, tones, and
shades. By visualizing how each color relates to
the color that comes next to it on a rainbow color
scale, the color wheel helps designers to create
bespoke color palettes that promote aesthetic
harmony. Let’s dive into these color variants a
little deeper:
Hue - Hue refers to the pure pigment of a color,
without tint or shade. In that respect, hue can be
interpreted as the origin of a color. Any one of the
six primary and secondary colors is a hue.
Shade - Shade refers to how much black is
added into the hue. As such, shade darkens a
color.
Tint - The opposite of shade, tint refers to how
much white is added to a color. As such, tint
lightens a color.
Tone - Tone is the result of a color that has had
both white and black added to it. In other words,
tone refers to any hue that has been modified
with the addition of grey—as long as the grey is
purely neutral (only containing white and black).
Color temperature
You may have likely heard the terms
“warm, cool and neutral” tossed around in
relation to color. This is referred to as color
temperature, and it’s an essential consideration
when it comes to color theory.
Warm colors contain shades of yellow
and red; cool colors have a blue, green, or purple
tint: and neutral colors include brown, gray,
black, and white. The temperature of a color has
a significant impact on our emotional response to
it. Within the psychology of colors, for example,
warm colors show excitement, optimism, and
creativity, whereas cool colors symbolize peace
calmness, and harmony.
Importance of Color Harmony
Arguably the most crucial aspect of color
theory, color harmony refers to the use of color
combinations that are visually pleasing for the
human eye. Color palettes can either promote
contrast or consonance, but as long as they
make sense together, they can still result in a
visually satisfying effect.
When it comes to UI design, color
harmony is what all designers strive to achieve.
Based on the psychological need for balance,
color harmony engages the viewer and
establishes a sense of order. A lack of harmony
in a color palette can either result in an interface
being under-stimulating (boring) or over-
stimulating (chaotic and messy).
Additive and Subtractive color models
Now that we have discussed the color
variants, we can move on to adding and
subtracting color. Color has two different
natures: the tangible colors which can be seen
on the surface of objects, and colors that are
produced by light. These two types of color are
known as the additive and subtractive color
models.
 Additive Color Model
(RGB)
RGB stands for red,
green, and blue, and is
based on the additive color
model of light waves that
dictates that the more color
you add, the closer the color
gets to white. The RGB color
model forms the basis of all electronic screens,
and as a result, is the model used most often by
UI designers.
Subtractive Color
Model
On the other hand,
CMYK is known as the
subtractive color model,
which obtains colors by
the subtraction of light.
CMYK stands for cyan,
magenta, yellow, and
black, and it is mostly used in physical printing.
Color Palettes
A color palette is a combination of colors
used by designers when designing an interface.
When used correctly, color palettes form the
visual foundation of your brand, help to maintain
consistency, and make your user interface
aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable to use.
While color palettes date back
thousands of years, color palettes are commonly
used in digital design, presented as a
combination of HEX codes. HEX codes
communicate to a computer what color you want
to display using hexadecimal values. Back in the
’90s, most digital color palettes only included
eight colors. Now, designers have a myriad of
shades and hues from the color wheel to choose
from.
What are the different types of color palatte?
Monochromatic – a popular
choice with designers,
monochromatic color
schemes are formed using
various tones and shades of
one single color.
Analogous – an analogous
color scheme is formed of
three colors that are located
next to each other on the
color wheel. Analogous
color palettes are commonly
used when no contrast is
needed—for example, on
the background of web pages or banners.
Complementary –
complementary color
plates are comprised of
colors that are placed in
front of each other on the
color wheel. While the
name may suggest
otherwise, complementary color palettes are
actually the opposite of analogous and
monochromatic color palettes, as they aim to
produce contrast. For example, a red button on
a blue background will stand out on any
interface.
Split-Complementary - The
split-complementary color
palette differs from the
complementary color palette
only in that it employs a
higher number of colors. For
example, if you choose the
color blue, you’ll then need to take the two colors
that are adjacent to its opposite color, which in
this case would be yellow and red.
Triadic - The triadic color
scheme is based on three
separate colors that are
equidistant on the color
wheel. Most designers
employ the triadic color
scheme by choosing one
dominant color and using the other two colors as
accents.
Tetradic - Commonly used
by more experienced
designers, the tetradic color
scheme employs two sets of
complementary pairs— four
colors from the color wheel
in total that should form a
rectangle when connected.
While it’s a little harder to balance, it makes for a
visually stunning end effect.
HOW TO CHOOSE COLOR PALETTE
When choosing a color palette for your user
interface, here are a few things to consider:
• Research your Audience
Emotional responses to colors can
depend on a range of personal factors, including
gender, cultural experiences, and age. Before
you get started with choosing your color palette,
be sure to establish who your audience is. What
are their common traits, and what are their
expectations? What brands relating to yours are
popular among your target audience—and how
can you out-do their designs?
Conducting structured, thorough
research on your target audience will not only
help you to fine-tune the story you want to
communicate, but it will also help you to prevent
a potentially catastrophic design failure.
• Consider Color Psychology
With clarity on your target audience, it’s
time to look at the psychology behind your
potential brand colors. Color psychology is a
branch of psychology surrounding the influence
of colors on human mood and behavior.
According to color psychology, the human mind
subconsciously reacts and interprets colors in a
way that influences our actions. If you want to
create a color palette that attracts your target
audience and accurately tells your brand story,
it’s essential to have a basic understanding of
color psychology. To get you up to speed, let’s
take a look at some of the most common color
associations below:
• Orange is energetic and warm. Some
common associations with orange
include creativity, enthusiasm,
lightheartedness, and affordability.
• Red is the color of blood, so it’s often
associated with energy, war, danger,
and power but also passion, desire, and
love. Some common associations with
red include action, adventure,
aggression, and excitement.
• Yellow evokes positivity, youth, joy,
playfulness, sunshine, and warmth.
• Pink evokes feelings of innocence and
delicateness, gratitude, romance,
softness, and appreciation.
• Blue is perceived as authoritative,
dependable, and trustworthy. Common
associations with blue include calmness,
serenity, confidence, dignity, and
security.
• Green is the color of nature. It
symbolizes growth, freshness, serenity,
money, health, and healing.
• Black represents power, elegance, and
authority. Common associations with
black also include class, distinction,
formality, mystery, secrecy, and
seriousness.
• Choose your colors wisely
Commonly, color palettes are made up
of six colors. These colors should include one
dominant color, four accent colors, and one
standard color for your text (which is usually
black or grey). Your dominant color is what your
customers will forever associate with the brand,
so be very careful when reflecting on what this
color should be. Take your time to get inspired,
keep the color associations in mind, and do
some user testing if you have to.
Note: you’re free to add more or fewer
colors depending on your brand personality, and
the aesthetic you’re aiming for. Choosing
monochromatic, analogous, or complementary
colors will help you to achieve a streamlined
color palette.
Remember: color harmony is the goal
here.
• Do not skimp on contrast
Color contrast is core to any interface, as
it makes each UI element noticeable and distinct.
User interfaces containing only shades from the
same color family are unlikely to draw users’
attention—and, moreover, run the risk of being a
complete headache to navigate. On the other
hand, if copy and background colors contrast
each other too much, the text could become
illegible.
Designers control the level of contrast
depending on what the interface aims to
accomplish. Experienced designers strive to
create a mild level of contrast and apply high
contrasting colors only for elements that are
supposed to stand out—such as call-to-actions.
• Stick to UI Conventions
When working with colors, it’s easy to
get carried away with aesthetics over practicality.
Of course, your interface should be visually
pleasing—but it also needs to be accessible,
easy to navigate, and enjoyable to use. Of
course, it’s great to be experimental—but
challenging design conventions with “edgy”
designs can confuse your users and make them
work harder than they need to. Some common
UI design color conventions include:
• Using a dark color for text to ensure
legibility
• Keeping light colors for backgrounds
• Using contrasting colors for accents (as
mentioned above)
• Sticking to classic call-to-action colors—
such as red for a warning sign
Sticking to these conventions will reduce the
cognitive load for your users, and allow them to
navigate the interface intuitively.
• Get Feedback
Color palettes should never be a matter of
personal preference, no matter how much you
adore the colors you’ve chosen. As we saw when
discussing color associations, the emotional
response that color can illicit is not to be taken with different line qualities can give you very
lightly; it can pretty much make or break the different results.
relationship a brand has with its customer base.
Getting user feedback at the earliest
opportunity will ensure you’re creating an
interface using colors that your users will love.

Lesson 5: Fundamentals of Design

The fundamentals of design are the
foundation of every visual medium, from fine art
to modern web design. They're even present in Shape – a shape is any two-
seemingly unimportant details, like the fonts that dimensional area with a
make up most compositions. recognizable boundary. This
What do these examples have in includes circles, squares,
common? Some very basic elements, including triangles, and so on.
line, shape, form, texture, and balance. They Shapes fall into two distinct
might not seem categories: geometric (or
like much on regular) and organic (where
their own, but the shapes are more free form).
together, they're
part of almost
everything we
see and create.

Line – a line is a shape that connects two or

more points. It can be fat, thin, wavy, or jagged—
the list goes on.
Every possibility
gives the line a
Shapes are a vital part of communicating
slightly different
ideas visually. They give images heft and make
feel.
them
Lines appear frequently in design, for
recognizable. We
example, in drawings and illustrations. They're
understand street
also common in graphic elements, like textures,
signs, symbols,
patterns, and backgrounds.
and even abstract
Lines can
art largely
be used in more
because of
humble
shapes.
compositions, too—
Shapes have
for organization,
a surprising number of
emphasis, or just
uses in everyday
decoration. In the
design. They can help
example below,
you organize or
lines have been used to create a flow chart that
separate content,
guides the reader's eye from one element to the
create simple
next.
illustrations, or just add
When working
interest to your work. See if you can spot the
with lines, pay attention
many examples in the image below.
to things like weight,
Shapes are
color, texture, and style.
important because
These subtle qualities
they're the
can have a big impact
foundation of so
on the way your design
many things. Learn
is perceived.
to look for them in
other designs, and
Look for
soon you'll start seeing them everywhere.
places where lines are
hiding in plain sight, for
example, in text. Even
here, experimenting
 Form - When a
shape becomes
3D, we call it a
form. Forms make
up a variety of
things in the real
world, including sculptures, architecture, and
other three-dimensional objects.
However, forms don't
have to be three-
dimensional shapes.
They can also be
implied through
illustration, using
techniques like light,
shadow, and perspective to create the illusion of
depth.
In two-dimensional
design, form makes realism
possible. Without it,
renderings like the image
below—a ball with highlights
and shading—simply
wouldn't be the same.
Even images that
are less realistic use
similar techniques to
create dimension. Below,
the lighting and shading
are stylized, but still hint
at form and depth.
In everyday
composition, the
purpose of form is the
same, but on a smaller
scale. For example, a
simple shadow can
create the illusion of
layers or give an object a sense of place.
Basic forms can bring a touch of realism
to your work, which is a powerful tool when used
in moderation.
Texture - Texture is
the physical quality of
a surface. Like form, it
can be part of a three-
dimensional object,
as in the example
below (a small prickly
cactus in a shiny ceramic pot).
Or it can be implied
through illustration,
suggesting that it
would have texture if
it existed in real life.
In design,
texture adds depth
and tactility to
otherwise flat
images. Objects
can appear
smooth, rough,
hard, or soft, depending on the elements at play.
For beginners,
textures make
great background
images and can
add a lot of interest
to your work. Look
closely, and you
may find texture in unexpected places, like
distressed fonts and smooth, glossy icons.
Just be
careful not to go
overboard—too
much texture in a
single design can
quickly become
overwhelming.
Balance - Balance is the equal distribution of
visual weight (more specifically, how much any
one element attracts the viewer's eye). Balance
can be affected by many things, including color,
size, number, and negative space.
Mastering balance
can be tricky for
beginners because it
does take some
intuition. Luckily, the
design world is full of
examples that can
help you understand
its different iterations.
Symmetrical
designs are the same
or similar on both
sides of an axis. They
feel balanced
because each side is
effectively the same
(if not identical).
Asymmetrical designs are different, but the
weight is still evenly distributed. The composition
is balanced because it calls attention to the right
things (in this example, the person's name and
company logo).

The rule of thirds

SMany people, including designers and
photographers, use a strategy called the rule of
thirds. This imagines your work area divided into
a 3x3 grid. The focal point of the image is placed
on or near one of the grid lines, creating visual
balance with the rest of the space.

We find this type of composition

appealing because, according to studies, the
human eye naturally follows this path when
scanning a design.

Putting it all together

The fundamentals of design are all about
the bigger picture—in other words, learning to
appreciate the many small details that make up
every composition.

This insight can be applied to almost any

type of project, whether you're creating your own
graphics or just looking for simple ways to
enhance your work.