Notes on Graphic Design Workshop

During the Poster Design Workshop, Andrea and Aaron gave us some good resources to use when designing our posters:

http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/

http://www.soe.uoguelph.ca/webfiles/agalvez/poster/

http://www.worqx.com/color/color_wheel.htm

http://www.digital-web.com/articles/principles_of_design/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_design

http://www.ideastraining.com/PDFs/TypographyBasics.pdf

Good typefaces to use:

Gill Sans, Helvetica, Garamond, Adobe Jensen, Palantino, Grotesque, Frutiger, Meta, Trade Gothic, Universe.

Campus Resources:

Instructional Development Support Center - Excellent poster printing, at a good price (about a dollar per linear inch, up to 44" tall)

Graphic Design Center - Consulting / design help at $25 per hour

A few notes from the presentation:

Introduction
rhythm and balance
(dominance) proportion
unity

Color
complement colors work well together

active range (warm) jumps out
passive range (cold) recedes back
purple & yellow-green are neutral

vibrating boundary effect using complement colors
(makes text hard to read, but works better for shapes)

Type
Makes your poster sophisticated (or not)
Serif -- good for body text
Sans Serif -- good for headings, visible from a longer distance

Display fonts -- usually for crazy advertising, not serious -- don't use
Gil Sans, Classical Helvetica

Effective Poster Design
Grid
Whitespace, negative space, resting space