Designer daydreams: 10 useful designing tips
Written by Joris Compernol
Dreaming of being a designer? Daydreaming is all well and good, but what happens when you wake up?
It's one thing to say that you want to be a great designer. It's another to actually be one.
Anyway, loads more people think they're a great designer than can actually design. Feel free to replace the word "designer" with programmer, manager, footballer, singer or almost any other profession.
Or are you dreaming of being a famous designer? Well, for that you don't actually need to design anything. Just start selling yourself. Get yourself enough followers and fame will knock on your door. Simple. (This probably doesn't work for famous footballers though.)
So how can your designer dreams become reality? The tips below are a good place to start for commercial designing.
Nope. This doesn't mean copy someone else's design and pass it off as your own original work - that's stealing.
But, think about it: how do musicians learn how to play? They listen to others and then repeat (copy) it over and over again, until they understand the building blocks well enough to build and create something of their own.
Why not do the same with graphic design? Don't be afraid to copy. Challenge yourself to reproduce an inspiring design to discover the magic behind it. Then take the next step and use this magic on dull (yet still published) designs to improve them.
I know. It's the worst feeling in the world. Looking at a blank screen when you're searching for inspiration.
It doesn't have to be like that.
Dare to mess things up. Dare to start again from scratch. The end result will be worth it. Trust me.
3. Limit your eye-catchers
Whatever you're designing, there will always be something that's (a bit/a lot) more important than the rest. Often it's just one thing. That's the bit of the design that should catch your eye first.
Check your design: half-close your eyes and see what pops out at you. Is it your eye-catcher? If not, re-design. Tone down bright colors, adapt the layout, change the focus – do whatever is necessary to push your eye-catcher forward.
4. Limit the use of color
Starting a design from scratch lets you pick the color palette. Go slow. Two colors are often enough. Maybe highlight in a third color.
Choosing the right colors is essential. Even before a word has been read or a logo recognized, color gives visual clues about tone and content.
To help select the right colors for your design, think about what impression your design is aiming for. Look at other designs that give you a similar impression. Keep these designs at the back of your head (but not at hand) while designing to help you to create a similar impression in your design, with your own unique twist.
Musically, Elvis is the King. In design, contrast is King.
A design might have a stunning layout, attractive typography and effective eye-catchers, but it'll remain boring without contrast. Dare to use bright and saturated colors. This doesn't necessarily mean hard contrasts, instead, adapt your contrasts to fit the media. Pure white text on a black background works well in print, but not online.
In design, contrast is King. In contrast, Icon Designers are Kings.
To see contrast being used well, take a look at the icons around you. Which ones pop out at you? What do they have in common? That's right: they're dominated by saturated, bright colors and highlights.
Let's talk about fonts. How many do you use regularly? Which do you have installed on your computer? Where can you find new ones? The more you immerse yourself in the world of fonts, the more you'll discover.
Logo designers often spend hours looking for a good font and hours more looking for the perfect font. They then start to experiment with the font: change the leading, change the font size, change the color. What works best?
At the end of the day, the purpose of any font is to be elegant, readable and appropriate for the situation, the customer and the audience.
7. Alignment and visual blocks
At first glance, this probably seems more important when working with a lot of content, say a 40 page brochure or an extensive website, but it's equally valid when you have no design restrictions and/or minimal content, such as posters, infographics or flyers.
Regardless of the amount of content, define a grid before you start and use it!
Align text and images where possible, keeping enough space between design elements, to help your audience separate your design into visual blocks. These blocks make it easier to read, follow and understand.
8. Appropriate use of gradients
It's simple: if you have two colors on your gradient, make sure their hue and saturation don't shift too much. One option is to use a brighter or duller version of your first color as your secondary color. Just remember don't make the contrast between your gradients too hard.
Why is spacing important? Well, spacing influences the readability, visibility and usability of your design.
How? Think about placing a border around some text. If the border is too close to the text and too wide, it gives the impression that it's squeezing the text. Compare it to a border that includes empty space. This draws the eye to the content, highlighting its importance and, therefore, increasing its readability, visibility and usability.
10. Try to reduce the content!
There's definitely truth in the old expression: less is more.
The less content you communicate, the more the audience will remember. Good luck explaining that to your client!
So, what now? Still daydreaming of being a great designer or are you daydreaming of your next great design?
