Multimedia Design 2 - Graphic Design

To make a presentation visually strong, the work must have good layout, composition and balance. Visual design contributes to the unique identity of a presentation and helps make the application more use friendly. A strong visual identity in a presentation will also make it more memorable.

Consistency and clarity are two vital factors in successful multimedia. A clear uncomplicated presentation style is much more effective and professional than one disorganised and cluttered with tacky media. There are few fundamental principles of design that once understood, will increase the effectiveness of your work.

Originality and Creativity
This overlaps with many of the other issues that will follow but it is worth the extra emphasis. To make a presentation effective, it is essential to be creative and develop a unique identity for the work. Good graphic design employ techniques and skills in new and innovative ways.

Layout and Composition
Effective use of space can significantly enhance a page design. It is important to think about the space you create around the visual content you place on screen. While it is OK to have empty space around your visual content, it should be carefully organised. This negative space should never be thought of as ‘left-over’ space otherwise it will appear as random, arbitrary and insignificant. The negative space provides a visual connection and balance to your scene.

When integrating various elements for a scene, only necessary design items should be included. Work cluttered with irrelevant clip art, background colours or free animated gifs, can make a scene appear tacky and unprofessional. There are many sites that provide such free 'artwork'. Remember, they are free for a reason. You don't want your work to look like a cliché with tired and overused graphics.

A good scene in a presentation has a focal point that draws captures your attention. A lack of focal point or too many focal points makes the scene difficult to understand. The focal point should not be the navigational bar. While the interface is an important part of the scene, your content should not be overwhelmed by the interface.

Direction is an important part of composition. You can angle text or include images that lead your eye across the screen. By giving direction to a page, the audience can understand how to read the composition. Direction can create a sense of movement and make a page dynamic without any animation

Related items on a page should be grouped together to provide organisation and cohesion. Similar items grouped together will reflect a relationship between the elements and help make the scene more readable to your audience. You should not create relationships with elements that don’t belong together. Items that are not directly related to each other should be separated by space. Varying the amount of space between elements indicates closeness or the importance of the relationship.

Hierarchy
To ‘read’ a scene effectively, it is important to be able to distinguish different levels of importance of elements in the composition. Hierarchy of elements contributes to understanding of a scene. Hierarchy can be displayed by use of a dominant size, location, shape or colour.

Example:
LA County Arts

Layering and depth
A presentation can be easier to read and understand if the scenes have different layers. There are three basic layers, foreground, midground and background. Having these three layers give sense depth and visual interest. The background can be a colour or image that provides the backdrop for visual information placed on top. A graphical interface placed in its own layer is much easier to identify and understand.

Examples
End of Existence
K:E:I:C:O:N
Juxt Interactive

Repetition (Consistency)
When you repeat visual elements across a presentation, you create a unified look and strong consistency throughout the work. Repetition can be in colour, graphical interfaces, spatial arrangements, and typefaces of text. Unity and continuity through the presentation are vital features of good design.

Maintaining similar placement of navigational elements from scene to scene makes it easier for users to understand how to navigate through the work. Repeating visual elements gives the work order. Design should be consistent in placement of elements, size and colour. A website with consistency in design will allow the user to feel comfortable browsing from page to page. If each section is very different and feels like you have moved into a different site, instead of feeling comfortable, the user will feel disconcerted and confused, resulting in an ineffective communication of your site's message.

Balance
The human body has a finely tuned sense of balance as evidenced when you walk, run or simply stand. Our sense of balance carries over into our visual perception. Balance in composition involves creating a layout of graphics so the result achieves a sense of evenness. Balance can be achieved through symmetry, where there is an exact proportion of parts across an axis, or through or asymmetrical composition.

Examples:
Asymmetrical - Art & Design in Adelaide
Symmetrical - Moonflowers by Don Barnett

Alignment
Alignment is important whether you are designing a poster, business card or multimedia presentation. You should not place visual elements together in an arbitrarily manner. Every element should have a visual connection to each other. The lack of alignment causes major design problems. Strong, sharp edges create a strong, sharp impression. A lack of alignment of visual elements can give a sloppy, disorganised and weak impression.

When using alignment, make sure it is strong. If the alignment is slightly out, it looks like a mistake. Breaking alignment can be used for emphasis in certain situations, such as to illustrate a button has been pressed down.

Contrast
The use of contrast within your menus or scenes provides visual interest. Contrast can also show the hierarchy of information in your scene, allowing the audience to easily find the most important information and understand what it is about. Contrast can appear in text or images, in colour, size, shape or spatial relationships. Contrast is only effective if it is strong, otherwise it can look accidental.

Understanding Colour
Colour can be one of the key ingredients to graphic design. It can be used to enhance and emphasise information. Colour must be used with an understanding of the other fundamentals of graphic design otherwise it can spoil an otherwise good composition. If too much strong and vivid colours are used at the expense of everything else, a presentation can look overdressed. Colour must be used cautiously. While it can add charm to your work, it can also destroy the harmony and balance of a composition.

Colour appreciation is universal and plays an important role in our daily lives. Colour can excite or sooth, or create a variety of other emotions. Red is a dominant colour and is used to signify danger. It is a colour that immediately catches the eye and creates alertness. Strong and vivid colours fill us with excitement, while quiet and gentle ones suggest tranquility and calm. Colours are highly expressive and go beyond just recording the realism of a picture. In theatre, a stage designer can create a variety of moods by careful choice of coloured lighting, without even altering the makeup scene.

As a multimedia designer, you can create atmosphere through the careful use of colour. Colour choice must suit your your client. Bright reds, blues and greens in cartoon style graphics may not be suitable for a conservative, formal business client. Colours should be chosen to suit pictures you are displaying. A picture of a classical work of architecture, may not work with bright colours.

When developing a colour scheme for your multimedia work, it is often a good idea to limit yourself to three colours for your interface and design elements. By limiting colours, you can avoid the difficulties in maintaining balance and harmony in a composition. This rule can be broken once you have gained a greater understanding of colour. Trial and error will help you discover what works and what does not. The artist Matisse, used a range of vivid colours, patterns and textures in his paintings, while maintaining balance and harmony. We are not all Matisse artists, but we can try.

Examples:
LA County Arts
National Design Museum

Click here to learn more about Multimedia Design 3 - Design Styles.

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