Hey guys,
I am a graphic designer and while I know I have the eye for it and can execute projects, I know I struggle with coming up with an idea, in terms of style and layout without first taking alot of time up by looking at other designs, layout patterns, etc and keeping them in mind when trying to come up with a concept. Is this typical, or does anyone have any advice on getting better with coming up with layout patterns/styles more quickly?
To do top flight work takes a long time, even after you’re very experienced. In a quality agency a one page ad for a major corporation could be weeks in writing/design/production.
What you do learn with experience is how to produce decent hackwork. Over the years you gather some tricks that will jazz up a basic design and make it look special.
A standard technique for fast design is to just browse stock photography houses and find an image that works with the rough concept. A lot of the time an interesting stock image will suggest an interesting refinement to a rough concept.
There are some rules of thumb, but as in any skilled profession you should ultimately understand when to break the rules.
–Don’t have a big empty space in the middle of a design.
–Try to limit yourself to 2 or 3 fonts (maybe a serif, sans serif and a script or novelty face.)
– Generally you want a definite center of interest, with the subordinate elements arranged to guide the eye around the design and ultimately back to the center of interest.
–It’s usually safe to lay out things flush left, but with simple pieces they can be centered.
–Leave some white space (but not in the center.) Don’t pack things tightly unless you’re designing for brutal comparison shoppers (such as ads for New York camera stores.)
–Use colors that match. If you’ve got a blue headline, try to have the same blue elsewhere in the design.
thank you! more specifically most of what I am having trouble with is coming up with concepts for layout on the web. I’ve been sticking to a grid-based design but it can still be tricky.