Design Basics
A Print-Ready Checklist for a Small Design
A practical print checklist for a small design: trim, bleed, image size, colour shift, embedded type and a paper proof.
Design Basics
Design Basics
Five Poster Habits That Weaken a Design
Five ordinary poster habits that muddy a message, from too many fonts and starved margins to a leader no one can find.
Design Basics
Cropping a Picture for a Clearer Composition
How to crop a picture so the subject leads, the edges look deliberate, and leftover space is a choice rather than a habit.
Design Basics
Rhythm and Repetition in a Repeating Pattern
How a repeating motif finds a rhythm, and how grids, half-drops and even gaps keep a pattern from showing its seams.
Design Basics
Drawing Simple Icons That Still Read Small
How to draw simple icons that stay recognisable when small, with even strokes, clear gaps and a real-size test.
Design Basics
Scale: Letting One Element Clearly Lead
How to choose a lead element and make it large enough that the rest of the page or picture can stay quiet.
Design Basics
Contrast in Size, Weight and Texture
How size, weight and texture create contrast when colour alone cannot separate the parts of a design.
Design Basics
Margins and White Space on a Small Page
Why generous margins and unused space make a small page clearer, and how trapped gaps undo the effect.
Design Basics
Simple Grids for Posters and One-Page Layouts
How to set a simple column grid, align type and images to it, and stop a one-page layout drifting.
Design Basics
The Rule of Thirds, and When to Break It
How the rule of thirds places a subject calmly, and the pictures and pages that are stronger when you ignore it.
Design Basics
Pairing Typefaces Simply: A Beginner's Guide to Two Fonts
How to choose and combine two typefaces for posters, covers and pages, using contrast, restraint and a few easy checks.
Design Basics
Using Negative Space to Make Stronger Drawings and Designs
Negative space is the shape around and between things. Learn how to see it, draw with it and use it to make clearer, calmer compositions.