While loads of of us can make something with the intention of looks excellent in Photoshop or attractive when spliced into CSS, but do we really know the design theory behind what we make? Theory is the missing link for loads of un-trained but otherwise talented designers. Here are 50 brilliant visual design theory education to aid you know the ‘Whys’, not just the ‘Hows’.
Typography
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1. Typography, Part 1
“Excellent typography depends on the visual draw a distinction between one font and a additional, and the draw a distinction between copy blocks and the surrounding empty space.”
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2. Five simple steps to better typography
“The kind of typography I’m talking about is not your typical “What font should I use” typography but rather your “knowing your lynching punctuation from your em-dash” typography.”
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3. Typography tips for visual design students
“What vital typographic advice would you give a third time visual design student? I scan the comments with fantastic interest and here I’ve picked out a few of the most helpful typography tips.”
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4. Typeface Terminology
“An extensive collection of terms and definitions with the intention of relate to typography.”
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5. How do I choose paring fonts ?
“It really does boil not working to a discrimination invite. Usually, mixture category is made to make draw a distinction, so, as DavidR points out, a excellent all-function rule is to not pick two fonts with the intention of are so akin they can be confused for all other at a glance.”
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6. Learning About Category
“There are quite a few terms thrown around with regards to typography. Hopefully this article will aid you know extra about the world of typography.”
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7. A Guide to Web Typography
“Now we’re vacant to talk about web typography in terms of a recipe of four fundamental ingredients. If you’ve ever tried to cook a soufflé, you’ll know how vital the recipe is. Follow this recipe and your typography will increase up like…with the intention of’s enough of the cooking metaphors, let’s cook.”
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8. On Choosing a Category
“Fundamentally, the responsibility we bear is two-fold: initially we owe it to the reader not to hinder their conception pleasure, but to aid it; second, we owe a responsibility to the typeface or typefaces we use.”
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9. Who shot the serif?
“Water supply, what you will learn, is with the intention of learning just a small about the terminology will aid you to have a greater appreciation for category; it will also aid you to identify different typefaces and fonts — and with the intention of in curve will aid you make better, extra informed choices about the fonts you use.”
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10. Master Web Typography: 8 Detailed Typography Tips for the Web
“One of the most under–rated elements of gorgeous Web design is the subtle art of typography. Part of this, I know, is a lack of a levelheaded font support for Web sites. But never agonize! Now I’ll show you some quick things you can do to appear to be a category master.”
Grid Based Design
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11. Designing With a Grid Based Approach
“The foremost thought behind grid-based designs is a levelheaded visual and structural balance of web-sites you can make with them.”
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12. Columns and Grids
“One of the larger problems in working with grids in web pages is with the intention of you often can’t do much about vertical proportions. Often your content is dynamic, so the best you can do is approximate.”
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13. The Grid: The Structure of Design
“Using a grid is one of persons vital design principles. Most news designers are working with a grid someone else designed. No matter what you reckon about it, you call for to know how to use it.”
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14. Feeling your way around grids
“Grids have lingering been used by designers to aid and measure arrangement; to make a framework with which to construct the design.”
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15. Grid Based Layouts
“A grid is a technique with the intention of comes from print design but easily be applied to web design as water supply. In its strictest affect a grid is literally a grid of X by Y pixels.”
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16. Five simple steps to designing grid systems
“There are quite a few terms thrown around with regards to typography. Hopefully this article will aid you know extra about the world of typography.”
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17. Grids: Order Out of Chaos
“Loads of of the pages with the intention of you see everyday have a grid. You may not see it but it is there, holding up the design, establishing structure, guiding the leaf elements.”
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18. Grid Based Design 101
“Designers of all types (web, print, etc.) are constantly facing issues involving the structure of their designs. Web designers are increasingly rotary to grids to control the structure of web pages, and grids have lingering been used extensively in other design mediums.”
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19. Grid-Based Design: Six Creative Column Techniques
“Grid systems bring visual structure and balance to site design. As a tool grids are helpful for organizing and presenting in rank. Used properly, they can enhance the addict experience by making predictable patterns for users to follow.”
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20. Seven Charming Steps to Superb Grids
“While grid design is a simple concept, there are now so loads of tools and ways of doing it with the intention of it might get confusing for newcomers. So here is my way of doing things, i.e. how I would clarify grid design to someone who’s never heard about it.”
Affect Theory
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1. Affect Theory
“Affect theory encompasses a multitude of definitions, concepts and design applications. All the in rank would fill several encyclopedias. As an introduction, here are a few vital concepts.”
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22. Affect Theory: Overview
“If you are caught up in the foundation or design of visual documents, an understanding of affect will aid when incorporating it into your own designs.”
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23. Affect Theory: A brief tutorial
“Affect can be a touchy subject. Now and again artists use colors with the intention of evoke fastidious emotions. Other times artists use colors austerely since they like the way they look.”
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24. Vital affect schemes – Introduction to Affect Theory
“With colors you can set a mood, attract attention, or make a statement. You can use affect to energize, or to cool not working. By selecting the right affect machinate, you can make an vibes of elegance, warmth or tranquility, or you can convey an image of playful youthfulness.”
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25. Affect Wheel Pro – See Affect Theory in Action
“Affect Theory is a set of principles used to make harmonious affect combinations. Affect relationships can be visually represented with a affect wheel — the affect spectrum wrapped on a circle.”
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26. Affect Psychology
“Colors often have different meanings in various cultures. And even in Western societies, the meanings of various colors have altered finished the years. But now in the U.S., researchers have generally found the following to be accurate.”
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27. How Colors Impact Moods, Feelings, and Behaviors
“While perceptions of affect are somewhat subjective, there are some affect effects with the intention of have universal importance.”
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28. In rank Applied To Visual Design: Affect Psychology
“Applied to web design, affect psychology could place forward a thermal map; an informative alternative to bland blog calendars of archived entries.”
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29. How does affect effect us?
“Affect is set alight and set alight is energy. Scientists have found with the intention of genuine physiological changes take place in human beings when they are exposed to fastidious colors. Colors can stimulate, excite, depress, tranquilize, increase inclination and make a feeling of warmth or coolness.”
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30. Affect Psychology in Marketing
“Colors not release enhance the appearance of the piece — they also influence our behavior. You will do water supply to deliberate the impact with the intention of the colors you use will have on your butt audience.”
Design Theory
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31. Principles of Design
“The principles of design suggest effective and pleasing ways to arrange copy and graphics on the leaf as water supply as the agreement of individual elements within illustration, logos, and the by and large visual design of a document.”
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32. Visual Design Basics
“Get a better understanding of the basics of visual design by studying the elements and principles of visual design with the intention of govern effective design and leaf describe.”
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33. The Basics of Visual Design
“Visual design is the process of making the appearance of a periodical, presentation, or web site in an attractive, most likely manner.”
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34. Aspire to know how to design? Learn The Basics.
“The vital elements of design contain colour, outline, affect, extent, space, texture and regard and these are the fundamental pieces with the intention of make up any piece of bring about.”
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35. Approaching Visual Design
“Vital design elements such as the rule of thirds, graphical arrangement and the weight of these graphical components is very vital. On top of with the intention of, throw colour into the equation and things can start to get very tough.”
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36. Visual Design Fundamentals
“If you can master these fundamental concepts, your graphical treatments — from PowerPoint slides to Microsoft Word documents to companionship brochures — will greatly improve.”
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37. Get Some Hierarchy in Your Design
“Design hierarchy is all about the importance of visual in rank and giving it assigning levels of importance to make the message of the design get across.”
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38. Visual Fundamentals, 1. The Huge strike
“Loads of of the underlying principles behind visual design have been bypassed and the consequences are not as potent as they could be. In this small series, I aspire to aid to fill-in some of persons gaps and provide a better understanding of what it’s all about.”
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39. The Description of Visual Design and Its Audiences
“To insist with the intention of, or to prescribe how, the description of visual design call for be taught in any fastidious way is to unnecessarily limit the field in in cooperation methodology and pedagogy.”
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40. In Search of Ethics in Visual Design
“I envision this copy as an addition to the AIGA’s existing periodical on ethics, which currently includes sections concerning our responsibilities to the profession and our clients.”
UI & Usability
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41. Invite to Action Buttons
“The invite-to-action button is an vital tool in the addict experience designer’s box of tricks. In this article I’ll give you a few pointers on providing effective ones.”
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42. Complete Beginner’s Guide to In rank Architecture
“The kind of typography I’m talking about is not your typical “What font should I use” typography but rather your “knowing your lynching punctuation from your em-dash” typography.”
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43. A Few Education From Genuine World Usability
“We interact with so loads of objects all owing to our day with the intention of we often don’t notice with the intention of someone really bunged to business about how we were vacant to use bits and pieces.”
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44. 12 Helpful Techniques For Excellent Addict Interface Design
“Among other things, we highlighted embedded video blocks, specialized controls and perspective-insightful navigation. We also encouraged designers to disable pressed buttons, use shadows around modal windows and link to the sign-up leaf from the log-in leaf.”
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45. 10 Helpful Techniques To Improve Your Addict Interface Designs
“Web design consists, for the most part, of interface design. There are loads of techniques caught up in crafting gorgeous and functional interfaces.”
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46. Investing in UX
“We wanted to ordeal a hypothesis with the intention of companies who focus on UX will see it reflected in their stock price. The premise was to invest $5,000 in all companionship and hold the stock for 1 time.”
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47. The Layers of Design: the style layer
“It’s a process in which all layer addresses specific design needs related to client aims, brand characteristics and site addict habits and expectations.”
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48. Evangelizing UX Across an Entire Organization
“This edition of Question UXmatters discusses how to converse and advertise the UX message across all levels of an organization. Our experts impart what strategies and tactics for evangelizing UX have worked for them.”
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49. Closing the Usability Age Gap
“In this placement, we discuss some of the things the break Generation Y from older generations, and how we can make a fantastic addict experience for in cooperation demographics.”
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50. Increasing Usability with Addict Feedback
“This placement suggests some ways to improve your site’s usability based off of addict feedback. These methods and programs will aid you gather and act on addict feedback.”