The concept of graphic design

(1) The process of processing some digitized images with some special operations.

(2) It is a comprehensive content integrating computer technology, digital technology and artistic creativity.

Design is a kind of work or occupation, and it is a modeling activity with aesthetic feeling, use and commemorative function.

Design is a shaping activity with aesthetic feeling, use and memory functions.

The word "design" is translated from Chinese characters in Japanese. When translating the word "design" in Japanese, besides the word "design", Chinese characters such as "design", "pattern", "composition" and "shaping" are also used to express "design".

So when we understand what "design" is, we can explain these words first:

English design comes from Latin de-sinare, which means "making marks". /kloc-In the 6th century, desegno in Italy began to have the meaning of today's design, and was later quoted by English through the intermediary of French, which became the design in today's English. In English, design has:

A. design and make a plan.

B. Draw a sketch and gradually complete a beautiful design or work.

C. appointment and cooperation for a certain purpose.

D. planning and planning.

E. intention.

F use stamp icon to express and confirm events.

By analogy, items A and B are the closest to what the design community calls design. In Japanese, the word "craftsman" in Chinese characters means "idea processing", and it is considered that design work is the work of idea processing. "pattern" is relative to "copying", which means: explain in words; Mode means: give an example. In other words, drawing is enough to explain how the work is done, and then generally refers to expressive graphic production.

The composition of Chinese characters in Japanese refers to the combination of things (including articles, images, events, etc.). ) and the pursuit of formal accuracy and aesthetic feeling. "Shaping" refers to the generation of "shape", that is, the creation of environment, form and image.

In Japanese, the Chinese character "design" means to set a specific goal and then realize it according to the plan (manufacturing). But the word "design" is more interesting to explain in Chinese.

"Set" in the middle of < < Explain Chinese Characters > >; The word "Ji" means this: suppose: also, from words to services, people are also. Set means flag display. The meaning of a speech is to end with words. Easement refers to something that can be transported and rotated, which means labor. From words to service, it means to express the meaning of serving people with words. Count: I will, I will (calculate), I will follow the words. Meters represent totals and calculations. Words mean thinking. Ten refers to a specific number (relative to the number of images taken). From the word to ten, it is to express thinking and use words to complete the calculation of specific numbers.

Therefore, in Chinese, "design" means "manual setting, first calculation, and estimation of results". This definition is actually another word that is more commonly used in Chinese: "build", which is also called "building" or "building a house" in Japanese. At present, the word "Lou" in Chinese is translated from Japanese into Chinese characters and returned to Chinese as a daily expression. Just as the word "design" comes from the Chinese translation of the word "design" in Japanese, it has returned to Chinese as a daily language.

However, from the development of western design, before the rise of modern design, design was not only equal to architecture, but also equal to art, especially in the curriculum of western art history and Royal College of Art education. From the Renaissance, architectural expertise was gradually formed, combined with the inheritance of painting expertise and sculpture expertise, which were collectively called plastic arts and design.

From this perspective, it is easier for us to understand the definition and explanation of "design is a shaping activity or architectural activity with aesthetic feeling, use and discipline".

Generally speaking, aesthetic experience, use function and memorial function will be different in degree and object. At the same time, the so-called aesthetic experience and use function are not only felt and judged by creators, but also judged by producers and consumers. The memorial function is often quite different for different objects.

On the other hand, since the industrial revolution in the19th century, the purely handmade art (painting and sculpture) has gradually been distinguished from architectural design, poster design or product design. The former is handmade, one at a time; The latter is produced by machinery, which can produce dozens, hundreds and thousands of the same things. The former is called pure art and handicraft, while the latter is called design. But no matter how to distinguish, whether it is pure art, handicraft, architecture or design, it must be able to meet the requirements of "aesthetic experience, use function and commemorative function".

Visual communication design is a design major that uses words, symbols and shapes to capture beauty, capture and express images, express ideas and attempts, and then achieve the effect of communication and persuasion.

Perhaps we have different views on the so-called "aesthetic feeling", but there is no doubt that design should capture aesthetic feeling, especially visual communication design.

Understanding the definition and concept of design will be the first step to understand design, which will help us understand the scope of responsibility as a quasi-graphic designer.

Section 1: Correction and Classification of Graphic Design

The word "design" comes from the English word "design", which includes a wide range of design and architectural types: industry, environmental art, decoration, exhibition, clothing, graphic design and so on. However, the current name of graphic design is very difficult in ordinary expression, because the intersection between disciplines is getting wider and deeper. Traditional definitions, such as the current name "graphic design, visual communication design, decorative design, etc.", may have a great relationship with the characteristics of graphic design, because design is everywhere, and graphic design is everywhere. In terms of scope, it is related to graphic design. Functionally, it is called visual communication, that is, using visual language to convey information and express opinions, while decoration design or decorative art design is recognized as extremely inaccurate and one-sided.

Now, after understanding the scope and connotation of graphic design, let's look at the classification of graphic design, such as image system design, font design, book binding design, line recording design, packaging design, poster/poster design ... It can be said that there are as many designs as there are needs. In addition, commercial design and artistic design obviously exist.

The second part: the concept of graphic design.

Design is purposeful planning, and graphic design is one of the forms that these plans will take. In graphic design, you need to use visual elements to spread your ideas and plans, and use words and graphics to convey information to the audience, so that people can understand your ideas and plans through these visual elements. This is the definition of our design. The bottom line of a visual work's survival should depend on whether it has the energy to touch others and whether it successfully conveys the information behind it. In fact, it is more like interpersonal relationship, conquering objects according to charm. Does your design have the charm of capturing people's hearts? Whether it is love at first sight or being born, you need to be like a gentle gentleman, a rebellious son who is unkempt, or a rigorous scholar. In fact, graphic designers play multiple roles. You need to know yourself and yourself, and you need to examine the object. You should be a member of the object, but you don't like it. Your design represents customers' products, and customers need your feelings to impress others. You are actually a person who "sells" his feelings. Graphic design is an art closely related to a specific purpose.

Section III: Features of Graphic Design

Design is the combination of technology and art, and it is the product of commercial society. In the commercial society, the balance between artistic design and creative ideal, objectivity and restraint is needed, and it is necessary to speak for the client through the mouth of the author.

Design is different from art because it should be beautiful, practical, considerate and people-oriented. Design is a need, not just decoration.

There is no concept of completion in design. Design needs to strive for perfection, constantly improve, challenge itself and declare war on itself. The key point of design is to find that it can only be achieved through in-depth feelings and experiences, and it is a challenge for designers to impress others. Design should be touching, enough details can impress people, graphic creativity can impress people, color taste can impress people, material texture can impress people, … organically combine various elements of design. Also, designers should understand that rigorous attitude itself can cause people's mental shock.

Chapter 2: The Road of Graphic Design

There may be many different ways to learn design, because it is determined by the diversified knowledge structure of design. No matter what you used to do, no matter what you used to do, after entering the design field, your previous experience will affect you, and you will face challenges and be eliminated, just as it is impossible to achieve greatness according to people's subjective wishes. ...

Section 1: Are you sure you want to enter this field? -Knowledge structure of designers

Designing a diversified knowledge structure will definitely require designers to have diversified knowledge and information acquisition methods.

The first step: from the understanding of points, lines and surfaces, learn and master the basic knowledge of plane composition, color composition, three-dimensional composition and perspective; We need to have objective visual experience, establish a rational thinking foundation, master the physiological laws of vision and understand the concept of design elements.

Step 2: Can you draw a sketch? 1998 the survey results of the Australian industrial design advisory Committee show that the first of the 10 skills that design graduates should possess is: "excellent sketching and freehand drawing skills. As a designer, you should have the ability to express visual graphics quickly and unrestrained. Painting art is the source of design, and design sketches are the paper form of creativity. We have reason to believe that painting is the foundation of graphic design and the foundation of graphic design! "

Step 3: What did you miss? Lack of traditional courses, such as pottery, printmaking, watercolor, oil painting, photography, calligraphy, Chinese painting, black and white painting, etc. Too many, you still have to ask yourself! In any case, these courses will strengthen your practical ability, expressive ability and aesthetic ability at different levels. The most important thing is to let you know what art is, and more importantly, to discover your own personality, but it is also a long-term process.

Step 4: "Can I start designing"? Of course not. What are you going to design? Just when you are about to start playing games, do you know the rules of the game? But you don't have to worry, you have entered the professional self-study, which means that you have just started, and you will step into this field with perseverance, no impetuousness, no complaints and a pragmatic attitude. Let's take logo design as an example. What kind of background knowledge do we need, meaning, origin, characteristics, design principles, artistic laws, forms of expression, composition methods and why do we need to know? Why Coca-Cola is popular all over the world; Why are we eager to wear Lee jeans? As a designer, are you satisfied with the visual environment around us? Ask yourself, what is your design ideal?

Step 5: You can see the quality of the design. Do you know why? In the last step, by studying the basic knowledge of design, you have unconsciously entered the imitation stage of design. In order to move forward, we must review the history, and then shift from learning theoretical books to learning predecessors and excellent designers. This stage is accompanied by a long process, and your design level may be very unstable. Sometimes confused, sometimes happy. With a lot of practice and gradually mastering the whole operation process of design, you begin to become a mature designer.

You need to learn the rules and then break them.

Section 2: Can you be an outstanding designer? -Requirements for designers

1. A successful designer should have the following points: a, strong and keen perception; B, the ability of invention and creation; Aesthetic ability of works; E, the ability to express design ideas; And comprehensive professional intelligence.

Modern designers must have broad cultural vision, profound wisdom and rich knowledge; They must be knowledgeable, sensitive and innovative problem solvers. They should consider social reflection and social effects, and strive to design works that are beneficial to society and can improve people's aesthetic ability and psychological pleasure and satisfaction. They should summarize the characteristics of the contemporary era and reflect real aesthetic tastes and ideals. At least you should understand that excellent designers have their own methods, clear images and logical views.

Designers must be confident and firmly believe in their personal beliefs, experience, vision and taste. No blind obedience, no narcissism, no arrogance, no drifting. Face it with a rigorous academic attitude, not for individuality or design. As a designer, you must have unique quality and superb design skills, that is, no matter how complicated the design topic is, you must conscientiously sum up experience, think hard, scrutinize repeatedly, absorb and digest the same type of excellent design essence, so as to achieve new creation.

3. As a profession, graphic design has a great relationship with the perfection of designer's personality, which often determines a designer's design level. The higher the level, the better his understanding, balance, discrimination, coordination and handling ability, which will help him overcome one obstacle after another in his design career, so designers must pay attention to personal cultivation. Scholars often say, "fix its shape first, then practice its products."

4. The improvement of design must be carried out through continuous learning and practice. The extensive participation and concentration of designers are contradictory and unified. The former is the source of inspiration and expression, and the latter is the attitude of work. Good design is not only the creation of graphics, it is the result of a lot of intellectual work, covering different fields and playing different roles, which can keep us open-minded and bring more information to our design. The most important thing in design is ideas, and good ideas need to be cultivated and incubated. Design also needs a broad vision, so that information has a broad source. An important feature of learning graphic design is analogy, and art is essentially the same. The continuous flow of culture and wisdom is the magic weapon to become an evergreen tree in the design field.

5. Individualized design may come from the long-standing cultural tradition of the nation and the design thought with rich national cultural essence. Nationality, originality and individuality are equally valuable, and regional characteristics are also one of the knowledge backgrounds of designers. Future designers are no longer narrow nationalists, but the symbol of each nation is more reflected in the national spirit, and the nation and tradition will also become schema or design elements. As a designer, we should take national traditions and culture seriously.

Graphic design is a creative work with strong subjective recognition. Most graphic designers learn and improve their design ability through continuous self-study. For example, pay more attention to the design techniques of various posters, promotional materials, magazines and books. And collect them, or browse the works of other designers on the internet to inspire our own design inspiration.

Graphic designers should have a keen sense of beauty and a certain literacy. So you can read widely and increase your knowledge and text sensitivity. In addition, graphic designers also use online groups to exchange opinions.

Being a real graphic designer is more than just learning a few softwares. Creativity comes from inspiration, and inspiration comes from life. You need to experience life, find inspiration from it and learn to create.

To be an airplane, we must first know what an airplane is, such as the three basic components. These are the most basic things. In addition, there are sketches, colors, photography, and so on ~ ~ many things related to art or design have to be understood. In fact, being a designer needs to learn a lot. It is never too old to learn. At any time, you can't say that you have mastered a certain field completely, just as you can never finish painting an oil painting.

There are many good books. If you have an advertiser bookstore at home, you can go and have a look. Besides knowing some books about design, you should also read all the books about advertising, marketing, copywriting and planning, which will help your work.

In terms of design, you can read digital design, IDN, art and design, packaging and design. In short, as many books as you can read, a small place may touch your inspiration. Ha ha. In addition, you can download some excellent electronic magazines online, or visit some excellent design websites and some designers' blogs. In short, designing this thing is also a process of many a mickle makes a mickle, and more importantly, it is also a process of continuous learning.

Bless you, wish you progress in your studies and become an excellent designer in the future!

The first question:

There are two main types:

I. Adobe Graphic Designer Certificate

The cost is 840 pounds.

Adobe exam in America. This examination is organized by the examination unit authorized by Adobe in China. Pass this exam to get the Adobe (China) Certified Graphic Designer certificate issued by this company. The examination cycle is once a month.

2. On June 5th, 2005, 65438+1October 65438, People's Republic of China (PRC) officially stipulated three professional qualification certificates: graphic designer (assistant designer), web designer (assistant designer) and advertising planner (assistant planner).

Among them: Adobe and Corel authorized training centers, with the graphic design software (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Acrobat) of Adobe, which has the largest market share in the world, and CorelDRAW of Corel, ensure that every student can become an excellent computer graphic designer.

China Registered Graphic Designer (ACCD) refers to the certificate issued by Adobe Company for those who have passed the software certification examination of Adobe graphic design products. As an "Adobe China Certified Designer", she will receive the official certificate issued by Adobe Company. You can enjoy the special treatment given by Adobe, authorize users to use ACCD title and Adobe certification mark in promotional materials, and publish personal data on Adobe and Corel related web pages. As an Adobe-certified designer, you can use Adobe project logo in promotional materials to show your colleagues, customers and bosses the official certification of Adobe, which will give you more opportunities-employment, reuse and promotion, and show your extraordinary talents.

The answer to the second question is:

You should master three types of software:

1 [6] Is the hacker steady? Oreldraw or Illustrator

2. Image photo processing software: Photoshop

3, a large number of text typesetting software: Pagemaker founder typesetting

Art designer

1August 3, 9941day, Vocational Training Bureau of Labor Committee, Executive Yuan.

The job of a graphic designer is to properly process and lay out the visual elements such as words, photos or patterns, and at the same time, to design and lay out the art on paper media.

The design service industry is the key service industry in China, and it is currently listed in one of the thirteen categories in the development plan of cultural and creative industries in Challenge 2008: National Development Key Plan. It is hoped that the output value of China's design service industry will increase from NT$ 22 billion in 2002 to NT$ 34 billion in 2007, and the number of employees will increase from the current 1. 1 10,000.

In the design service industry, graphic design is the basis of all designs and the most widely used category in the design industry. Graphic designers use the combination and arrangement of various visual elements to express their design ideas and image ways on the planar materials in two-dimensional space. Graphic designers generally think that visual elements such as words, photos or patterns should be properly processed and typeset, which is expressed in newspapers, magazines, books, posters, leaflets and other paper media, that is, artistic design and typesetting should be carried out on paper media.

■ Introduction to the working environment

Graphic designer is a static job, so most of the working time is in the office or studio, and the main working configuration is computer.

The main work of graphic designers is art design and typesetting. Art design mainly combines the limitation of working conditions and creativity to create a new format or composition to convey the designer's subjective ideas. Layout is to put the text into the page according to the created layout style or composition, and reach a certain number of pages or composition to complete the finished product.

The work content of art design and layout is almost the same, with high correlation, and is often carried out by the same graphic designer. However, because artists are generally more creative than typesetting, once the work is subdivided, the salary of artists will be higher than typesetting, and most novices will start from learning typesetting and then advance to artists.

■ Time therapy

Graphic designers generally vary according to the nature, working hours and treatment of their work units:

Graphic designer of newspaper:

Graphic designers who work in newspapers generally have fixed working hours. The graphic designer of the daily newspaper works from afternoon to eleven o'clock in the evening, and the graphic designer of the evening newspaper works from morning to afternoon. Graphic designers have to edit their pages quickly within two to two hours after the deadline, so the working hours are stressful and the pace is tight. Generally, they need considerable experience to meet the requirements of printing time closely, which is not suitable for newcomers.

Most newspapers employ graphic designers with some experience. The average monthly salary is about 30,000-40,000, and the senior year is about 50,000-60,000. But in recent years, because newspapers pay more and more attention to the visual richness of layout, even the director's salary of graphic designers in some newspapers can be as high as several hundred thousand yuan.

Graphic designer of a magazine or publishing house:

The job nature of graphic designers in magazines and publishing houses is very similar. Because they are published regularly, not every day, the work pressure is not as great as that of newspapers, and most of them are in the form of team work, which disperses the pressure of centralized editing after the deadline and before publication. In order to save personnel costs, more and more magazines and publishing houses contract some non-time pages or specific books to outside studios for execution.

Graphic designers of magazines and publishing houses may stay up all night before publication and work very fixed hours. In addition, because we must follow a fixed typesetting style, in addition to creative artists or cover designers, in order to reduce costs, fresh people are sometimes used for typesetting. The salary of graphic designers in magazines and publishing companies is slightly lower than that in newspapers, and the average monthly salary is about 20,000-40,000 yuan.

Graphic designer of advertising or design company:

Graphic designers of advertising or design companies mostly make finished products such as advertisements, posters or leaflets, and organize a lot of books. Working hours are fixed, but it is inevitable to stay up late before handing in the manuscript and closing the case. Generally speaking, advertisements or poster designs are mostly experienced and creative art designs, and the salary is also high, about 50 thousand to 60 thousand yuan.

Set up your own studio:

Because graphic designer is a creative job with personal style, many graphic designers leave the organization and set up personal studios to take over cases after accumulating certain experience. In addition, in order to meet the customized market demand tailored for customers, more and more advertising, publishing or design companies outsource cases to graphic designers with different design styles after receiving them. It is best to have stable customers and case sources in order to maintain a certain income.

■ qualification

Most graphic designers graduated from advertising design, art design, applied art, visual communication, industrial design, commercial design and other related design departments. get through

Most freshmen in the design department adopt the apprenticeship system when they are engaged in design work. They learn and grope slowly from the most basic level with their senior predecessors as assistants, and they study for several years at a time. But now all relevant design departments pay equal attention to theory and practice in teaching, and fresh people have some practical experience in school.

In the future, you will get started quickly in finding a job, so the learning mode of graphic designer apprentice is no longer popular.

The most important thing for graphic designers is to have a keen sense of beauty. Therefore, even if you don't have a design-related academic background, as long as you are interested, you can participate in graphic design training courses organized by the government or the market, and ponder your ability in computer design, image processing, typesetting and other related software technologies, and still have the opportunity to enter this industry.

■ Education and training

Graphic design is a creative work with strong subjective recognition. Most graphic designers learn and improve their design ability through continuous self-study. For example, pay more attention to the design techniques of various posters, promotional materials, magazines and books. And collect them, or browse the works of other designers on the internet to inspire our own design inspiration.

Graphic designers should have a keen sense of beauty and a certain literacy. So you can read widely and increase your knowledge and text sensitivity. In addition, graphic designers also use online groups to exchange opinions. In recent years, because the government actively promotes the design service industry, it also assists some designers' associations to hold activities such as domestic and international observation, exchange seminars and advanced courses. This is a channel to participate in improving self-working skills and expanding internal communication.

■ Outlook

Design service industry is a key service industry in China, and it is currently included in the national development key plan. The government has also formulated the development outline and action plan of the design service industry, and put forward the main measures of "promoting the style design of Taiwan Province Province", hoping to help domestic industries develop their brands by using design, promote the export of design services, expand market demand, and promote the rich and diverse cultural characteristics of Taiwan Province Province. It seems that the design service industry has a good prospect, but in fact graphic designers are facing greater market development pressure than other design industries.

In recent years, due to the tight design of information technology, ordinary people can easily use computer software to design their own, so graphic designers are faced with the problem of price reduction competition, and the profit space is greatly reduced. Therefore, in addition to improving your creative design ability, you need to spend more time managing customer relationships and providing better services in order to maintain your competitive advantage.

The real rise of modern graphic design in China began in 1980s, with the establishment and perfection of art design discipline. The design upsurge of using modern graphic design concepts and methods to excavate China cultural genes carried by Chinese characters began in the last decade. With the maturity and development of graphic design in China, graphic designers in China pay more attention to the excavation of China traditional culture. China graphic design learners and researchers consciously or unconsciously absorbed the nutrition of Chinese characters and their various art forms, and achieved some results.

In Japanese contemporary graphic design, the in-depth study and utilization of Chinese characters and China calligraphy can be said to be earlier than ours, but Japanese designers mainly look for available graphic design elements from the perspective of formal beauty of Chinese characters and calligraphy. We can see a large number of works in the form of Chinese characters or Japanese pseudonyms, and add the concept of modern plane composition to the expression of China's calligraphy. We can feel the charm of China culture and the unique influence of Chinese characters on the world graphic design field. On the basis of China traditional culture, contemporary China designers try to express China graphic art represented by Chinese characters and China calligraphy from different angles, and use Chinese characters and China calligraphy as graphic design elements to express their ideas. Compared with foreign designers, designers in China seem to be more willing to explore some design elements and inspiration from the deep meaning of China culture contained in Chinese characters, thus showing pure local cultural characteristics.

China graphic designers who grew up in Chinese character culture have grasped the "dominant genes of design wisdom and ability" of China people, and their understanding of China culture is beyond the reach of foreign designers. Chinese characters, not divorced from the "image" and "shape" of everything in the world, express objects in a simplified and generalized way, providing a tense exhibition space for creativity and modeling creation. It is precisely by grasping this feature that China designers have taken Chinese characters as a theme or language medium in graphic design works to an unprecedented height. We can feel the influence of Chinese characters on world culture from the symbols of the 2008 Olympic Games.

From the modern graphic visual communication education in China, we can also see that more and more attention is paid to the training courses around Chinese characters, such as font design of Chinese characters, graphic creative changes of Chinese characters and so on. However, while studying modeling, we should also pay enough attention to Chinese character culture.

Chinese characters are only a form of designing images, and it is difficult to perfectly express inner experiences such as attitude and emotion. In graphic design, it is just a language and means, and what is really precious is the gene of "China people's creative generalization and expression of things in two-dimensional space". The purpose of studying the relationship between Chinese characters and graphic design is to interpret the cultural genes we carry, which is a kind of design wisdom and strength that will always be in the deepest part of our emotions and thoughts. This kind of wisdom and strength, from the emergence of Chinese characters to the present, has never stopped influencing and helping us subtly through Chinese characters and other art forms of Chinese characters. We must attach importance to the creativity and creativity of prehistoric China people in two-dimensional space and the "visual communication activities" of ancient China people in two-dimensional space, so as to develop the graphic design of China.

As China people, we still have a lot to do in Chinese characters and China graphic design. It is the ideal and responsibility of China designers to integrate the "creativity" and "creative" thinking of China people carried and embodied by Chinese characters and China graphic art into the contemporary graphic visual communication design language, so as to produce a brand-new creativity and show China's enduring artistic charm in the field of graphic design.