InDesign Tools Palette, Part 1

This is the first of several tutorials covering InDesign CS' tool palette. It covers the Selection tools, the Pen tool and the Type tool. It also gives tips and trick on how to make selections in InDesign.

Bruno, Elisabetta. Designorati (2005). Design>Software>Graphic Design>Adobe InDesign

Infographics: Being and Doing (Part II)

Organizing the available information and coming up with a plan for presenting it is the first and probably the most difficult stage in designing any infographic.

Rajamanickam, Venkatesh. uiGarden (2007). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration

Information Design Journal

This site is designed to give you an impression of the contents and dynamics of IDJ by providing abstracts, a selection of illustrations, and occasional additional sound and video clips. The site is updated with every issue (three times per year). Information Design Journal is an international refereed journal which provides a forum for theoretical and practice-oriented discussions concerning the effective, efficient and attractive presentation of information. Topics include the design of infographics, public information signs, forms, product labeling, typography, instructions for use, user interfaces, websites, and instructional textbooks. The editors invite contributions. Please consult the Guidelines for Contributors.

Information Design Journal. Journals>Information Design>Graphic Design>Typography

Information Graphics

A blog of information about information graphics.

XPLANE. Resources>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Blogs

Information Graphics at the Boston Globe: From Concept to Execution    

Over the past decade, information graphics have become an increasingly important part of newspaper coverage. While graphics have traditionally played a supporting role to content determined by reporters and editors, some newspapers take a more aggressive approach in reporting and creating information graphics. At the Boston Globe, a conscious effort has been made to encourage artists to report the material for their graphics, and to seek greater collaboration with reporters, editors, and photographers. In our best efforts, this allows us to discuss how to bring words, diagrams, illustrations, and photographs together in evocative information packages. The Globe's specialized beats include four reporters who work on health-related issues full time. Because our eight-person graphics department is responsible for nearly all diagrams, charts, and graphics in the newspaper, it is difficult for us to match a reporter's expertise in any one area.

McNaughton, Sean. Technical Communication Online (1998). Design>Graphic Design>Information Design>Technical Illustration

Information Visualization: Failed Experiment or Future Revolution?  

Information visualization (infoviz, for short) has been dismissed by many information architects as a good idea that hasn't panned out—a failed experiment. Now failure is a strong word that closes a lot of doors, and information architects like to keep their options open, so the preferred phrasing is 'I'm skeptical about information visualization's value proposition' or 'I'll believe it when I see it' or something like that.

Fast, Karl. IAsummit (2004). Design>Information Design>Graphic Design

Inside Technical Illustration: The Information Portal for Technical Illustration

The Information Portal for Technical Illustration provides free information on graphics formats, illustration tips and tricks, and a gallery, in 5 languages.

ITEDO Software (2001). Resources>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration

Inspiration in a Bottle

The basic elements that come together to make up interesting visual design can be found echoing throughout everything around us. Those basic elements are the key to finding inspiration in the world around us.

Dickson, Gary. Design, Typography and Graphics (2005). Design>Graphic Design

Integrated Branding

“Branding” is one of those issues we picture the marketing VPs of Intel or Kraft Foods worrying about--hardly something for us to concern ourselves with. It’s easy, after all, to appreciate the value of a brand like Coca-Cola, but near impossible to see how the same principles apply to an organization with an advertising budget something less than 30 million dollars. Or is it? Like it or not, your organization and the products or services it sells, have a brand. It is the sum of all the impressions your prospects and customers collect from the first time they hear your voice, see your brochure, or link to your Web site. And if you don’t take branding seriously, you’re leaving a critical piece of the marketing puzzle to little more than chance.

Chuck Green. Ideabook.com (2001). Design>Graphic Design>Branding

Integrating Graphics with Text  

A teacher at the University of Memphis, Albers describes a two-tiered assignment he developed to help students address problems they encounter when trying to integrate text and graphics.

Albers, Michael J. Intercom (2000). Articles>Rhetoric>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric

Interactive Non-Photorealistic Technical Illustration  

Current interactive modeling systems allow users to view models in wireframe or Phong-shaded images. However, the wireframe is based on the model's parameterization, and a model's features may get lost in a nest of lines. Alone, a fully rendered image may not provide enough useful information about the structure or model features. Human technical illustrators follow certain visual conventions that are unlike Phong-shaded or wireframe renderings, and the drawings they produce are subjectively superior to conventional computer renderings. This thesis explores lighting, shading, and line illustration conventions used by technical illustrators. These conventions are implemented in a modeling system to create a new method of displaying and viewing complex NURBS models. In particular, silhouettes and edge lines are drawn in a manner similar to pen-and-ink drawings, and a shading algorithm is used that is similar to ink-wash or air-brush renderings for areas inside the silhouettes. This shading has a low intensity variation so that the black silhouettes remain visually distinct, and it has a cool-to-warm hue transition to help accent surface orientation. Applying these illustration methods produces images that are closer to human-drawn illustrations than is provided by traditional computer graphics approaches.

Gooch, Amy. University of Utah (1998). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration

Interactive Technical Illustration

A rendering is an abstraction that favors, preserves, or even emphasizes some qualities while sacrificing, suppressing, or omitting other characteristics that are not the focus of attention. Most computer graphics rendering activities have been concerned with photorealism, i.e., trying to emulate an image that looks like a high-quality photograph. This laudable goal is useful and appropriate in many applications, but not in technical illustration where elucidation of structure and technical information is the preeminent motivation. This calls for a different kind of abstraction in which technical communication is central, but art and appearance are still essential instruments toward this end. Work that has been done on computer generated technical illustrations has focused on static images, and has not included all of the techniques used to hand draw technical illustrations. A paradigm for the display of technical illustrations in a dynamic environment is presented. This display environment includes all of the benefits of computer generated technical illustrations, such as a clearer picture of shape, structure, and material composition than traditional computer graphics methods. It also includes the three-dimensional interactive strength of modern display systems. This is accomplished by using new algorithms for real time drawing of silhouette curves, algorithms which solve a number of the problems inherent in previous methods. We incorporate current non-photorealistic lighting methods, and augment them with new shadowing algorithms based on accepted techniques used by artists and studies carried out in human perception.

Gooch, Bruce, Peter-Pike J. Sloan, Amy Gooch, Peter Shirley and Richard Riesenfeld. University of Utah (1997). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration

International Visual Literacy Association

IVLA is a not-for-profit association of educators, artists, and researchers dedicated to the principles of visual literacy. IVLA was formed for the purpose of providing education, instruction and training in modes of visual communication and the application through the concept of visual literacy to individuals, groups, organizations, and to the public in general. Our members represent a wide range of disciplines including the arts, sciences, education, communication, business, videography, photography, instructional technology, health, and computer applications. We hope you will feel free to join us in the lively debates of our field, and we look forward to forming lasting professional and personal friendships.

International Visual Literacy Association. Organizations>Graphic Design>Rhetoric>Visual Rhetoric

Interview with a Graphic Designer: Web-Document Design

Our in-house graphic designer shares her Web-document design experience.

Goldberger, Dalya. Writer's Block (1997). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design

Introduction to Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is hands down, the most popular program for creating and modifying images for the Web. This is true not only because Photoshop is available on a wide array of platforms ranging from Mac to Windows to UNIX, but because after four generations of development, Adobe Photoshop has the most intuitive user interface, the most complete set of tools, and the largest number of reference books around.

Extropia. Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop

Introduction to Digital Painting

Believe it or not, Adobe Photoshop can be used for more than just photo editing and design. Yes, despite its name, Photoshop is one of the ever-expanding range of tools available for digital painters, illustrators, and just plain doodlers. These tools are allowing people incredible freedom to express themselves and create fun pictures. Imagine reliving your childhood days of drawing and scribbling, without ever having to worry about making a mess, or running out of supplies. Best of all, digital art is much more forgiving when you make mistakes. No other medium would let you erase 1000 times, without harming your canvas one bit. At the other end of the spectrum, Photoshop can be used to create professional, print-quality illustrations with great efficiency. Here's a general introduction to the world of digital painting.

Priest, Jeff. Design, Typography and Graphics (2002). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop

An Introduction to Illustration Software  

Follas describes the differences between various types of graphic editing software.

Follas, Brian J. Intercom (2001). Design>Graphic Design>Software

Introduction to Layers

This beginner's tutorial explains the concept of layers in Photoshop. Layers are a very powerful tool for image editing, and are a fundamental tool in Photoshop for creating complex images.

Elated (2002). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop

An Introduction to Visualisation

Visualising things makes them tangible and brings them into shareable form. Visualisation brings ideas to life and helps understanding. Visualisation techniques help elicit, communicate and analyse ideas and concepts.

Joe, Phillip. Design Council (2005). Articles>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Visual Rhetoric

IRTC Desktop Publishing and Graphics

This is a list of resources related to desktop publishing and graphics. I'm including things like icons and wallpaper in the graphics category.

Soltys, Keith. IRTC (2001). Design>Document Design>Graphic Design

Is Design Political?

Politics is commonly thought of as the activities of political organizations--from which the majority of designers (if not majority of people) feel disassociated. But there is a missed opportunity here: at base, politics is about values, and design is nothing if not a means of embodying values.

Winhall, Jennie. uiGarden (2006). Articles>Graphic Design>Cultural Theory>Politics

Is This Ethical? A Survey of Opinion on Principles and Practices of Document Design    

In a national survey, 500 technical communicators and 500 technical communication teachers were asked to assess the ethics of seven document design cases. According to the 455 respondents, manipulating typography and leading to fit more or less information on a page and using persuasive coloring or spacing are ethical practices, while the manipulation of pictorial illustrations and the distortion of graphics are unethical. Opinion on using typography to decrease readability is divided. In five of the seven cases, women are consistently more lenient or men consistently more strict in their answers: common practices, specifications, reader's responsibility, writer's responsibility, writer's intentions, consequences, judgments, principles, and insufficient information. The explanation most often given was consequences, indicating a 'goal-based' philosophy of ethics.

Dragga, Sam. Technical Communication Online (1996). Careers>TC>Document Design>Graphic Design

Is Your Designer Costing You Money?

The pitfalls of using a graphic designer that is not experienced can have financial and emotional consequences. Designers must understand what software program to use for the task at hand. A designer that is not experienced can cost the customer time, money and unnecessary stress.

Reichel, Gary. Design, Typography and Graphics (2004). Design>Project Management>Graphic Design

John Trevino's Layers of Meaning

Drawing on a period of instability and change in her personal life, artist John Trevino calls on Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter to create a richly layer composition that evokes a transient state of being.

Trevino, John. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop

The Journal of Electronic Imaging  

The Journal publishes papers in all technology areas that make up the field of electronic imaging and are normally considered in the design, engineering, and application of an electronic imaging system. It was developed in response to the significant activity and projected growth in the field and is an outgrowth of the annual Electronic Imaging Science and Technology Symposium, jointly sponsored by IS&T and SPIE.

JIST. Journals>Graphic Design