Graphic design practice embraces a range of cognitive skills, aesthetics and crafts, including typography, visual arts and page layout. Like other forms of design, graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created and the products (designs) which are generated. It is usually viewed as a superset of technical illustration.
#20196
Here's one way to create reflections in water. (The basic steps can be adapted to work with any image.)
Duggan, Sean. Mac Design Magazine (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop
#24809
Reflections on an Icon Development Process: Managing Design 
Software organizations are increasingly willing to hire consultants in technical communication for projects in visual design. This paper examines ten factors critical to successfully managing icon development, based on experience in two different companies, Practical issues -defining the scope of the problem, recruiting the contractor and reviewers, writing the contract, deciding where the contractor should work, validating the images -- require attention to make your partnership with a consultant work.
Gould, Emilie W. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Graphic Design>Programming
#20123
Reflections on an Icon Development Process: Negotiating Design Issues
Technical communicators with visual design skills increasingly are called upon to help design of the 'look and feel' of software interfaces, including icons and toolbar buttons. Several practitioners in technical communication have developed useful guides for developing icons and toolbar buttons. Unfortunately, sometimes the application of these guidelines is complicated by issues that arise within the contexts of specific software development environments. This paper briefly reviews research and guidelines. It then reviews issues that might arise during the development process and guidelines for negotiating them based on the author’s experiences developing icons at two different software firms.
Hunt, Kevin. STC Proceedings (1996). Design>Graphic Design>Rhetoric>Visual Rhetoric
#21659
Reglas Para Estropear un Gráfico
Los buenos gráficos son los que no se notan, los que soportan y enseñan los datos sin interferir con ellos. Repasamos algunas de las reglas para hacer mal un gráfico.
Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2002). (Spanish) Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Charts and Graphs
#25929
Removing Things in Perspective
Before Photoshop CS2's introduction of the Vanishing Point filter, cloning away things in perspective was one of the hardest removal tasks of all. Luckily, this incredibly cool filter not only simplifies removing things in perspective, it actually makes it fun. In fact, this is one of those filters that's so amazing, you can wind up spending hours cloning away things that have no business being cloned away.
Kelby, Scott. Layers Magazine (2005). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop
#25618
Representing Content and Data in Wireframes
Visio practically groaned as I opened the wireframes for my current project, which were in something like the twentieth revision. It was the usual story--poorly defined requirements and business rules--and my project folder was fast becoming the poster child for Feature Creep Flu.
Brown, Dan. Boxes and Arrows (2004). Articles>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration
#22315
Resizing Images for the Web: Photoshop Tutorial
We all have those photos that we like to on the web to share with our friends. Or, we have some terrific images we've created that need to be resized for the web. Images for the web need to be both small in file size and in physical dimensions so that our viewers don't have to scroll right to see the whole picture. In Photoshop we can adjust our huge images to fit the web quite easily.
Photoshop Today (2004). Design>Graphic Design>Web Design>Adobe Photoshop
#22316
Restore A Photograph Like A Pro: Photoshop Tutorial 
Below is the photo we'll be restoring. You can right-click and copy it so that you can follow along in this lesson.
Vanderwood, Jacquelin. Photoshop Today (2004). Design>Graphic Design>Image Editing>Adobe Photoshop
#22541
Time isn't kind to treasured photographs. See Photoshop Diva Katrin Eismann's digital techniques for repairing creased, stained, torn, and damaged photos.
Eismann, Katrin. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Graphic Design>Image Editing>Adobe Photoshop
#14396
If you think post cards are for nothing more than 'wish you were here' messages, think again. Post cards are serious tools for building relationships with customers--tiny billboards with big missions. They are one of those often-used but little analyzed marketing mediums--a perfect platform for some 'jolt thinking.' Jolt thinking questions the basic premise--the what, why, and how of doing something. How? By answering three questions. What is the purpose? Why is it done the way it's done? And how can I do it most effectively?
Green, Chuck. Ideabook.com (2002). Design>Graphic Design>Marketing
#21909
Ever wonder why some graphics file formats have a poor reputation? Sometimes, it's not because they're inherently bad, but because they're not designed to be used in certain ways, on certain printers, or on certain platforms. Knowing how to match a job with the right formats can save you some real headaches.
Kvern, Olav Martin. Adobe Magazine (1997). Design>Graphic Design>Image Editing>Standards
#20993
The Role of Graphic Art in Modern Scientific Communication
The use of graphics in scientific communication increases the level of understanding of the subject matter. Graphic art has helped transform the way we view science and technology. It simplifies complex ideas in a visual way and opens up a new way of seeing the world around us. A graphic representation of a spacecraft in orbit is visually stunning and easier to obtain than a photograph would be. A graphic can also provide us with an understanding of three-dimensional objects. The structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), depicted as a double helix, is an example of the power of graphics in a scientific communication.
Peck, Angelika D. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Graphic Design>Scientific Communication
#21948
Is your Illustrator artwork too smooth-looking? Try adding patterns and textures to your work.
Alspach, Ted and Jennifer Alspach. Adobe Magazine (1996). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Illustrator
#31052
A Sack in the Sand: Photography in the Age of Information 
Throughout the 1990s the relationship between culture and technology was sharply focused in a debate about whether digital technologies signalled the death or radical displacement of photography. The case for the cultural continuity of photography centred upon a rejection of a strong form of technological determinism. It is now clear that far from being displaced to the margins of culture, there is now more photography than ever. There have also been dramatic developments: mobile phone manufacturers have put more cameras into people's hands then ever before; the photograph as social document and historical witness persists but in changing ways; photographs circulate globally on an unprecedented scale via electronic image banks. It is clear that such changes and developments do involve new technologies. However, rather than being due to the kind of technological determinism debated earlier, this is because photography has come to exist within a new technological environment. In many recent accounts, 'information' and information technology are repeatedly cited as constituting a new and shaping context for photographic practices.
Lister, Martin. Convergence (2008). Articles>Graphic Design>Photography
#25426
The purpose of the 'Save For Web' dialog is to allow you to tweak optimization settings for web file formats and show you how those settings will affect your artwork. This allows you to find a good balance between file size and image quality.
Welton, Aaron. Illustrator World (2005). Design>Graphic Design>Web Design>Adobe Illustrator
#20126
Say It in Pictures: Crash Course in Visual Literacy
Today, communication requires more than just pages of printed words. Producing effective documents and training requires the ability to understand, think and communicate graphically. This demonstration shows how to communicate almost anything graphically. Through creative brainstorming you will start to think visually and learn valuable principles that you can use back on the job to refine your own graphics.
Horton, William K. III and Katherine W. Horton. STC Proceedings (1996). Design>Graphic Design>Rhetoric>Visual Rhetoric
#24315
Say it in Pictures: Visual Literacy for Business and Technical Communication
Today’s communication media demand more than just words. Producing effective documents, training materials, and Web pages requires the ability to understand, think, and communicate graphically' to be visually literate.
Horton, William K. III. STC Proceedings (1998). Design>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric
#21833
How do you educate graphic designers in today's complex world? Teach them sociology, psychology, business - and yes, some composition and color theory.
McCarron, Carolyn. Adobe Magazine (2000). Articles>Education>Graphic Design
#24316
Scientific and Technical Illustrations, Text, and the Idea of Audience
Although authoring agencies typically devote considerable effort to creating text for specific audiences and purposes, non-textual elements are often created trivially. Yet, many design theories could be successfully applied to the creation of transactional non-textual information. This paper offers an overview for and references to major theorists; it also serves as the theoretical basis for a presentation that emphasizes pragmatic applications of these principles in the design of non-textual information for specific audiences and purposes.
Rubens, Philip. STC Proceedings (1998). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration
#19670
Screen Capture Software: Better than Print Screen
Everyone knows that detailed pictures are a necessary supplement for technical documentation. For those who create software manuals, this means screen captures—images of what users see as they look at the monitor.
Wardin, Carla. Intercom (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Screen Captures
#13759
Screen Captures to Support Switching Attention
This study set out to validate the supportive role of screen captures for switching attention. Forty-two participants learned how to work with Microsoft Excel with a paper manual. There were three types of manuals: a textual manual, a visual manual with full-screen captures, and a visual manual with a mixture of partial- and full-screen captures. The findings show that participants in all conditions looked up from the manual to the screen on about 97% of the cases in which such a switch was called for. Rank order analyses showed that users of the visual manuals switched attention significantly more often than did users of the textual manual. No differences were found between conditions on learning effects and training time.
Gellevij, Mark and Hans Van Der Meij. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (2002). Design>Graphic Design>Documentation>Screen Captures
#23492
Screenshots with the Mouse Pointer
How to produce screenshots which include the mouse-pointer.
Springer, Hans. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Graphic Design>Documentation>Screen Captures
#26865
Secrets to Creating Compelling Photo Collages
Although collage is an old art form, tools such as Photoshop CS2 give it a new twist. You don't need to get out paint, brushes, scissors, and glue to make art. Instead, everything you need is on your computer. With a handful of photos, Photoshop, and the desire to experiment, you're well on your way to creating collage art. Helen Bradley gives the how-to's for creating a collage in Photoshop by using photos and other techniques, and how to use some design and Photoshop tricks to make sure the result is balanced and pleasing to the eye.
Bradley, Helen. PeachPit Press (2006). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop
#30169
Seeing is Believing: Communicating Information Graphically
Diverse work situations and varied skills, abilities, and motivation affect how users handle documentation to do their jobs. Communicating graphically challenges the communicator to 1) select illustrations that orient users ana' 2) use dynamic arrows to show the motion required. The communicator then 3) shows the order of steps within a task by using numbers with 'numberness.' Users' eyes seek information dynamically: help them find needed i$ormation by 4) keeping tasks within eyespan on a page. Then 5) use a grid to consistently layout an interesting page.
Lisberg, Beth Conney. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric>Charts and Graphs
#28668
Seeing the World in Symbols: Icons and the Evolving Language of Digital Wayfinding
Of all the objects that occupy our digital spaces, there are none that capture the imagination so much as icons. As symbols, icons can communicate powerfully, be delightful, add to the aesthetic value of software, engage people's curiosity and playfulness, and encourage experimentation. These symbols are key components of a graphic user interface--mediators between our thoughts and actions, our intentions and accomplishments.
Follett, Jonathan. UXmatters (2006). Articles>Usability>User Interface>Graphic Design
