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.
#20195
Photoshop is useful at generating interesting textures and patterns, and version 7 even has a nifty Pattern Maker filter to help you craft patterns that tile seamlessly. To create a more custom look, I like to create patterns and texture using different combinations of the built-in filters along with Blend Modes and Adjustment Layers. It's fun to spend time experimenting in the Photoshop laboratory to see what you can come up with.
Duggan, Sean. Mac Design Magazine (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop
#30453
That Monster called Free Pitch
No matter what you call it, Spec Work, Free Pitch, etc the concept is the same. I'll get a handful of designers or studios to come up with a handful of concepts for my website, and the winner gets my business. Great concept? No! There are no winners here.
Burke, Miles. MilesBurke.com.au (2007). Careers>Freelance>Graphic Design>Contracts
#29069
Theories of Visual Rhetoric: Looking At The Human Genome 
For too long, journal articles and textbooks on scientific and technical discourse have adopted a positivistic approach to visuals. Unfortunately, this approach is problematic. It ignores that visuals are constructions that are products of a writer's interpretation with its own power-laden agenda. For example, in representing a tamed and dominated nature, visuals become instruments of patriarchy. Reading them responsibly requires that we uncover some of the values attached to the strategies of creating visuals and to the objects created. This article reviews the current approach taken by composition scholars, surveys richer interdisciplinary work on visuals, and-- by using visuals connected with the Human Genome Project--models an analysis of visuals as rhetoric.
Rosner, Mary. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2001). Articles>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric
#21437
The use of thick and thin lines is an important stylistic device in Technical Illustration.
ITEDO Software (1998). Articles>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration
#26673
You can find desktop publishing tutorials, tips of the day and design resources.
Bruno, Elisabetta. ThinkCreation (2005). Design>Graphic Design>Document Design>Blogs
#19325
There was a time when graphic design - or how things looked at least - was regarded as the most central part of the web experience. A 'good' website, in the eyes of management at least, involved little more than the company message accompanied by attractive pictures, ideally animated as often as possible. Nowadays, we are beginning to realise that whilst design remains a vital differentiator in terms of web experience, it is for very different reasons. Users are by now accustomed to the very highest levels of graphic design work online. This means that whilst a professional approach is essential for any organisation serious about their online presence, on it's own a 'good looking' site is not sufficient. It is in its impact on usability that graphic design is now particularly significant in the online environment. Graphic design, or visual communication, is about more than looks. The way site content is presented will have a significant effect on how easy-to-use it will be. This not only includes questions of appropriate images and styles, but also choice of colour schemes and the way different interface elements are represented.
Farrell, Tom. Frontend Infocentre (2000). Design>Graphic Design>Web Design>Usability
#26866
Thinking Outside the Box-Shaped Photo: How to Create Cool Photo Edges in Photoshop CS2
Don't be satisfied with boring rectangular photos! Thanks to Photoshop, you can use simple techniques to create amazing edge effects and cool artistic borders that can add the ultimate finishing touch to your photos. Dave Cross shows you how easy it is to create many different variations from three key techniques.
Cross, Dave. InformIT (2006). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop
#30776
Three-Dimensional Illustration for Technical Communicators 
You don't need to be a skilled illustrator to create effective 3-D graphics. Three-dimensional illustration allows the technical communicator to respond quickly to project changes and create imagery appropriate for most publications or multimedia. Burns' article shows the benefits of 3-D artwork and its potential for technical communicators.
Burns, Tom K. Intercom (2008). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>3D
#27439
Sometimes the only thing that keeps a good portrait from being a great portrait is a little too much shine on the skin. Here’s a quick and easy way to tone down those highlights.
Harris, Rich. Planet Photoshop (2006). Design>Graphic Design>Photography>Adobe Photoshop
#20576
Toward Consistency in Visual Information: Standardized Icons Based on Task
Argues for continued work on developing standards for icon design. Suggests that icons should be standardized not just within products, but across applications. Suggests that icons be standardized based on the complexity of the task represented.
Gurak, Laura J. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric
#21585
Towards a Rhetoric of Tactile Pictures
This paper offers a first step towards a rhetoric of tactile pictures by applying the visual framework developed by Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen to a tactile alphabet book. After a brief review of tactile research, this paper explores the ways in which tactile pictures represent objects in the world and the stategies the pictures use to enact interative-represented participant relations. These explorations demonstrate that Kress and van Leeuwen's framework offers valuable insights and a sound basis, but their framework must be adjusted to the semiotic codes used in tactile pictures. It is hoped that this essay will encourage interest and research into tactile rhetoric. Such research would benefit both those who rely on tactile pictures and those who study rhetoric in its many manifestations.
Wiest, Carol. Enculturation (2001). Design>Graphic Design>Rhetoric>Visual Rhetoric
#22257
The Tradeoff Between Compactness and Appeal in Icons
What is the tradeoff between compactness and appeal in icons? While I do not have any firm rules, I can suggest some heuristics or simple principles.
William Horton Consulting (2001). Design>Graphic Design>Usability
#12924
Oh, it's in vogue these days isn't it. Trap here. Trap there. All the computer graphics experts and magazine writers showing off their divine knowledge, writing about 'trapping.' Some people don't even know what trapping is. Some don't even care. But the computer industry sure wants us to know – and they want us to buy the latest and greatest software to prove it. Do I sound cynical? (He asks with a sly grin.) Your first line of defense in avoiding trapping traps is to understand the concepts.
Showker, Fred. Design, Typography and Graphics (2001). Design>Graphic Design>Prepress
#25751
What exactly is 'chic simplicity,' you ask? It is somewhat of an oxymoron: simple yet sophisticated. The design exudes simplicity through its forms, fonts, and layout, and sophistication through its textures, details, and tastefulness. It's a fantastic 'look' that can be used for almost every genre of websites: a professional, yet hip, corporate site; a stylish, yet clean, commercial site; or just a fun and colorful personal site. Whichever style you're going for, this 'look' will fit.
Polselli, Adam. AdamPolselli.com (2003). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design
#28141
Turning Portrait Into Stone Statue with Photoshop
This is a simple tutorial on how you can make a statue from a portrait with Photoshop. It is highly recommended if you're using a close up portrait of a woman/man.
ReviewZine.com (2006). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop
#32068
Twenty Best Simple and Inspirational CSS Web Designs
After looking through hundreds, maybe even thousands of websites, I’ve compiled the top 20 CSS websites for clean and simple design. What do these designs have in common? They all have clean simple interfaces and remain uncluttered and easy to read. Many of the designs display a good deal of illustrion or photorealism, two of my favorite current trends that can contribute a lot to a design.
Haig, Anders. ReEncoded (2008). Articles>Web Design>Graphic Design>CSS
#32062
Twenty of The Best Uses of Color in Current Web Design
Many sites “play it safe” when choosing colors. Brilliant colors have to be carefully controlled to avoid looking amateur. I’ve selected these 20 sites for excellent use of color along with their overall web design. Quality of CSS, features, ease of use all come into play as well.
Haig, Anders. ReEncoded (2008). Articles>Web Design>Graphic Design>Color
#21920
In this lesson we are going to create a 2 Point Perspective view drawing of our subject working from plan and elevation view reference.
Hulsey, Kevin. Kevin Hulsey Illustration. Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Isometric
#25169
Al Ward, author of 'Photoshop for Right Brainers' walks you through an extensive tutorial using layers and layer masks for a rather striking image. More than 30 illustrations and Al's competent guidance will show you how to put type in your face!
Ward, Al. Design, Typography and Graphics (2004). Design>Graphic Design>Typography
#22636
Almost everything we know in the world can be described in just 26 letters--isn't that amazing? Yet this most visible art--which we all see all around us each day--has long been invisible in most people's minds. Part of this was intentional-- because the content, not the type, is the message. With type, the media is not the message. But type also adds to everything we read in subliminal and powerful ways, and Typofile is about people who love type, and why.
Will-Harris, Daniel. Typofile. Design>Typography>Graphic Design>Blogs
#21005
An interactive experience informed by type and typography, which aims to illustrate the depth and import of type, and to raise relevant questions about how typography is treated in the digital media, specifically online.
typographic. Design>Typography>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric
#20424
The more components a brand identity contains, the more onerous it can be. Logo, pictogram, texture, color scheme, wordmark: each must be laboriously created, launched, and cared for, and each of these stages has its own substantial costs. For many companies today, these costs are becoming prohibitive. An increasingly popular alternative is a hard-working, purely typographic wordmark that speaks clearly for the brand, all by itself.
Fishel, Catherine. Upper and lowercase Magazine (2002). Design>Typography>Graphic Design
#10007
The Typographic Circle was formed about thirty years ago by a group of advertising typographers as the Type Directors Club, to bring together anyone with an interest in type.
Typographic Circle, The. Organizations>Graphic Design>Typography>United Kingdom
#30158
Typographical Design, Modernist Aesthetics, and Professional Communication
The technology of in-house publishing is radically shifting the responsibility for document design from the graphic specialist to the individual writer. To apply the new technology, professional communicators need to understand the principles underpinning typographical design and their origin in the functionalist aesthetics of modernism, particularly as articulated by the Bauhaus. While some of the key concepts of modernism--strict economy, universal objectivity, intuitive perception, and the unity of form and purpose--are well-suited to business and technical documents, these concepts are bound to an historical and intellectual milieu. By understanding the influence of modernism on typographical design, professional communicators equipped with the new technology can adapt design principles to the rhetorical context of specific documents.
Kostelnick, Charles. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (1990). Design>Typography>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric
#27943
Weblog van Gerard Voshaar over typografie.
Voshaar, Gerard. Typolog. (Dutch) Resources>Graphic Design>Typography>Blogs
