GRAPHIC DESIGN LESSON
Creative Ideas and Techniques - 7

HOW TO DEVELOP CREATIVE IDEAS FOR GRAPHIC DESIGNS LESSON PLAN A graphic design is a creative arrangement of image and type that communicates a visual concept with a clarity and economy of means. There are tried and trusted techniques that you can use to increase your creativity in the search for a solution to any graphic design. In this lesson we use the symbols below to demonstrate a range of composition techniques that will help you to develop ideas for graphic designs. Click on the symbols below to see how each is developed into a creative idea for a graphic. Once you have studied these examples you can find some other symbols in our Graphic Design Resources that you may use to create your own graphic designs.
Graphic Design Lesson		Image Resources	Evaluating Your Designs
Designing a Logo		History of Logos	The Art of Typography

Graphic Design Techniques

Example 7

CHARACTERISATION

A combination of images (bulb + smiley face) adds a bright personality to our light bulb logo.

This variation on the theme adds some humour to the idea with a light bulb hairdo that could be used to suggest a product range of colored bulbs.

OVERLAPPING IMAGES

Simply overlapping our light bulb image not only creates a harmonious visual effect with transparent colors but also says something about the nature of the object.

A SPARK OF INSPIRATION

The technique of overlapping images can provide the spark of inspiration needed to generate an idea. Two of our images were overlapped and framed by a hexagon which suggests the outline of a box. This inspired the development of a logo for a graphic design company called 'Lightbox Design' (a lightbox is a tracing frame used by graphic designers).

DEVELOPING THE IDEA

Once you get the basic idea for a design, you need to refine and develop it to maximise its communication and impact. To this end, a grey backdrop was added to increase the brightness of the image while the jagged 'Matisse' font was used to echo the sharp points of the spark.

ADDING REFINEMENTS

Graduated tone was then used to generate the form of the bulb and to suggest the glow of light. The outlines of the box and light bulb were changed from black to white to brighten the image while the outline of the font was substituted by a drop shadow to lighten its weight.

ARRIVING AT A SOLUTION

Finally, color was applied to the design making the backdrop redundant. Two tones of blue were used to represent the transparency of glass (a material common to both the light bulb and the lightbox) while a counterchange of red and yellow (fire colors) was used to illuminate the spark of inspiration. The colors of the typography were borrowed from the image to unify the design.