graphic design theories and relevant practitioners

1. Theories and Relevant
Practitioners
Tom Haase

2. Gestalt theory
• Gestalt is a psychology term which means "unified whole". It refers to theories of visual perception developed by German
psychologists in the 1920s. These theories attempt to describe how people usually organise visual elements into groups or
‘unified wholes’ when certain principles are applied. There are five different principles:
1. Similarity – this occurs when an object/s looks similar to another, usually making the viewer perceive them as a group or
pattern. This is a good principle to use when you want to make a certain feature stand out, because the feature will be
emphasised if it isn’t similar to all the other features (an anomally).
2. Continuation – this is when the viewer’s eye is compelled to move through one object and onto another, for example if a line
or curve flows through a letter into a different image, the viewer’s eye naturally follows the line/curve to the image.
3. Closure – closure occurs when an object isn’t finished or spaces a left in the object purposefully and the space inside the
object isn't enclosed completely. This usually only works effectively if the viewer can determine what the incomplete object
is, which would allow them to finish the object in their head, meaning ‘closure’ has occurred.
4. Proximity – this is when certain objects/elements are placed together and are perceived as a group, for example a set of
squares apart from each other look like separate shapes, whereas if the squares were formed together they can look like
one larger square, allowing unity to occur.
5. Figure and Ground – the viewer’s eye differentiates an object from its surroundings. For example a silhouette or shape is
naturally seen as a ‘figure’ (object) and the surrounding area is seen as ‘ground’ (background). This is usually created through
the use of two clearly contrasting colours such as black and white.
This theory will be useful to use when I am creating my products, because I am more knowledgeable on how to appeal to people
in general, instead of just my target audience with the use of colours and imagery, as now I have ideas on how I can actually
portray my images on my product to look more professional and to get the best feedback from viewers possible, as more people
will notice my product with these ideas.

3. Grid theory
• There are two main types of grid methods used in graphic design, the Rule of Thirds and 960 Grid System.
• The Rule of Thirds: The rule of thirds creates intersections on the page. The areas where the lines cross over is
where you should place your focus points. As long as you place your focus points somewhere close to these
intersections, they will stand out more. Objects that are further away from the intersections will be less of a focus
point, as the human eye naturally attracts to the intersections. However this is not the case all the time, which
many say is the beauty of this method, because you can use this grid to make the imagery symmetrical insides the
sections or on the crossovers. The reason the eye is usually attracted to the intersections is because the brain
looks for patterns. On the other hand study also shows that because the brain naturally sees patterns the
asymmetry in design work can actually be more engaging as its an anomaly to the brain’s usual patterns. This is
why the rule of thirds is so helpful, because it gives room to experiment with something outside the perfect
symmetry while keeping your composition balanced and the designer can use either symmetry or asymmetry to
appeal to the audience depending on their imagery and their target audience. The balance comes is due to the
use of 3 X 3 equal shapes (rectangles) aligned to form a bigger shape.
• 960 Grid System: The 960 Grid System is simply a way to lay out websites using a grid that is 960 pixels wide. This
method allows the designer to ‘push’ and ‘pull’ elements of their design, which would make the design overall
look neater and more central, making it easier for the viewer to understand, read and take on board. This system
usually comes with two primary variants, one with 12 columns and one with 16. the more columns there are the
more control the designer wants to have over the viewer in what they see first and how they see it.
• This theory may come of interest in my production, however according to research this is one of the least likely to
work compared to other theories (especially the 960 GS), therefore I am hesitant in using it, although the rule of
thirds is a simple yet usually efficient method so if my other methods don’t work I know I can definitely use this
method as a last resort.

4. The Golden ratio
• The Golden Ratio is basically understood as 1:1.618, and came from the famous mathematical Fibonacci
Sequence, in which each number is the sum of the two numbers before it. The difference between any two
numbers in this sequence isn’t always exactly equal to 1:1.618 but it’s rather close. When applied to graphic
design, the Golden Ratio provides us with a way of creating harmony and proportion that our brains seem to be
attracted to. You can apply this golden ratio through the use of the Rule of Thirds. The intersecting lines on these
grids create natural focus points and where the designer should place shapes and content boxes. If you apply the
rule of thirds to a rectangle with proportions of approximately 1:1.618 (the Fibonacci Sequence), you will end up
with something similar to a Golden Rectangle, making your design attractive to the human eye.
• On top of the Golden Rectangle the designer can use the extra layout sections, as shown in the image diagram at
the bottom. The main information (focus points) should be placed where the spiral starts and the other focus
points leading off the main point should follow the shape round in the curve, as displayed in the example image at
the bottom next to the diagram.
• This design theory is typically I good method to use to attract the viewer to certain aspects of the design before
other aspects, meaning you can likely control which part of the design the typical viewer sees first. On the
example the viewer would see the police officers with the person on the ground (on the right/centre), then they
would see the woman on the right and finally curving round to see the man on the floor on the left. This shows
that it’s an effective method to use and could be very useful to use for my design.

5. Colour theory
• The colour theory is the use of the traditional colour wheel with 12 sections, that helps us to visualise the relationships
amongst colours, that we can use in design.
• This wheel is composed of primary colours, secondary colours and the mix of those two categories (the tertiary colours).
• There are four main relationships in this colour wheel: Monochromatic (variations of shades, tints and tones of a single
colour), Analogous (a colour and the shade right next to it on the wheel), Complementary (a colour and its exact opposite on
the wheel) and Triadic (three colours equally spaced on the wheel). These relationships can give you a clear idea of which
colours to choose, showing which colours work best with each other in your design, and equally which colours not to
choose.
• Using colours effectively is not just about which colours match on your work because it has a lot to do with balance. In other
words, the more colours you use, the more complicated it gets to find a balance between them, whilst still making your
design aesthetically pleasing. The balance of the colours in a design could likely be the result of making someone attract to
the design or avoiding it, as the colour determines how you see the design as a whole.
• What’s really important in the end is to check the relationship of the colours you chose, along with making sure there is a
balance of the colours. The main ways to determine if the design will be effective is checking: is there enough (or too much)
contrast between the colours? Is everything clear, understandable and perfectly readable? What kind of tone/feeling does
your palette create? How does one colour affect another on the design? Does the colour scheme fit the context/style of the
design.
• This theory is an obvious and a must for my design work, as this is how the viewer is attracted the majority of the time and
the colours create different tones/feelings, depending on which are used, and researching this theory and understanding the
main relationships will help me greatly in my planning and production.

6. Milton Glaser
• Milton Glaser is an American Graphic Designer, now 89 years of age, who is very famous in the graphic design industry and is
famously known for the creation of ‘I ❤ NY’ logo. He lived a very accomplishing life, co-founding Push Pin Studios and New
York Magazine in 1954 and then established Milton Glaser Inc. in 1974. In 2009, he became the first graphic designer to
receive the National Medal of the Arts award from President Barack Obama.
• Although Glaser stated that he focuses more on effectiveness in his work rather than originality, in an interview he said “Of
course, at the beginning of your life, you don’t know what originality is and you derive everything you do know from the
existing understanding or history or things you’ve read”. He shows how important originality is in creative work, such as a
graphic designer, linking the originality to human life and growing up. I think that this advice will be very useful for my
project, as it will make them stand out more compared to existing products. In the same interview he also stated how his
approach to work is “just start working” as once a true designer is on a path it will lead to many solutions, however they
won’t always be extraordinary. This links to another point he is known for: not seeing his work as ‘pieces’ or ‘art’ but instead
lessons the work has taught him and where it has led him, which is very inspiring to new designers, showing it’s good to
make mistakes, as long as you learn from them.
• Another belief Milton Glaser has is the power of drawing in creative design and how useful it is in creating effective and
powerful work, as he states “The great thing about drawing is that it forces you to pay attention and attentiveness, in the
Buddhist sense, is the one way we have to understand what is real”.

7. Lindon Leader
• Specializing in corporate identity, Leader has earned significant recognition worldwide, with his two-word
design philosophy: simplicity and clarity. Lindon received a 5th Annual Tribeca Disruptive Innovation
Award in New York City, in April 2014 for his work. Leader continues to provide the branding needs of
companies around the world, since 2001, when he started his design consultancy in Utah. Lindon Leader
achieved two degrees: Political Science and Advertising Design from Stanford University and the Art
Centre College of Design. As I have found he is most famously known for the creation of the FedEx logo.
• The approach to work for this designer is different to Milton Glaser, as Leader states how his work “is not
decorative or cosmetic” and the main reason for branding is “to facilitate the realization of our client’s
strategic marketing objectives”. This means he creates his work to be effective rather than creative rather
than interesting to look at (which can be viewed as creative), for example with the FedEx logo, as it’s very
simple and boring, however does its job perfectly.
• Usually people of a younger generation (which is likely my target audience for my project) prefer simplicity
over complicated and complex designs, as it doesn’t require as much effort to understand it, therefore this
approach may be useful to my project as I can still portray meaning and depth through a simple
design/style.

8. Lauren Hom
• Hom has worked for very famous companies such as: Starbucks, Google, YouTube and TIME Magazine. She
is mostly known for her brightly coloured designs and playful lettering.
• In an interview with Freelance Wisdom, Hom said her advice for the best productivity is “make realistic to-
do lists, focus 100% of your energy on one task at a time”. This is useful as for my previous projects I have
made production schedules, which have proven to be helpful, however I tend to start new sections of the
project before finishing my last. For this project I will follow the advice of this graphic designer and focus
on one section at a time, so I don’t lose the ‘train of thought’ I have and can talk about aspects in much
more detail.
• Lauren Hom usually creates abstract type work, for example her work for local restaurants’ chalk boards,
also known as her ‘passion projects’.
• For my project I am thinking of creating a design that isn’t similar to this designer’s usual style of work,
therefore I will most likely not use her work as inspiration, however I will use her approach to work, as I
think I will find this very helpful during production and will make me finish products quicker with more
attention to them,, meaning I can then either improve them or start new products with the time I have
left.

9. George Lois
• George Lois is an American designer, best known for his Esquire Magazine covers, designing
almost 100 of them, from 1962-1972. Along with his praise in the design industry, he has also
been in the middle of controversy with accusations of taking credit for others’ ideas and
exaggerating his participation. This could mean that he is less reliable to take advice from or
follow the beliefs of due to this controversy.
• Lois states in an interview with Design Boom “when I create an image, I want people to take a
step back in awe when they see it for the first time”. By this he means the strength of the
image needs to be powerful and leave people speechless, and he goes on to say how he
thinks that this is his best quality as he focuses on this greatly. I believe that this is good
advice to take, as I want portray a strong image on my design, as I am making a horror film
cover, so I want it to bring fear and mystery to my audience, with this similar technique.

10. Chip Kidd
• Charles Kidd, also known as Chip is an American graphic designer, best known for his book
covers. Kidd has become one of the most famous book cover designers of all time. He started
designing covers for Knopf in 1986, where he was responsible for 75 book covers a year, an
imprint of Random House, where he is still employed as an art director. He also oversees the
production of comic book covers for Pantheon, as comic books are of big interest and
influence to him.
• Kidd specialises in book covers and typography and in an interview with Smashing Magazine
he talked about it being hard for usual print advertisers to be recognized from a tv advert as
such because they don’t get credited for the piece itself, however for graphic designers this is
not the case, so his name reached the public quickly. This helped with his career greatly and
gave him the belief of ‘just creating’. To expand he discussed how working with clients is hard
and he much prefers to create his own work, through his own research, meaning fully
independent production, which is how I will be conducting my project.

11. Jonathan Barnbrook
• Jonathan Barnbrook is known for being a graphic designer, film maker and typographer. The
British designer is most famously known for design David Bowe’s album Heathen, in 2002,
which proved to be a very powerful and effective design cover for the artist’s music. He
founded his own studio, Barnbrook Design, in 1990, which he currently still runs. Barnbrook
is one of the few designer from Britain who are famous for working in graphic design, film
making and typography, as most designers only specialise in one area of design.
• From the Q & A on Barnbrook’s website, he said he started designing because he was advised
to do so by his art teacher and he was intrigued by the graffiti style of design. He also stated
how important typography is in design, as he describes it as “one of the basic building blocks
of design” and followed with “You can’t be a good graphic designer without a thorough
knowledge of typography”. This is a useful piece of information to take into my project as I
will focus a lot more on typography in my work, and the way the text is structured etc., which
will likely make my work more successful, as told by this famous, reliable designer.

12. David Carson “grunge
typographer”
• Carson is an American graphic designer and art director. He is usually known for his innovative
magazine design, and use of unusual typography. He was the art director for the magazine Ray Gun,
where he included a lot of his unique typographic and layout approach. His designs and aesthetics
are what many people say defined the "grunge typography" era, hence the nickname.
• In an interview with Design Boom, he was asked about his approaches to work, to which he replied
“experimental, intuitive and personal. I have no formal training, which I’m sure helped a lot as I
never learned all the things I’m not supposed to do, I just did what made sense to me”. Meaning he
wasn’t educated on how to produce designs, therefore all of his work is original and personal to
him, as he didn’t produce designs that he thought was ‘right’ or what he thought was how you
should create designs, which many new designers cant follow the approach to, due to the
education system. On the other I could use this approach to my work by taking it as a way of ‘being
original’, meaning doing something different to the usual professional products I will be research,
however they are professional for a reason, therefore not following their typical approach may not
be effective for my work.

13. Pentagram
• Pentagram is the world’s largest independently-owned design studio. It was founded by five
individuals in 1972, and now has 23 partners. They have designed packaging, brands and
products for many famous companies, such as United Airlines and The Co-operative.
Although they are mostly famous for their graphic design products, they also produce work
from other types of design in their company, such as: architecture and interiors, products and
packaging, exhibitions and installations, websites and digital experiences and advertising and
communications.
• They portray the idea that it’s good to work individually and collaboratively, as their members
do so. I think that this is a good approach, as you can share ideas with others elaborate
together on certain ideas when you work collaboratively. Then when you work
independently, you can focus on your work more, allowing you to get your work done quickly
and effectively and produce it to a much more personal style/structure than you would if you
were working with others.

14. The Bauhaus Movement
• Bauhaus was a German art school that was operational from 1919 to 1933 due to
closure under Nazi pressure.
• The Bauhaus was arguably the single most influential modernist art school of the
20th century. Its approach to teaching, and to the relationship between art, society, and
technology, had a major impact all over the world long after its closure in 1933. The
school taught modernised design to fit the growing world, with new technology and
industrial needs for design. The Bauhaus was originally influenced by 19th and early-
20th-century artistic directions such as the Arts and Crafts movement, Art Nouveau and
its incarnations, including the Jugendstil and Vienna Secession. Bauhaus is said to have
reunited creativity and manufacturing within design and was a big influence in all future
advertising etc. It’s said that the world considers it to be the home of the Avant-guard
of classical modern style in all fields of liberal and applied arts, which is why people see
it as a ‘movement’ because it has shaped today’s style of design.

15. The basic principles of graphic
design
1. Balance – keep a balance of shapes, text and images as these are all elements that form a design, therefore you
need a balance to make the design look aesthetically pleasing.
2. Proximity – proximity helps in creating a relationship between similar or related elements. These elements don’t
need to be grouped together, instead, they should be visually connected with font, colour, size, etc.
3. Alignment – alignment plays a main role in creating a seamless visual connection with the design elements. It gives
an ordered appearance to images, shapes, and text by eliminating elements placed in a dishevelled manner.
4. Visual Hierarchy = a hierarchy is formed when extra visual weight is given to the most important element or
message in your design. This puts emphasis on certain aspects of the design, through a larger font size etc.
5. Repetition – it creates a rhythm and strengthens the overall design by tying together consistent elements, making
the design instantly recognisable to viewers.
6. Contrast – the most common types of contrast are dark vs. light, modern vs. old-fashioned, large vs. small, etc.,
guides a viewer’s attention to the key elements, as it makes certain aspects stand out.
7. Colour – it dictates the overall mood of a design. The colours you pick represent your design and its tone. This is
arguably the most important aspect of design, as the connotations of each colour determine how the viewer sees
the design.
8. Negative Space – this is the space that is left blank in the design. If used creatively, negative space can help create
a shape and highlight the important components of your design.
9. Typography – typography is one of the key aspects of design and when executed stylistically can speak volume for
the design. Sometimes, ‘type’ is all you need to showcase your design concept.
10. Rules – once the basic foundations of design have been applied or looked at, then start to break some of these
rules effectively, which makes your design stand out more than the rest as it will be unique. However this does not
mean use pixelated images or an illegible font type.

16. The Silence of the Lambs
The use of colour here makes the audience question why they have chosen them
and also makes them feel different ways at the same time. For example on the left
the colours are very bright, with the face blending into the background. Then on the
right the face is slightly shadowed by the very dark background. This can be
interpreted in different ways, such as the white representing innocence and naivety
(the victims of the serial killer) and the black representing the evil and negativity
(the serial killer). This point is also backed up by the colour of the character being
the same white/grey colour of the background on the left, because from the true
story, we know that the woman in the image is not the serial killer because we
known Hannibal Lecter is.
On top of the bright colour of the character, the eyes are a bright red colour. The
connotations of red are blood, danger and power, which can all be very negative
connotations associated with the serial killer and murder. On the other hand
connotations of love can be love, passion and desire, which are usually positive
connotations but due to the topic of the film, this makes the connotations very
creepy. This is because the colour could be to show all of these connotations on
purpose, for example the killer causes blood and danger and also has a passion and
desire for committing these acts, which is very unsettling for the audience. You
could also say that the positive connotations could be seen as how the killer feels
about the people he is murdering/hurting instead of the actual acts, making the
audience question why he would do this. The use of red is also shown in the title,
making it stand out and making the audience notice the use of the bright red more.
The colour of the moth is also stands out due to the contrast with the characters
face, putting a lot of emphasis on the moth.

17. The Silence of the Lambs
The fonts used are very simple and clear, making
it very easy for the audience to read and
understand the text. The text size of the title is
quite small compared to the cover as a whole,
showing it’s not a focal point, although it stands
out a little due to the bright red colour.
Below the title reads “from the terrifying best
seller”, which is quite a good selling point, as it
shows the popularity the book has (that the film
partly based of). The language is kept simple
and doesn’t use formal language to appeal to
the target audience, as if it takes a lot of effort
to understand what the text means then most
of the audience wouldn’t bother to read it or
would lose interest in it.
The title “Silence of the Lambs” relates to a
conversation between Clarice Starling and Dr.
Hannibal Lecter, where Clarice shares personal
information with Dr. Lecter in exchange for
advice in catching a wanted killer. This personal
information was about her living nearby to a
lamb slaughterhouse which she did not like and
even attempted saving one, which didn’t work,
hence the meaning ‘silence’ of the lambs.
The moth can be symbolic of
attraction, as this animal is known
for this (for example in the saying
“like a moth to a flame”), possibly
showing the attraction the killer has
to his victims. Many people also say
that moths are a symbol of power
(linking with the connotations of
black), therefore the position of
the moth (over her mouth) is very
effective. This is because the
‘power’ is stopping her open her
mouth, if means breathing or
speaking, either can be interpreted
by the audience. In addition, it
almost shows the lack of freedom
(for example freedom of speech)
that the ‘power’ it causing and the
‘power’ in the film is the killer. This
multiple potential meaning imagery
is very powerful and effective,
creating mystery and confusion for
the audience, making them want to
watch it and find out the meanings
behind the mystery.

18. The Silence of the Lambs
The lighting in this cover is used
effectively as it creates the design
that makes the character’s face
fade into the background (a bright
grey). However because the cover
consists mostly of a close up of the
character’s face, there isn’t much
room (apart from where I
mentioned) for lighting to be used.
The layout of this cover is very
simplistic, which is useful in
displaying information such as the
title and production companies. It
also appeals to the target audience
(teenagers/young adults) as they
like simple designs because they
don’t have to put effort into
understanding the product. The
main focal points are displayed
clearly in effective orders.
I chose this product because the
design is fairly simple but at the
same time it’s very powerful and is
one of the most famous horror
movie covers of all time, therefore
I would like to get tips from the
best to create work to a high
standard.

19. Bibliography
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