Simple Ways for Better Design
Good design makes everything—from newspapers to blogs—both easy to understand and visually enjoyable. Design isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s a powerful tool that helps deliver messages while capturing the audience’s attention. In this video, you’ll gain an overview of the fundamental principles of design and practical tips to create effective and visually engaging projects.
The video focuses on two main areas of design: newspaper design and blog design. You’ll learn how to use layout principles, like grids and columns, to organize content for a structured and seamless reading experience in newspapers. The video also explores the importance of typography, demonstrating how to choose the right fonts, colors, and graphics to emphasize key parts of your content. When it comes to blogs, the emphasis shifts to aesthetics and user experience, covering aspects like simple navigation, mobile responsiveness, and consistent visual style to make every post engaging and enjoyable.
Additionally, the video introduces practical tools like Canva and GIMP, which are ideal for beginners and advanced designers alike, and shares tips on avoiding common mistakes. You’ll discover how to steer clear of cluttered layouts, maintain consistency, and ensure your designs look great on mobile devices.
This video provides clear and actionable insights to help you create professional-looking projects—whether they’re newspapers, blogs, or other platforms. Ultimately, good design simplifies complex ideas and creates a pleasant experience for the user. Watch the video and take your first step toward more effective design!
*The video has English subtitles
Additional reading material
Canva is a user-friendly graphic design tool perfect for beginners and professionals. It offers a drag-and-drop interface with thousands of templates for social media posts, presentations, posters, and more. Canva includes easy-to-use tools for creating stunning visuals without prior design experience.
Best For: Creating quick, professional graphics, social media content, and presentations. Link: Canva
GIMP is a free, open-source image editing software that provides advanced tools for photo retouching, image composition, and graphic design. It’s a powerful alternative to Photoshop for users who want professional-level control over their designs.
Best For: Detailed photo editing, creating illustrations, and graphic design projects. Link: GIMP
Coolors is a fantastic tool for generating beautiful and harmonious color palettes. You can explore pre-made palettes, customize your own, and use the tool to ensure consistency in your designs.
Best For: Choosing consistent and visually appealing color schemes for any design project. Link: Coolors
Figma is a web-based design tool for creating user interfaces, prototypes, and collaborative design projects. It allows real-time collaboration, making it perfect for teams.
Best For: UI/UX design, prototyping, and team collaboration. Link: Figma
Wix is a website builder that offers drag-and-drop functionality and customizable templates. It allows users to create beautiful, responsive websites without coding.
Best For: Building websites quickly and easily. Link: Wix
Google Web Designer is a free tool for creating interactive and HTML5-based ads, animations, and websites. It combines a visual design interface with code editing options.
Best For: Interactive ads, animations, and HTML5 content. Link: Google Web Designer
WordPress is a popular content management system (CMS) for building and managing websites. It offers flexibility with thousands of themes and plugins for customization.
Best For: Creating blogs, business websites, and complex sites with full customization. Link: WordPress
Practical exersices
Exercise: Design a Simple Newspaper Layout
Instructions:
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- Choose a Topic: Pick a topic for your newspaper (e.g., current events, entertainment, sports). Look at the different designs of the same kinds of newspapers online and see what kind of designs you like.
- Create a few sample articles on the subject.
- Create a Grid Layout: Draw a simple grid with three to four columns. This will be the basic structure of your page.
- Headlines and Subheadings: Write a catchy headline for your main story and a few subheadings for smaller articles. Select appropriate fonts for the headlines and body text (consider readability).
- Add Images: Find images that match your stories. Place them in the layout, ensuring they don’t overcrowd the page. Play around with adding different number of photos and try to find a suitable size that would fit the article.
- Color and Contrast: Select two or three colors to highlight key elements, such as headlines or section dividers. Ensure that there’s good contrast for readability. The colors should be matching to the colors of the logo (if applies).
- Final Touches: Add page numbers, a date, and a small logo (if desired). Make sure everything aligns properly and feels balanced.
- Play around with different elements to see what do you like the best. Show the results to other people and ask for their feedback.
Exercise: Design a Simple Logo for a Blog or Newspaper
Create a logo that represents the identity of a blog or newspaper, applying design principles like simplicity, balance, and consistency.
Instructions:
- Choose a Blog or Newspaper Name:
Pick a name for your blog or newspaper (you can either create one or use an existing name). This name should reflect the theme or topic of the blog/newspaper (e.g., a food blog, a travel newspaper, or a tech blog). - Define the Brand Identity
Think about the message you want your logo to communicate. Is your blog/newspaper casual, formal, playful, or professional? Consider the tone of your content and your target audience (e.g., young people, professionals, creatives). - Sketch Concepts
Start by sketching a few logo ideas on paper or digitally. Try different shapes, fonts, and icon combinations. Keep it simple and avoid clutter. Logos should be easy to recognize, even at a small size. You can also play around with different logo creation softwares, like Canva. - Choose Your Colors
Select 2-3 colors that align with the mood of your blog/newspaper. For example, a nature blog might use green and brown, while a tech blog might use blue and gray. Remember that color affects emotions. Use online color palette samples to find your favorite colors and matching colors. - Typography:
Choose a font that matches the personality of your brand. A modern blog might use a sleek sans-serif font, while a traditional newspaper might opt for a serif font. Or maybe you want to use something artistic instead, or another font that expresses the topic of your newspaper or blog. Ensure that the text is legible, even at small sizes. - Refine Your Design:
After you’ve picked your favorite concept, refine the design. Make sure it’s balanced, with good spacing between elements. Test how it looks in black and white to ensure it still stands out without color. - Final Touches:
Add any final details that will make your logo unique, such as small symbols, icons, or borders. Then, resize your logo to ensure it works well on different platforms (e.g., social media profiles, website headers, printed materials).