Lesson video

Hello everyone.

How are you today?

I hope you're feeling great.

My name's Miss.

Afsal and I'll be your art teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling good about that because I'm really interested in our subject today.

We are going to be looking at typography.

We're gonna be looking at images and type.

The title of our lesson is Digital Working Methods: Combining Images and Type.

I wonder if you've had much experience of doing this.

Our lesson comes from the unit of work, Foundation Workshops and Introduction to the Areas of Study.

So I hope you are feeling interested and excited about this lesson, I certainly am.

If you have some energy and enthusiasm and focus, we will begin.

The outcome for today's lesson is, I can combine images and typography using digital tools to create clear and impactful visual communication.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

Let's go through them.

Typography, alignment, contrast, and then there'll be two more coming up in a moment.

So what do these words mean?

Typography is the style, arrangement and appearance of text used in design to convey tone and message.

Alignment is the positioning of text or elements in relation to each other, which affects clarity and balance.

And contrast, the difference between elements, e.

g.

color, size, weight that helps important parts stand out.

As well, we have these keywords, legibility and visual hierarchy.

Legibility is how easily text can be read, affected by font choice, size, spacing and background.

And visual hierarchy, the arrangement for elements to guide the viewer's eye and highlight the most important information.

So these are our keywords, legibility, visual hierarchy, typography, alignment and contrast.

Let's look out for them.

Listen out for them.

They will be coming up in our lesson today.

Our lesson is called Digital working methods: combining images and type.

And it has two learning cycles.

First of all, understanding typography and visual messages and then combining type and image effectively.

We are gonna be having a go at this ourselves, of course.

So let's begin with understanding typography and visual messages.

And let's take a look ahead at what some outcomes for today might include.

Could look something like this.

More on this later.

How can combining type and images help to deliver a strong visual message in graphic communication?

Pause the video and share with someone.

What do you think?

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

We are going to be exploring this in our lesson.

Designers use typography to direct attention and shape interpretation.

And we can see pencils and graphite with the word "design" written above.

Typography is the design of text, including its size, weight, spacing, and style.

Pause the video and share with someone.

What do you think about the typography that's been used in this image on the screen?

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

We can see that this is pretty large in terms of the size and the weight is quite bold.

The spacing is that it's taking up most of the space at the top of this image.

And style is yeah, again, quite bold, a bold style, which contrasts well with the background and with graphite and the pencils.

In graphic communication, typography guides how viewers feel and read and is used to communicate tone and meaning.

We can see this welcome.

Here's another welcome and another welcome and another welcome, all quite different.

Even simple typeface change can shift tone dramatically.

Pause and share with someone.

What do you feel each of these welcomes is communicating?

How are they communicating differently?

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

I thought the one at the bottom with the cursive handwriting feels the most personal and welcoming.

How easily text can be read through typeface choice, size, spacing and background is referred to as legibility.

And we can see in this image there are many letters in black and white overlapping, so not so legible.

In graphic communication, it's important to consider how legible text and key details are in a design.

Designers using distinct typographic styles include Ahmed Abokor who utilizes a range of fonts and display typefaces to create and communicate striking designs.

Nadina Ali uses bold colors and impactful typefaces to catch audience's attention in her design work.

And Milton Glaser creates typography featuring bold geometric shapes and controlled use of colors in his designs.

Now we can see the design logo on products there.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Hmm is used to communicate tone and meaning clearly.

Is that A, typography, B, decoration or C, negative space?

Pause the video and share with someone.

What do you think is used to communicate tone and meaning clearly?

Well done if you selected answer A.

Typography is used to communicate tone and meaning clearly.

When images are combined with type, designs can communicate a clear and powerful message.

As we can see in this example.

Designers can influence the tone, mood, and effectiveness of a design through their choices, including a visual hierarchy and purposeful layout.

The spacing and proximity of elements, making sure there's enough space for everything, and considering how far apart each element is.

Alignment and positioning, and using contrast.

Think about contrasting colors.

Utilizing a purposeful layout improves communication and professionalism in graphic design.

Intentionally placing, sizing, or contrasting elements so that they will be seen first in a design helps to guide the viewer's attention.

This design feature is known as visual hierarchy and we can see a book cover here displaying different styles of text.

Pause the video and share with someone.

Where is your eye drawn to first of all when you look at this book cover?

Thanks for sharing.

My eye goes to the title that's in black and then to the name of the author, which makes sense, it's where you'd want your eye to be drawn to first of all.

Spacing and proximity means grouping similar elements closer together or sequentially to create flow in the design.

For example, positioning the headline, subheading and body of text in sequence, it outlines a structure that viewers can easily follow.

And we can see another book cover here using imagery and text.

Alignment refers to the positioning of text or elements in relation to each other, which affects clarity and balance.

Text can be aligned to the left, in the center, or to the right.

Rather than scattering it randomly, text can be aligned consistently with the image structure to create a more professional look.

How are contrast and legibility connected in design?

Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Contrast can be used to help make text or design elements more visible.

High contrast between text and background helps to improve readability, as we can see with these letters.

An example of contrast in design is using white text on dark areas, or dark colored text on light areas.

If images and text compete with each other in a design, the message may become unclear or confused.

By using visual hierarchy, spacing, alignment and contrast in relation to image and text in a design, it ensures legibility and coherence and avoids elements competing with each other.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What happens if text and image compete for attention?

A, the message is strengthened.

B, the message may become unclear.

C, the design looks dynamic.

Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer B.

The message may become unclear if text and image are competing for attention.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to choose two to three options from five phrases.

We've got, "Emergency Exit," "Welcome," "Danger, Do Not Cross," "Cafe Open" and "Do Not Disturb.

" Apply a typography style including typeface, font, and color for each phrase, reflecting the tone of the message through your design choices.

So pause here while you have a go at this task.

Okay, good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task?

There are many possible outcomes, but you might have designed something like this.

Here we've got our Emergency Exit, Welcome, Danger, Do Not Cross, Cafe Open and Do Not Disturb signs.

Let's see what Andeep has to say.

"For 'emergency exit,' I used a sans-serif typeface for clarity.

'Welcome' is in serif with cool blue to make it seem inviting.

The angled, bold red typeface added urgency for the 'danger' text.

'Cafe open' in a handwritten style makes it more inviting, and the 'do not disturb' is in bold and orange color to catch attention.

" I love the way you've been thinking about the typeface and the color there.

And now we're onto our next learning cycle, combining type and image effectively.

The readability of text and legibility of a design is just the starting point.

Typography and image selection should be purposefully designed to support the tone, media, audience and message.

And we can see some handmade typography for the word "vintage" here, which links nicely to the idea of something being old, being vintage, to use an older style of writing, which is something handmade rather than digital.

So what are the benefits to working digitally when creating a design?

You can see a digital artist here using a tablet and stylus.

Pause the video and share with someone your answer to this question.

What are the benefits to working digitally when creating a design?

Okay, I wonder what you came up with.

Working digitally enables designers to experiment with different styles, colors, alignments and layouts quickly.

I wonder if you said something like that.

However, it's important for designs to be produced with awareness for the media they will be seen in.

Graphic designs, images and type may need to be resized or reformatted for different media.

An effective design for a billboard or poster will be different to advertisements for a website, as the scale influences how much detail and information can be included.

Ensuring designs look good for the intended platform needs to be considered for legibility.

And we can see an example of some very large billboards in an urban area.

There are many creative and experimental ways in which images and text can be combined, depending on the purpose.

Jessica Walsh combines mediums to create designs which are considered bold, emotional and provocative.

Paul Soulellis uses innovative layout and compositions to combine type and images in graphic design publications.

And Roshumba Llewellyn helps brands build their identity through distinctive combinations of text and image.

And I love this creative use of text on the image you see in the screen, body of text.

I'd like you to discuss with a partner what does and doesn't work well in each of the designs.

What's working, what's not working?

Take five minutes to share about this and pause here.

All right, it's good to be back with you.

So how did you get on critiquing these two designs for a new juice bar?

Let's hear from Izzy and Andeep.

Andeep, "Poster A has a poorly cropped picture," yes, "and the text is too small, making it hard to read.

Poster B uses contrast well to make the text stand out.

There is also a clear visual hierarchy.

" Great noticing.

And Izzy, "Although the text content is the same in both designs, poster A lacks a visual hierarchy, alignment and integration of images and text, leading to poor legibility.

" I wonder if that's what you decided as well.

Check for understanding, true or false.

Typography is solely about the readability of text.

Pause the video and decide is this true or false?

Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Perhaps you said something like this, typography must be chosen and placed purposefully to support the tone, audience and message, readability is just the starting point.

When creating a design which combines images and type together, it's important to consider: what message do I want to communicate?

Are there any images that could support this message or theme?

Which typography styles could be used?

How might a visual hierarchy be structured?

Let's hear again from Andeep and Izzy.

"I'd like to make a poster about mental health awareness," great topic, "with clean and minimal typography styles and a spacious balance of image and type.

" I like the sound of that.

"I want to make a poster about climate action.

I could use images of nature, the earth, or hands coming together to suggest teamwork.

" Oh, beautiful images.

"A sans-serif typeface might help convey the message clearly, and a visual hierarchy could be made through balance and alignment of text and images.

" When evaluating your work, you might consider: what works well in your design?

Do typography and image choices match the tone?

Is there a clear visual hierarchy?

Is the design legible?

Have contrast and alignment been used effectively?

So here's Andeep's poster.

Let's hear from him.

"I think my design successfully communicates the theme of mental health awareness.

Contrast was used through white text on a darker background, aligning a simple, modern typeface and spacious image to match the tone.

I emphasized and resized text to create a distinct visual hierarchy.

" You're really ticking all those boxes, Andeep, this is looking great.

Let's have a check for understanding.

When combining text and image, what should you consider first?

A, the size of the poster.

B, the software version.

C, the message you want to communicate.

Pause the video and share with someone.

Well done if you selected answer C.

Indeed, it's the message you want to communicate.

And now it's time for your next task.

I'd like you to design a concept poster based on a theme provided or one of your own choosing.

For example, climate action, mental health, a music festival.

Source, use or create digitally manipulated images, and add typography that enhances and clarifies the message.

Evaluate and consider how text and image are combined in your design to clearly communicate the theme and message.

So pause here while you have a go at designing your concept poster.

And making sure that you add typography that enhances and clarifies the message.

I'll see you when you're finished.

So how did you get on?

There are many possible outcomes for this task, but you might have created something like this.

Here's Izzy, "I used a sans-serif, modern typeface to convey clarity through text in my climate action poster design.

I edited an image to make it brighter and added graphics like stars and tape to create a sketchbook-like effect, suggesting that it involves ongoing work.

" Pause the video and share with someone.

What feedback would you give to Izzy about her poster?

What aspects of typography is she using effectively?

Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

And I hope you've had a chance to evaluate your own posters as well and consider which of the different aspects of typography you have applied to your poster in order to make it have maximum legibility and effectiveness.

In our lesson today, digital working methods: combining images and type, we've covered the following.

Manipulating images and combining them with typography allows designers to create unique visuals that capture interest.

It's important to consider the audience, tone and media of a design to ensure it is effective and legible for the platform it's intended for.

Image and text manipulation allows designers to experiment with different styles, contrast, colors, alignments, layouts, and visual hierarchies.

Thank you so much for joining in with this lesson.

It was really great to get into looking at these digital working methods, finding out what creates maximum legibility and effectiveness in our typography, and then going for it and using all the tools that we know, different styles, contrast, colors, and so on.

And coming up with something that I hope you're feeling proud of.

It was great to be with you in this lesson and I'm really looking forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Until then, stay creative.