Computer graphics

The development of computer graphics, has made computers easier to interact with, and better for understanding and interpreting many types of data. Developments in computer graphics have had a profound impact on many types of media and have revolutionized animation, movies and the video game industry (Dell XPS M1210 Battery) http://www.hdd-shop.co.uk .

Overview

The term computer graphics has been used in a broad sense to describe "almost everything on computers that is not text or sound".Typically, the term computer graphics refers to several different things (Dell Studio XPS 1340 Battery) :

• the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer
• the various technologies used to create and manipulate images
• the images so produced, and (Dell Studio XPS 1640 Battery)
• the sub-field of computer science which studies methods for digitally synthesizing and manipulating visual content, see study of computer graphics

Today, computers and computer-generated images touch many aspects of daily life (Dell Vostro 1710 Battery) .

Computer imagery is found on television, in newspapers, for example in weather reports, or for example in all kinds of medical investigation and surgical procedures. A well-constructed graph can present complex statistics in a form that is easier to understand and interpret (Sony VGP-BPS13 battery) .

In the media "such graphs are used to illustrate papers, reports, thesis", and other presentation material.

Many powerful tools have been developed to visualize data. Computer generated imagery can be categorized into several different types: 2D, 3D, 5D, and animated graphics (Sony VGP-BPS13/B battery) .

As technology has improved, 3D computer graphics have become more common, but 2D computer graphics are still widely used. Computer graphics has emerged as a sub-field of computer science which studies methods for digitally synthesizing and manipulating visual content (Sony VGP-BPS13/S battery) .

Over the past decade, other specialized fields have been developed like information visualization, and scientific visualization more concerned with "the visualization of three dimensional phenomena (architectural, meteorological, medical, biological, etc.), where the emphasis is on realistic renderings of volumes, surfaces, illumination sources, and so forth, perhaps with a dynamic (time) component" (Sony VGP-BPS13A/B battery) .

Initial Development of Computer Graphics

The advance in computer graphics was to come from one MIT student, Ivan Sutherland. In 1961 Sutherland created another computer drawing program called Sketchpad (Sony VGP-BPS13B/B battery) .

Using a light pen, Sketchpad allowed one to draw simple shapes on the computer screen, save them and even recall them later. The light pen itself had a small photoelectric cell in its tip. This cell emitted an electronic pulse whenever it was placed in front of a computer screen and the screen's electron gun fired directly at it (Sony VGP-BPL9 battery) .

By simply timing the electronic pulse with the current location of the electron gun, it was easy to pinpoint exactly where the pen was on the screen at any given moment. Once that was determined, the computer could then draw a cursor at that location.

Sutherland seemed to find the perfect solution for many of the graphics problems he faced (Sony VGP-BPS13B/B battery) .

Even today, many standards of computer graphics interfaces got their start with this early Sketchpad program. One example of this is in drawing constraints. If one wants to draw a square for example, s/he doesn't have to worry about drawing four lines perfectly to form the edges of the box (Sony VGP-BPL11 battery) .

One can simply specify that s/he wants to draw a box, and then specify the location and size of the box. The software will then construct a perfect box, with the right dimensions and at the right location. Another example is that Sutherland's software modeled objects - not just a picture of objects (Sony VGP-BPL15 battery) .

In other words, with a model of a car, one could change the size of the tires without affecting the rest of the car. It could stretch the body of the car without deforming the tires.

These early computer graphics were Vector graphics, composed of thin lines whereas modern day graphics are Raster based using pixels (Dell Inspiron E1505 battery) .

The difference between vector graphics and raster graphics can be illustrated with a shipwrecked sailor. He creates an SOS sign in the sand by arranging rocks in the shape of the letters "SOS." He also has some brightly colored rope, with which he makes a second "SOS" sign by arranging the rope in the shapes of the letters (Dell Latitude E6400 battery) .

The rock SOS sign is similar to raster graphics. Every pixel has to be individually accounted for. The rope SOS sign is equivalent to vector graphics. The computer simply sets the starting point and ending point for the line and perhaps bend it a little between the two end points (HP Pavilion dv6000 Battery) .

The disadvantages to vector files are that they cannot represent continuous tone images and they are limited in the number of colors available. Raster formats on the other hand work well for continuous tone images and can reproduce as many colors as needed.

Also in 1961 another student at MIT, Steve Russell, created the first video game, Spacewar (Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31S battery) .

Written for the DEC PDP-1, Spacewar was an instant success and copies started flowing to other PDP-1 owners and eventually even DEC got a copy. The engineers at DEC used it as a diagnostic program on every new PDP-1 before shipping it. The sales force picked up on this quickly enough and when installing new units, would run the world's first video game for their new customers (Sony VGN-FZ31S battery) .

E. E. Zajac, a scientist at Bell Telephone Laboratory (BTL), created a film called "Simulation of a two-giro gravity attitude control system" in 1963. In this computer generated film, Zajac showed how the attitude of a satellite could be altered as it orbits the Earth. He created the animation on an IBM 7090 mainframe computer (SONY VGN-FZ38M Battery) .

Also at BTL, Ken Knowlton, Frank Sindon and Michael Noll started working in the computer graphics field. Sindon created a film called Force, Mass and Motion illustrating Newton's laws of motion in operation. Around the same time, other scientists were creating computer graphics to illustrate their research (SONY VGN-FZ31z Battery) .

At Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Nelson Max created the films, "Flow of a Viscous Fluid" and "Propagation of Shock Waves in a Solid Form." Boeing Aircraft created a film called "Vibration of an Aircraft."

It wasn't long before major corporations started taking an interest in computer graphics (Sony VGN-FZ31Z Battery) .

TRW, Lockheed-Georgia, General Electric and Sperry Rand are among the many companies that were getting started in computer graphics by the mid 1960's. IBM was quick to respond to this interest by releasing the IBM 2250 graphics terminal, the first commercially available graphics computer (SONY VAIO VGN-FZ38M Battery) .

Ralph Baer, a supervising engineer at Sanders Associates, came up with a home video game in 1966 that was later licensed to Magnavox and called the Odyssey. While very simplistic, and requiring fairly inexpensive electronic parts, it allowed the player to move points of light around on a screen. It was the first consumer computer graphics product (SONY VGN-FZ31E Battery) .

Also in 1966, Sutherland at MIT invented the first computer controlled head-mounted display (HMD). Called the Sword of Damocles because of the hardware required for support, it displayed two separate wireframe images, one for each eye. This allowed the viewer to see the computer scene in stereoscopic 3D (SONY VGN-FZ31J Battery) .

After receiving his Ph.D. from MIT, Sutherland became Director of Information Processing at ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency), and later became a professor at Harvard.

Dave Evans was director of engineering at Bendix Corporation's computer division from 1953 to 1962, after which he worked for the next five years as a visiting professor at Berkeley (SONY VGN-FZ31M Battery) .

There he continued his interest in computers and how they interfaced with people. In 1968 the University of Utah recruited Evans to form a computer science program, and computer graphics quickly became his primary interest. This new department would become the world's primary research center for computer graphics (SONY VGN-FZ31B Battery) .

In 1967 Sutherland was recruited by Evans to join the computer science program at the University of Utah. There he perfected his HMD. Twenty years later, NASA would re-discover his techniques in their virtual reality research (SONY VGP-BPS13 Battery) .

At Utah, Sutherland and Evans were highly sought after consultants by large companies but they were frustrated at the lack of graphics hardware available at the time so they started formulating a plan to start their own company.

A student by the name of Edwin Catmull started at the University of Utah in 1970 and signed up for Sutherland's computer graphics class (Dell Inspiron 1320 Battery) .

Catmull had just come from The Boeing Company and had been working on his degree in physics. Growing up on Disney, Catmull loved animation yet quickly discovered that he didn't have the talent for drawing. Now Catmull (along with many others) saw computers as the natural progression of animation and they wanted to be part of the revolution (Dell Inspiron 1320n Battery) .

The first animation that Catmull saw was his own. He created an animation of his hand opening and closing. It became one of his goals to produce a feature length motion picture using computer graphics. In the same class, Fred Parke created an animation of his wife's face (Dell Inspiron 1464 Battery) .

Because of Evan's and Sutherland's presence, UU was gaining quite a reputation as the place to be for computer graphics research so Catmull went there to learn 3D animation.

As the UU computer graphics laboratory was attracting people from all over, John Warnock was one of those early pioneers (Dell Inspiron 1564 Battery) ;

he would later found Adobe Systems and create a revolution in the publishing world with his PostScript page description language. Tom Stockham led the image processing group at UU which worked closely with the computer graphics lab. Jim Clark was also there; he would later found Silicon Graphics, Inc (Dell Inspiron 1764 Battery) .

The first major advance in 3D computer graphics was created at UU by these early pioneers, the hidden-surface algorithm. In order to draw a representation of a 3D object on the screen, the computer must determine which surfaces are "behind" the object from the viewer's perspective, and thus should be "hidden" when the computer creates (or renders) the image (Dell Studio 1450 Battery) .

Image types

2D computer graphics

Raster graphicsprites (left) and masks (right)

2D computer graphics are the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models, such as 2D geometric models, text, and digital images, and by techniques specific to them (Dell Studio 1457 Battery) .

2D computer graphics are mainly used in applications that were originally developed upon traditional printing and drawing technologies, such as typography, cartography, technical drawing, advertising, etc.. In those applications, the two-dimensional image is not just a representation of a real-world object, but an independent artifact with added semantic value (Dell Latitude D610 Battery) ;

two-dimensional models are therefore preferred, because they give more direct control of the image than 3D computer graphics, whose approach is more akin to photographythan to typography (Toshiba NB100 Battery) .

Pixel art

Pixel art is a form of digital art, created through the use of raster graphics software, where images are edited on the pixel level. Graphics in most old (or relatively limited) computer and video games, graphing calculator games, and many mobile phone games are mostly pixel art (Toshiba Satellite M65 battery) .

Vector graphics

Example showing effect of vector graphics versus raster (bitmap) graphics.

Vector graphics formats are complementary to raster graphics, which is the representation of images as an array of pixels, as it is typically used for the representation of photographic images (Toshiba Satellite M60 battery) .

There are instances when working with vector tools and formats is best practice, and instances when working with raster tools and formats is best practice. There are times when both formats come together. An understanding of the advantages and limitations of each technology and the relationship between them is most likely to result in efficient and effective use of tools (Dell Latitude D830 Battery) .

3D computer graphics

3D computer graphics in contrast to 2D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. Such images may be for later display or for real-time viewing (Dell Latitude D620 Battery) .

Despite these differences, 3D computer graphics rely on many of the same algorithms as 2D computer vector graphics in the wire frame model and 2D computer raster graphics in the final rendered display. In computer graphics software, the distinction between 2D and 3D is occasionally blurred (Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Battery) ;

2D applications may use 3D techniques to achieve effects such as lighting, and primarily 3D may use 2D rendering techniques.

3D computer graphics are often referred to as 3D models. Apart from the rendered graphic, the model is contained within the graphical data file. However, there are differences (Sony VGN-FW11S Battery) .

A 3D model is the mathematical representation of any three-dimensional object. A model is not technically a graphic until it is visually displayed. Due to 3D printing, 3D models are not confined to virtual space. A model can be displayed visually as a two-dimensional image through a process called 3D rendering, or used in non-graphical computer simulations and calculations (Sony VGN-FW11M Battery) .

There are some 3D computer graphics software for users to create 3D images.

Computer animation

An example of Computer animation produced using Motion capture (Sony VGN-FW139E/H battery)

Computer animation is the art of creating moving images via the use of computers. It is a subfield of computer graphics and animation. Increasingly it is created by means of 3D computer graphics, though 2D computer graphics are still widely used for stylistic, low bandwidth, and faster real-time rendering needs (Dell Latitude E5400 Battery) .

Sometimes the target of the animation is the computer itself, but sometimes the target is another medium, such as film. It is also referred to as CGI (Computer-generated imagery or computer-generated imaging), especially when used in films.

Virtual entities may contain and be controlled by assorted attributes, such as transform values (location, orientation, and scale) stored in an object'stransformation matrix (Dell Latitude E4200 Battery) .

Animation is the change of an attribute over time. Multiple methods of achieving animation exist; the rudimentary form is based on the creation and editing of keyframes, each storing a value at a given time, per attribute to be animated. The 2D/3D graphics software will interpolate between keyframes, creating an editable curve of a value mapped over time, resulting in animation (Dell Vostro A840 Battery) .

Other methods of animation include procedural and expression-based techniques: the former consolidates related elements of animated entities into sets of attributes, useful for creating particle effects and crowd simulations; the latter allows an evaluated result returned from a user-defined logical expression (Dell Inspiron 300M Battery) ,

coupled with mathematics, to automate animation in a predictable way (convenient for controlling bone behavior beyond what a hierarchy offers in skeletal system set up).

To create the illusion of movement, an image is displayed on the computer screen then quickly replaced by a new image that is similar to the previous image, but shifted slightly (Dell Studio 1737 battery) .

This technique is identical to the illusion of movement in television and motion pictures.

Concepts and principles

Images are typically produced by optical devices;such as cameras, mirrors, lenses, telescopes, microscopes, etc. and natural objects and phenomena, such as the human eye or water surfaces (Dell Inspiron E1505 battery) .

A digital image is a representation of a two-dimensional image in binary format as a sequence of ones and zeros. Digital images include both vector images and raster images, but raster images are more commonly used.

Pixel

In digital imaging, a pixel (or picture element) is a single point in a raster image (Dell RM791 battery) .

Pixels are normally arranged in a regular 2-dimensional grid, and are often represented using dots or squares. Each pixel is a sample of an original image, where more samples typically provide a more accurate representation of the original. The intensity of each pixel is variable; in color systems, each pixel has typically three components such as red, green, and blue (Dell XPS M1530 battery) .

Graphics

Graphics are visual presentations on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain (Dell XPS M2010 battery) .

Examples are photographs, drawings, line art, graphs, diagrams, typography, numbers, symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings, or otherimages. Graphics often combine text, illustration, and color. Graphic design may consist of the deliberate selection, creation, or arrangement of typography alone, as in a brochure, flier, poster, web site, or book without any other element (Dell Vostro 1000 battery) .

Clarity or effective communication may be the objective, association with other cultural elements may be sought, or merely, the creation of a distinctive style.

Arambilet: Dots on the I's, D-ART 2009 Online Digital Art Gallery, exhibited at IV09 and CG09 computer Graphics conferences, at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona; Tianjin University, China; Permanent Exhibition at the London South Bank University (Acer Aspire One battery) .

Rendering

Rendering is the process of generating an image from a model (or models in what collectively could be called a scene file), by means of computer programs (Toshiba Satellite P10 Battery) .

A scene file contains objects in a strictly defined language or data structure; it would contain geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting, and shading information as a description of the virtual scene. The data contained in the scene file is then passed to a rendering program to be processed and output to a digital imageor raster graphics image file (SONY VGN-FZ210CE Battery) .

The rendering program is usually built into the computer graphics software, though others are available as plug-ins or entirely separate programs. The term "rendering" may be by analogy with an "artist's rendering" of a scene (Dell Precision M70 Battery) .

Though the technical details of rendering methods vary, the general challenges to overcome in producing a 2D image from a 3D representation stored in a scene file are outlined as the graphics pipeline along a rendering device, such as a GPU. A GPU is a purpose-built device able to assist a CPU in performing complex rendering calculations (Toshiba Satellite L305 Battery) .

If a scene is to look relatively realistic and predictable under virtual lighting, the rendering software should solve the rendering equation. The rendering equation doesn't account for all lighting phenomena, but is a general lighting model for computer-generated imagery (Toshiba Satellite T4900 Battery) .

'Rendering' is also used to describe the process of calculating effects in a video editing file to produce final video output.

3D projection

3D projection is a method of mapping three dimensional points to a two dimensional plane. As most current methods for displaying graphical data are based on planar two dimensional media, the use of this type of projection is widespread, especially in computer graphics, engineering and drafting (Toshiba PA3399U-2BRS battery) .

Ray tracing

Ray tracing is a technique for generating an image by tracing the path of light through pixels in an image plane. The technique is capable of producing a very high degree of photorealism; usually higher than that of typical scanline rendering methods, but at a greater computational cost (Toshiba Satellite A200 Battery) .

Shading

Shading refers to depicting depth in 3D models or illustrations by varying levels of darkness. It is a process used in drawing for depicting levels of darkness on paper by applying media more densely or with a darker shade for darker areas, and less densely or with a lighter shade for lighter areas (Toshiba Satellite 1200 Battery) .

There are various techniques of shading including cross hatching where perpendicular lines of varying closeness are drawn in a grid pattern to shade an area. The closer the lines are together, the darker the area appears. Likewise, the farther apart the lines are, the lighter the area appears. The term has been recently generalized to mean that shaders are applied (Toshiba Satellite M300 Battery) .

Texture mapping

Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture, or colour to a computer-generated graphic or 3D model. Its application to 3D graphics was pioneered by Dr Edwin Catmull in 1974. A texture map is applied (mapped) to the surface of a shape, or polygon WD passport essential (500GB/640GB) .

This process is akin to applying patterned paper to a plain white box. Multitexturing is the use of more than one texture at a time on a polygon. Procedural textures (created from adjusting parameters of an underlying algorithm that produces an output texture), and bitmap textures (created in an image editing application) are WD passport essential (250GB/320GB) ,

generally speaking, common methods of implementing texture definition from a 3D animation program, while intended placement of textures onto a model's surface often requires a technique known as UV mapping WD passport essential SE (750GB/1TB) .

Anti-aliasing

Rendering resolution-independent entities (such as 3D models) for viewing on a raster (pixel-based) device such as a LCD display or CRT television inevitably causes aliasing artifacts mostly along geometric edges and the boundaries of texture details; these artifacts are informally called "jaggies" WD passport elite(250GB/320GB) .

Anti-aliasing methods rectify such problems, resulting in imagery more pleasing to the viewer, but can be somewhat computationally expensive. Various anti-aliasing algorithms (such as supersampling) are able to be employed, then customized for the most efficient rendering performance versus quality of the resultant imagery WD passport elite(500GB/640GB) ;

a graphics artist should consider this trade-off if anti-aliasing methods are to be used. A pre-anti-aliased bitmap texture being displayed on a screen (or screen location) at a resolution different than the resolution of the texture itself (such as a textured model in the distance from the virtual camera) will exhibit aliasing artifacts WD passport studio for Mac(320GB/500GB) ,

while anyprocedurally-defined texture will always show aliasing artifacts as they are resolution-independent; techniques such as mipmapping and texture filtering help to solve texture-related aliasing problems WD passport studio for Mac(500GB/640GB).

Volume rendering

Volume rendering is a technique used to display a 2D projection of a 3D discretely sampled data set. A typical 3D data set is a group of 2D slice images acquired by a CT or MRI scanner.

Usually these are acquired in a regular pattern (e.g., one slice every millimeter) and usually have a regular number of image pixels in a regular pattern WD Elements series(250GB/320GB) .

This is an example of a regular volumetric grid, with each volume element, or voxel represented by a single value that is obtained by sampling the immediate area surrounding the voxel.

3D modeling

3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical, wireframe representation of any three-dimensional object, called a "3D model", via specialized software WD Elements SE(500GB/640GB) .

Models may be created automatically or manually; the manual modeling process of preparing geometric data for 3D computer graphics is similar toplastic arts such as sculpting. 3D models may be created using multiple approaches: use of NURBS curves to generate accurate and smooth surface patches WD Elements SE(750GB/1TB) ,

polygonal mesh modeling (manipulation of faceted geometry), or polygonal mesh subdivision (advanced tessellation of polygons, resulting in smooth surfaces similar to NURBS models). A 3D model can be displayed as a two-dimensional image through a process called 3D rendering, used in a computersimulation of physical phenomena, or animated directly for other purposes WD Elements desktop(500GB/640GB) .

The model can also be physically created using 3D Printing devices.

Graphic design is a creative process — most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form (i.e., printers, programmers, signmakers, etc.) — undertaken in order to convey a specific message (or messages) to a targeted audience WD Elements desktop(750GB/1TB) .

The term "graphic design" can also refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines that focus on visual communication and presentation. The field as a whole is also often referred to as Visual Communication or Communication Design. Various methods are used to create and combine words, symbols, and images to create a visual representation of ideas and messages WD Elements desktop(1.5 TB/2TB) .

A graphic designer may usetypography, visual arts and page layout techniques to produce the final result. Graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created and the products (designs) which are generated.

Common uses of graphic design include identity (logos and branding), web sites, publications (magazines, newspapers, and books), advertisements and product packaging WD passport essential SE (750GB/1TB)--USB 3.0) .

For example, a product package might include a logo or other artwork, organized text and pure design elements such as shapes and color which unify the piece. Composition is one of the most important features of graphic design, especially when using pre-existing materials or diverse elements WD passport essential (500GB/640GB) .

History

While Graphic Design as a discipline has a relatively recent history, with the name 'graphic design" first coined by William Addison Dwiggins in 1922, graphic design-like activities span the history of humankind: from the caves of Lascaux, to Rome's Trajan's Column to the illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages, to the dazzling neons of Ginza WD passport for Mac(320GB/500GB) .

In both this lengthy history and in the relatively recent explosion of visual communication in the 20th and 21st centuries, there is sometimes a blurring distinction and over-lapping of advertising art, graphic design and fine art. After all, they share many of the same elements, theories, principles, practices and languages, and sometimes the same benefactor or client WD passport for Mac(640GB/1TB) .

In advertising art the ultimate objective is the sale of goods and services. In graphic design, "the essence is to give order to information, form to ideas, expression and feeling to artifacts that document human experience."

The advent of printing

During the Tang Dynasty (618–906) between the 4th and 7th century A.D. wood blocks were cut to print on textiles and later to reproduce Buddhist texts My book essential 4 generation (640GB/1TB) .

A Buddhist scripture printed in 868 is the earliest known printed book. Beginning in the 11th century, longer scrolls and books were produced using movable type printing making books widely available during the Song dynasty (960–1279).Sometime around 1450, Johann Gutenberg's printing press made books widely available in Europe WD My book essential 4 generation( 1.5TB/2TB) .

The book design of Aldus Manutius developed the book structure which would become the foundation of western publication design. This era of graphic design is called Humanist or Old Style.

Emergence of the design industry

In late 19th century Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, the movement began to separate graphic design from fine art WD My book elite( 1TB/1.5TB) .

In 1849, Henry Cole became one of the major forces in design education in Great Britain, informing the government of the importance of design in his Journal of Design and Manufactures. He organized the Great Exhibition as a celebration of modern industrial technology and Victorian design WD My book studio(1TB/2TB) .

From 1891 to 1896 William Morris' Kelmscott Press published books that are some of the most significant of the graphic design products of the Arts and Crafts movement, and made a very lucrative business of creating books of great stylistic refinement and selling them to the wealthy for a premium WD My book essential 4 generation( 1.5TB/2TB) .

Morris proved that a market existed for works of graphic design in their own right and helped pioneer the separation of design from production and from fine art. The work of the Kelmscott Press is characterized by its obsession with historical styles. This historicism was, however, important as it amounted to the first significant reaction to the stale state of nineteenth-century graphic design WD My book elite(640GB/2TB) .

Morris' work, along with the rest of the Private Pressmovement, directly influenced Art Nouveau and is indirectly responsible for developments in early twentieth century graphic design in general.

Twentieth century design

The name "Graphic Design" first appeared in print in the 1922 essay "New Kind of Printing Calls for New Design" by William Addison Dwiggins, an American book designer in the early 20th century Seagate expansion portable (320GB/500GB) .

Raffe's Graphic Design, published in 1927, is considered to be the first book to use "Graphic Design" in its title.

The signage in the London Underground is a classic design example of the modern era and used a font designed by Edward Johnston in 1916 Seagate expansion (1.5TB/2TB) .

In the 1920s, Soviet constructivism applied 'intellectual production' in different spheres of production. The movement saw individualistic art as useless in revolutionary Russia and thus moved towards creating objects for utilitarian purposes. They designed buildings, theater sets, posters, fabrics, clothing, furniture, logos, menus, etc Seagate Freeagent Desktop (500GB/1TB) .

Jan Tschichold codified the principles of modern typography in his 1928 book, New Typography. He later repudiated the philosophy he espoused in this book as being fascistic, but it remained very influential. Tschichold, Bauhaus typographers such as Herbert Bayer and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and El Lissitzky are the fathers of graphic design as we know it today Seagate Freeagent Go(250GB/320GB) .

They pioneered production techniques and stylistic devices used throughout the twentieth century. The following years saw graphic design in the modern style gain widespread acceptance and application. A booming post-World War II American economy established a greater need for graphic design, mainly advertising and packaging Seagate Freeagent Go(500GB/640GB) .

The emigration of the German Bauhaus school of design to Chicago in 1937 brought a "mass-produced" minimalism to America; sparking a wild fire of "modern" architecture and design. Notable names in mid-century modern design include Adrian Frutiger, designer of the typefaces Univers and Frutiger Seagate Freeagent Go(750GB/1TB) ;

Paul Rand, who, from the late 1930s until his death in 1996, took the principles of the Bauhaus and applied them to popular advertising and logo design, helping to create a uniquely American approach to European minimalism while becoming one of the principal pioneers of the subset of graphic design known as corporate identity Seagate Freeagent Goflex(250GB/320GB) ;

and Josef Müller-Brockmann, who designed posters in a severe yet accessible manner typical of the 1950s and 1970s era.

Applications

From road signs to technical schematics, from interoffice memorandums to reference manuals, graphic design enhances transfer of knowledge. Readability is enhanced by improving the visual presentation of text Seagate Freeagent Goflex(500GB/640GB) .

Design can also aid in selling a product or idea through effective visual communication. It is applied to products and elements of company identity like logos, colors, packaging, and text. Together these are defined as branding (see also advertising) Seagate Freeagent Goflex(750GB/1TB) .

Branding has increasingly become important in the range of services offered by many graphic designers, alongside corporate identity. Whilst the terms are often used interchangeably, branding is more strictly related to the identifying mark or trade name for a product or service Seagate Freeagent Goflex Pro(500GB/750GB) ,

whereas corporate identity can have a broader meaning relating to the structure and ethos of a company, as well as to the company's external image. Graphic designers will often form part of a team working on corporate identity and branding projects. Other members of that team can include marketing professionals, communications consultants and commercial writers Seagate Freeagent Goflex desktop(1TB/2TB) .

Textbooks are designed to present subjects such as geography, science, and math. These publications have layouts which illustrate theories and diagrams. A common example of graphics in use to educate is diagrams of human anatomy. Graphic design is also applied to layout and formatting of educational material to make the information more accessible and more readily understandable Seagate Freeagent go for Mac(320GB/640GB) .

Graphic design is applied in the entertainment industry in decoration, scenery, and visual story telling. Other examples of design for entertainment purposes include novels, comic books, DVD covers,opening credits and closing credits in film, and programs and props on stage. This could also include artwork used for t-shirts and other items screenprinted for sale Samsung G2 protable (250gb/320GB) .

From scientific journals to news reporting, the presentation of opinion and facts is often improved with graphics and thoughtful compositions of visual information - known as information design. Newspapers, magazines, blogs, television and film documentaries may use graphic design to inform and entertain Samsung G2 protable (500GB/640GB) .

With the advent of the web, information designers with experience in interactive tools such as Adobe Flash are increasingly being used to illustrate the background to news stories.

Skills

A graphic design project may involve the stylization and presentation of existing text and either preexisting imagery or images developed by the graphic designer Samsung S2 protable (320GB/500GB) .

For example, a newspaper story begins with the journalists and photojournalists and then becomes the graphic designer's job to organize the page into a reasonable layout and determine if any other graphic elements should be required Samsung S1 Mini (120GB/160GB) .

In a magazine article or advertisement, often the graphic designer or art director will commission photographers or illustrators to create original pieces just to be incorporated into the design layout. Or the designer may utilize stock imagery or photography. Contemporary design practice has been extended to the modern computer, for example in the use of WYSIWYG user interfaces, often referred to as interactive design, or multimedia design Samsung S1 Mini (250GB/320GB) .

Visual arts

Before any graphic elements may be applied to a design, the graphic elements must be originated by means of visual art skills. These graphics are often (but not always) developed by a graphic designer. Visual arts include works which are primarily visual in nature using anything from traditional media, to photography or computer generated art Samsung story station (1TB/1.5TB) .

Graphic design principles may be applied to each graphic art element individually as well as to the final composition.

Typography

Typography is the art, craft and techniques of type design, modifying type glyphs, and arranging type. Type glyphs (characters) are created and modified using a variety of illustration techniques Samsung Story station (1.5TB/2TB) .

The arrangement of type is the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing) and letter spacing.

Typography is performed by typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic artists, art directors, and clerical workers. Until the Digital Age, typography was a specialized occupation. Digitization opened up typography to new generations of visual designers and lay users Samsung story station Esata(1TB/1.5TB) .

Page layout

The page layout aspect of graphic design deals with the arrangement of elements (content) on a page, such as image placement, and text layout and style. Beginning from early illuminated pages in hand-copied books of the Middle Ages and proceeding down to intricate modern magazine and catalogue layouts Samsung G3 station (1TB/1.5TB) ,

structured page design has long been a consideration in printed material. With print media, elements usually consist of type (text), images (pictures), and occasionally place-holder graphics for elements that are not printed with ink such as die/laser cutting, foil stamping or blind embossing Maxtor one touch 4 plus (500GB/750GB) .

Interface design

Since the advent of the World Wide Web and computer software development, many graphic designers have become involved in interface design Maxtor one touch 4 plus (1TB/1.5TB) .

dThis has included web design and software design, when end user interactivity is a design consideration of the layout or interface. Combining visual communication skills with the interactive communication skills of user interaction and online branding, graphic designers often work with software developers and web developers to create both the look and feel of a web site or software application and enhance the interactive experience of the user or web site visitor Maxtor cool black(640GB/1TB) .

An important aspect of interface design is icon design.

Printmaking

Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing on paper and other materials or surfaces. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable of producing multiples of the same piece, which is called a print Maxtor Black diamond (320GB/500GB) .

Each piece is not a copy but an original since it is not a reproduction of another work of art and is technically known as an impression. Painting or drawing, on the other hand, create a unique original piece of artwork. Prints are created from a single original surface, known technically as a matrix Hitachi simple touch (250GB/320GB) .

Common types of matrices include: plates of metal, usually copper or zinc for engraving or etching; stone, used for lithography; blocks of wood for woodcuts, linoleum for linocuts and fabric plates for screen-printing. But there are many other kinds, discussed below Hitachi simple touch (320GB/500GB) .

Works printed from a single plate create an edition, in modern times usually each signed and numbered to form a limited edition. Prints may also be published in book form, as artist's books. A single print could be the product of one or multiple techniques Hitachi life studio (320GB/500GB) .

Chromatics

Chromatics is the field of how eyes perceive color and how to explain and organize those colors in the printer and on the monitor. The Retina in the eye is covered by two light-sensitive receptors that are named rods and cones. Rods are sensitive to light, but not sensitive to color Hitachi life studio (250GB/320GB) .

Cones are the opposite of rods. They are less sensitive to light, but color can be perceived.

Tools

The mind may be the most important graphic design tool. Aside from technology, graphic design requires judgment and creativity. Critical, observational, quantitative and analytic thinking are required for design layouts and rendering Hitachi life studio platinum (250GB/320GB) .

If the executor is merely following a solution (e.g. sketch, script or instructions) provided by another designer (such as an art director), then the executor is not usually considered the designer.

The method of presentation (e.g. arrangement, style, medium) may be equally important to the design Hitachi life studio platinum (320GB/500GB) .

The layout is produced using external traditional ordigital image editing tools. The appropriate development and presentation tools can substantially change how an audience perceives a project.

In the mid 1980s, the arrival of desktop publishing and graphic art software applications introduced a generation of designers to computer image manipulation and creation that had previously been manually executed Hitachi life studio desk (500GB/1TB) .

Computer graphic design enabled designers to instantly see the effects of layout or typographic changes, and to simulate the effects of traditional media without requiring a lot of space. However, traditional tools such as pencils or markers are useful even when computers are used for finalization; a designer or art director may hand sketch numerous concepts as part of the creative processHitachi life studio plus (320GB/500GB) .

Some of these sketches may even be shown to a client for early stage approval, before the designer develops the idea further using a computer and graphic design software tools.

Computers are considered an indispensable tool in the graphic design industry Hitachi life studio plus (320GB/500GB) .

Computers and software applications are generally seen by creative professionals as more effective production tools than traditional methods. However, some designers continue to use manual and traditional tools for production, such as Milton Glaser.

New ideas can come by way of experimenting with tools and methods Hitachi X mobile (250GB/320GB) .

Some designers explore ideas using pencil and paper to avoid creating within the limits of whatever computer fonts, clipart, stock photos, or rendering filters (e.g. Kai's Power Tools) are available on any particular configuration. Others use many different mark-making tools and resources from computers to sticks and mud as a means of inspiring creativity Hitachi X mobile(320GB/500GB) .

One of the key features of graphic design is that it makes a tool out of appropriate image selection in order to possibly convey meaning Hitachi XL (1TB/2TB) .

Computers and the creative process

There is some debate whether computers enhance the creative process of graphic design. Rapid production from the computer allows many designers to explore multiple ideas quickly with more detail than what could be achieved by traditional hand-rendering or paste-up on paper, moving the designer through the creative process more quickly Toshiba canvio portable(320GB/500GB) .

However, being faced with limitless choices does not help isolate the best design solution and can lead to endless iterations with no clear design outcome.

A graphic designer may use sketches to explore multiple or complex ideas quickly without the distractions and complications of software Toshiba canvio portable(750GB/1TB) .

Hand-rendered comps are often used to get approval for an idea execution before a design invests time to produce finished visuals on a computer or in paste-up. The same thumbnail sketches or rough drafts on paper may be used to rapidly refine and produce the idea on the computer in a hybrid process Toshiba anvio for Mac(500GB/750GB) .

This hybrid process is especially useful in logo design where a software learning curve may detract from a creative thought process. The traditional-design/computer-production hybrid process may be used for freeing one's creativity in page layout or image development as well Toshiba canvio for Mac(750GB/1TB) .

In the early days of computer publishing, many 'traditional' graphic designers relied on computer-savvy production artists to produce their ideas from sketches, without needing to learn the computer skills themselves. However, this practice has been increasingly less common since the advent of desktop publishing over 30 years ago Toshiba External HDD –portable(320GB/500GB) .

The use of computers and graphics software is now taught in most graphic design courses.

Occupations

Graphic design career paths cover all ends of the creative spectrum and often overlap. The main job responsibility of a Graphic Designer is the arrangement of visual elements in some type of media Toshiba portable(500GB/640GB) .