Art & Design - From Basics to Practice of Visual Expression
By understanding basic design principles and enhancing visual communication ability, you can improve the quality of all creative activities.
The Significance of Learning Design
Design is not merely "technique for making things look good." It is a way of thinking for organizing information, accurately conveying intent, and prompting action. From presentation materials to websites, social media posts, and even daily memos - we engage with some form of visual expression daily.
By knowing design's basic principles, the quality of all these outputs improves. Also, you become able to verbalize "why you feel something is good" about excellent design and develop the ability to objectively evaluate your own work.
Four Basic Principles of Design
There are basic principles commonly covered in many design books:
- Proximity: Grouping related elements together
- Alignment: Aligning elements on invisible lines
- Repetition: Repeating consistent styles
- Contrast: Making important elements stand out
These principles can be understood and immediately practiced even by non-design professionals.
Recommended Books
The books introduced here provide useful content for everyone from design beginners to intermediate learners. We've selected classic books that have been read for a long time, with a balanced approach between theory and practice.
The Non-Designer's Design Book (4th Edition)
Even people without professional design education can dramatically improve design quality just by understanding four basic principles. Using familiar creations like business cards, flyers, and presentation materials as examples, it visually explains the differences between good and bad design. The Japanese edition also includes explanations of Japanese typography, making it immediately applicable to practice.
- The four principles of proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast form the foundation of design
- If you know design rules, you can create good design even without natural sense
- Understanding how to combine fonts greatly changes impression
- Learning through before/after format makes improvement points clear
![ノンデザイナーズ・デザインブック [第4版]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61JAysNAYBL._SL1000_.jpg)
ノンデザイナーズ・デザインブック [第4版]
Robin Williams, 米谷 テツヤ, 小原 司, 吉川 典秀 / マイナビ出版; 第4版 / 2016-06-30
デザイナーでない人のための、デザインの定番基本書。待望の第4...
The Design of Everyday Things (Expanded Edition)
A masterpiece that reveals the essence of design from a cognitive science perspective. It scientifically analyzes the causes of everyday 'difficulty to use' such as why we get confused about pushing or pulling doors and why remotes are hard to use. This book teaches the importance of user-centered design not only to designers but to everyone involved in product development and service design.
- Good design can be understood how to use without instructions
- User mistakes are design problems, not people problems
- Affordances and signifiers enable intuitive operation
- Design starts not just with appearance but with understanding human behavior and psychology
誰のためのデザイン？ 増補・改訂版 ―認知科学者のデザイン原論
D. A. ノーマン, 岡本明, 安村通晃, 伊賀聡一郎, 野島久雄 / 新曜社; 増補・改訂版 / 2015-04-23
製品デザインの世界に衝撃を与え,大ロングセラーとなった初版か...
That Makes Sense Design
A book characterized by a structure that allows intuitive visual understanding of how design works. It explains how each element like text, color, photos, and layout functions through abundant visual examples. By reading it as an 'experience book' rather than a theory book, design thinking is naturally acquired.
- Design always has a 'purpose' and is a means to achieve it
- Visually expressing information priority is fundamental to design that communicates
- Colors and shapes have meaning; using them appropriately strengthens messages
- Good design reduces viewer burden and aids understanding
Design Introduction Classroom (Special Lecture)
A textbook for systematically learning design fundamentals from layout, color scheme, typography, to photo handling. Structured in a 'learn, think, create' class format, it allows progressive advancement from knowledge acquisition to practice. It is useful not only for those who want to work in design but also for those who want to improve the quality of business materials.
- Design can be constructed through logic, not just intuition
- How whitespace is used greatly affects information readability
- There are rules for color schemes; knowing them eliminates hesitation in color selection
- Font selection is an important element that determines the impression of design
![デザイン入門教室[特別講義] 確かな力を身に付けられる ~学び、考え、作る授業~ (Design&IDEA)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71p93SyvnYL._SL1500_.jpg)
デザイン入門教室[特別講義] 確かな力を身に付けられる ~学び、考え、作る授業~ (Design&IDEA)
坂本 伸二 / SBクリエイティブ / 2015-07-01
すぐに使えて、ずっと役立つ基本のルール グラフィックワークか...
Summary
Design is not special talent but a skill anyone can improve through learning. By understanding basic principles, seeing many good examples, and actually working with your hands, you can steadily build ability. Through the books introduced here, raise your expressive ability to the next level.