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design friday :: CMY what?

After last week's post, Amy asked this question:

Ok, I get rgb and cmyk are different color groups or maybe it is settings. What I don't get is why? Is it like pc and mac, the same but way different?

Which is a great introduction to this week's topic.

Last week I explained the concept of color models...RGB, CMYK, etc. Today, we'll look more closely at these two models and why they exist.

Additive vs Subtractive Color

The easiest way to begin this is to talk about colors that are projected (think computer monitor or TV) and colors that are printed (think magazines and brochures). One uses additive color and the other uses subtractive color.

Remember I explained that color models give us the language we need to communicate about color? Well, the language we use to describe projected color is different from the language we use to describe printed color. Projected color is additive color while printed color is subtractive color. Why? Read on.

Visible light is a small part of the spectrum and each color of the spectrum has a specific frequency. Adding different colors of light together increases the number of frequencies and the more colors you add the closer it comes to white. No light means no color, or black. Therefore, light is an additive color system and any device that uses light to project color (computer monitors and TV sets) uses this color system.

Got that? An additive system uses the addition of colors to achieve white. Think of it as painting with light and colors are formed by "mixing" the light. If you mix them all together you get white. The absence of light yields black. Makes sense, right? Let's move on.

The color you see printed on paper uses a subtractive color system. This is the color system we've been familiar with since childhood. It's the color system we use when we paint or use markers or crayons and it works exactly the opposite of the additive system.

Remember how I explained how we see color on objects? When light hits an object part of the spectrum is absorbed. The rest is reflected off of an object and those are the colors we see. Let's use printing ink as an example.

Ink absorbs some of the parts of the light spectrum. The colors we see are the parts of the spectrum that are not absorbed but are reflected off the surface of the inked paper. Mixing inks makes a darker color because more light is absorbed. It logically follows, therefore, that by removing or "subtracting" color you reach a point of zero ink. Instead of black, as in the additive or light method, zero ink yields nothing or "white" in the subtractive color system.

So, here's an easy way to remember them. Zero color in a projected (additive) system means no light or blackness. Zero color in a printed (subtractive) system means no color or white.

Okay, I promise that's the end of the technical discussion of color. But I thought it was important to explain in case you run into these terms again. Now we can move on to RGB and CMYK...which will be easy to understand now that you've got additive and subtractive under your belt.

RGB Color Model

RGB stands for red, green and blue...the three colors that are used to create images on a computer monitor. RGB uses the additive color system. We all learned in grade school that red, yellow and blue are the primary colors which, when mixed, create all the other perceived colors. Well, that's exactly what happens in an RGB system, except the three "primary" colors used are red, green and blue.

We know that if we mix equal parts of red and green paint we'll get yellow, right? And if we adjust the percentages of either primary color, we'll get differing results. The same is true for RGB. An RGB "formula" looks something like this:

R:255, G:255, B:0

This happens to be the formula for yellow...equal parts red and green. But what does the 255 mean? Well, here's the short answer. (Remember, I promised not to discuss anything else technical.)

Let me see if I can make this simple. There are 256 possible color values for every pixel on a monitor. Values are assigned decimal numbers beginning with 0 and ending with 255. So, the absence of red would mean 0 red. 33% red would mean 85, 50% red would mean 127, etc. Don't ask me why they made this so complex! It just is.

Anyway, the same holds true for the other two primary colors, blue and green. Mixing these three colors and adjusting their percentages yields all the colors you see on your monitor. 0% (RGB:0) of each color yields black and 100% (RGB:255) of each color yields white.

Here's a very hastily put together diagram illustrating the RGB color model.

And that, in a nutshell, explains RGB formulas.

CMYK Color Model

CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black)...the four colors that make up the standard printing process. CMYK uses the subtractive color system and is used for printing on presses and color computer printers. When the three primary colors of this model are mixed together they produce a muddy black, so black ink (called the key) is added as the fourth color.

Unlike RGB, which uses a decimal numbering system to specify how much of each color to mix, CMYK uses a more intuitive percentage specification.

For example, this blue is a color mix of 75% cyan, 25% magenta, 5% yellow and 0% black.

Commercial printing presses as well as most desktop inkjet printers use a process that combines overlapping dots of cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks to create continuous tone images. A good illustration of this is the Sunday comics page. Sometimes, if you look closely enough or with a magnifier, you can see the individual dots of ink.

You can see a very good illustration of the CMYK printing process at this Wikipedia page. Here's a diagram illustrating the CMYK color model.

At this point you may be asking yourself, "If my desktop photo printer uses CMYK, should I be working with that color model instead of RGB?" The answer is no. Only designers who are preparing images for commercial printing need to worry about CMYK. Your desktop printer's drivers are designed to "transpose" the RGB colors into the correct application of the printer's cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks.

I hope this clarifies some of the mysteries surrounding RGB and CMYK.

Answering Amy's question

So you can see, Amy, that RGB and CMYK are not at all like PC and Mac...the same but different. They are more like different and different. Each model answers a specific need.

later...

design friday :: let's talk about color

I have wanted to post on the topic of color for a long time. The problem is, color is such a BIG topic that I could never do it justice in a single post. So, how about I devote the next few (or more) design friday posts to different topics related to color?

Starting now...

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What is color?

Color is the byproduct of the spectrum of light, as it is reflected or absorbed, as received by the human eye and processed by the human brain. Visible light is made of seven wavelength groups. These are the colors you see in a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. When light hits objects, some of the wavelengths are absorbed and some are reflected, depending on the materials in the object. The reflected wavelengths are what we perceive as the object's color.

Now, when I first learned this years ago it was mind-blowing. Color is a "byproduct?" It's actually a perception of light rather than a property in and of itself? An object is not inherently blue or green but is actually reflecting or emitting a property that my eye perceives as blue or green? This is some cool geek stuff! (If I'm impressed by this, then I obviously didn't pay much attention in physics class.)

Anyway, I learned this (or re-learned it) when I began to care about color as a design element and as an artist's tool. I also learned that while color is definitely a science, it's not an exact science and none of us sees color exactly the same.

In the upcoming weeks I hope to explore color. Not from a scientific perspective, but from an artistic and design perspective. We'll start by discussing color models. Then we'll talk about color management and why it's needed. From there, we can delve into color palettes and the usage of color in design.

What is a color model?

A color model is a numerical system used to describe colors. Imagine trying to describe a color to someone who does not see color. You can't without some kind of agreed upon language. Color models are those languages.

The monitor you're viewing this page with uses an RGB (Red, Green, Blue) color model. There's also CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black), HSL (Hue, Saturation & Lightness), LAB (Light, a, b) and more. The two you'll most likely encounter and we'll explore are RGB and CMYK...starting next week.

In the meantime, if there's something specific you'd like to know about color...something you've been dying to ask. Now's the time! Leave a comment or send me an e-mail and I'll make sure to cover it in a future post.

later...

design friday :: it's greek to me!

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.

Every graphic designer is familiar with this particular sentence. The passage is used as placeholder text to illustrate a layout until the actual text is inserted. When used in this way it's often called "greeking." But it's not Greek! "Lorem ipsum" has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature by Cicero from 45 BC.

Why insert Latin text instead of English...or French or Spanish, for that matter? Because it is a known fact that it's easy to get distracted reading the contents of a body of text when you're supposed to be looking at the layout itself, that's why!

For example... Here's a sample scrapbook page layout. I've used a monochromatic color palette with shading and decorative shapes to indicate the papers and embellishments or digital elements. At this stage I'm only interested in how the layout works. If the layout works, it will work no matter what color palette I use.

 

 

I've inserted placeholder text as a "stand in" for actual journaling.

 

Generating Lorem ipsum text

At this point you're probably asking yourself, "Does she type all that crap in every time she needs dummy text?" Good question! And the answer is absolutely not. I have a handy-dandy little generator widget for my Mac dashboard. It's called, appropriately enough, Lorem Ipsum.

But you don't need a piece of software to generate your own dummy text. There are lots of online generators you can use. To find them, just search using the term "lorem ipsum generator."

I used this one, from Designer's toolbox, until I found my widget.

   

Lorem ipsum...what does it mean?

According to the Designer's toolbox it roughly translates to...

"There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain…"

Hmmm...

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It's not too late to put your name in the hat for the second giveaway! Scroll down for the details.

later...

design friday :: bookshelf

Today's post is in response to a comment from the last design friday post about Before & After. Monica writes:

I've been reading your blog for quite a while now, and always enjoy it! You have such great ideas about design, which is something that I am slowly learning about. I'm a high school teacher and will be teaching, for the first time, the CS3 Suite to 10th graders this fall. I was endlessly searching for good resources for myself and my students, and I think that Before & After will definitely fit our needs.

Have you ever read their design books? I see that they have two from PeachPit press, and am currently looking for design textbooks as well so I can teach them more than just the mechanics of how to use the software.

Good for you, Monica! You have quite a challenge ahead...teaching 10th graders CS3 and something about design. I suppose the biggest challenge will be not getting bogged down in design theory and keeping it all interesting for them (and you). As I'm sure you know, the subject of design can be a class all on its own. That said, here are a few books I'd recommend you take a look at. There's just enough content in them to be usable, but they're not so dense that you'd never have the time to cover the information. These are the books I recommend to friends who need a quick design education for projects they happen to be working on...church newsletter, business flyer, or something else personal.

Let's start with the two books you asked about from John McWade, publisher of Before & After. I am familiar with the two books, Monica, and the one I'd recommend is "Before & After Page Design." The subtitle is "Design principles made visible" and that's exactly what it does. Each design project is presented in a way that not only explains the design principles used, but shows the practical application of those principles. You can see some of the pages from this book at Amazon.

Here are some other books I'd recommend you take a look at. Some of these may be better as background reading for you than as textbooks for your students...that's for you to decide.

• The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams. This is the one I always recommend to desktop publishers. I try to keep one on my bookshelf at all times to hand to a friend. Right now, I don't have one...gave it to my sister. Time to replace it!
• Stop Stealing Sheep & find out how type works by Erik Spiekermann & E. M. Ginger. This one is a perennial textbook in design schools all over the country. It's not a how-to book, but will give you a good foundation in understand typography. And it's fun to read, as well!
• Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton. This one is written by someone who teaches design at the college level. Lupton is an acknowledged expert on the subject of typography.
• Making and Breaking the Grid: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop by Timothy Samara and Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type by Kimberly Elam.  Either of these would be a great introduction to using grids to design.
• Design it Yourself Graphic Workshop by Chuck Green. This one is light on theory, but heavy on the nuts and bolts of getting stuff designed. There are tons of examples with "specs" that you can use in your own layouts. I'm a huge fan of Chuck Green's books and his website, Ideabook, which is another great resource for you.
• Graphic Design Cookbook: Mix & Match Recipes for Faster, Better Layouts by Leonard Koren and R. Wippo Meckler. I use this one myself all the time when I'm stuck for a layout idea.
• I also use Jim Krause's series of "Index" books quite a bit. I have Layout Index, Color Index, Design Basics Index and Photo Idea Index. There are more in this series. These and the Cookbook above aren't meant to teach, though. They're basically idea joggers for designers to use.

Your students will most likely be interested in designing for web, not just for print. While the principles in the books above apply to any design project, they were written primarily for print designers. Here are a couple of books specifically about designing for the web that I'd recommend.

• The Non-Designer's Web Book by Robin Williams and John Tollett. Just like the design book, this is the book I give to people who ask me about learning to design their own web pages.
• Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug. While this book is more about usability than design...you cannot have good web design without incorporating functional usability. It's a very easy read, too!

In addition to books, there are several really good design magazines on the newstands. I'd suggest you have a supply of the latest issues of these in the classroom, available for your students to use:

• How Magazine
• Step Inside Design
• Print
• Communication Arts
• ID Magazine
• CMYK (For design students)
• Dynamic Graphics (Great for design novices)

Of course there's Before & After, which I've already talked about. There are tons more out there...good ones, too. These are just the ones I try to read regularly.

Well...that's all I got! These should at least give you a running start as you peruse the bookshelves at your local store. And thanks, Monica, for asking such a great question! You gave me my topic for design friday.

later...

design friday :: oops!

Ummm...

I'm sitting here in the Borders coffee shop, preparing today's digital post and it dawns on me. I forgot to do my design post on Friday! And, of course, I have nothing prepared. So this will be a quick link to a great design site. In fact, I think I gave them a "Shrine to Design" nod in an older post.

:::

Before & After - How to design cool stuff

Before & After is a design magazine and web site. The very best thing about B&A is that there's no advertising. Not in their magazine and not on their site. The whole thing is just how-to articles and inspiration. I've been a long time subscriber to their print publication and about a year ago increased my subscription to include access to the web articles as well. Here's what they have to say about themselves:

Before & After magazine has been sharing its practical approach to graphic design since 1990. Because our modern world has made designers of us all (ready or not), Before & After is dedicated to making graphic design understandable, useful and even fun for everyone.

And they do! I'm sure I don't have to tell you (but I will anyway) that some of the best information, ideas, techniques, tips and inspiration for scrapbooking can come from design publications. Before & After is one of the best. For example, here are just a few of the recent downloadable articles that totally apply to scrapbooking:

• Design a logo of letters (Note from Renee: Think page titles!)
• How to cool a hot photo. When your photo can't be changed, surround it with cool color.
• What's the right typeface for text?
• Design Talk 11: Five Design Ideas
  Shadow Logo; Photo Callout; Color Contrast; One-Line Title; Mannequin Model. (Note: All cool ideas to spice up a page layout.)

This cool magazine and website aren't free. Since they don't have any advertising, it's totally subscriber supported. For $24 you gain access to 32 articles in individual downloads. They send you an e-mail each time a new article is posted. For $42 you get 4 print issues and all the downloads. Or, you can pay to download individual articles. I renew my dual subscription each year without a second thought. I can't imagine not getting B&A.

Just so you know, I have no financial interest in this company. Just an interest in sharing great resources with others.

Well, there you have it--Design Friday on Monday. Now I have to write another post. Yikes! It doesn't pay to get behind.

later...

a design thought...

"There is no such thing as a good color. There are only good color relationships."
                                                                  Bruce Heavin

design friday :: shrine to design

If you've been following this blog since its inception, you may remember a few posts I wrote titled, "Shrine to Design." They were quite popular and I can't remember why I stopped them.

Anyway...

I've been getting e-mail all week from one of my favorite shrines to design. It's the only company that can get away with sending me spam and not get put on my "spam" list. Today is an exciting day for this company and, of course, there was an e-mail waiting for me first thing this morning. The subject line read: "It's here!"

Therefore...

Today's Shrine to Design is...[drumroll]

The Apple iPhone!

Now don't get me wrong. There's no way I'm going out today to spend $600 on a phone I really don't need. And I make it a habit NOT to stand in line to hand over my money. (I think merchants should be standing in line to talk to ME!) But that doesn't mean I can't admire the beauty and sheer design masterpiece that is the Apple iPhone. Leave it to my friends at Apple to create a new paradigm for the mobile phone.

First runner up to the iPhone is the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Made my first visit last month when I was in the city for the Stationary Show. Gotta love them apples!

later...

design friday :: contrast

I subscribe to a nice little site for creative professionals called Creativepro.com. They regularly send me e-mails that summarize the latest articles...then I pop over to the site to read what interests me. Recently they posted an article about the importance of contrast.

Issues of style and popular convention can distract us from the design essential of contrast. Here's how to come back to basics.

Read the entire article here then come back and tell me what you think. The article was originally written for web designers, but the concepts aren't limited to design for the web. Can you think of ways to use contrast on the scrapbook page?

later...

design friday :: the craft of it

There's an interesting post over on the Design Life Now blog. Ironically (or not so), it was written by Ellen Lupton...who I featured in last Friday's post. Anyways...

In her post, Lupton talks about design as craft...craft as in craftsmanship.

"True craft represents an embodied, lived skill, grounded in the person of the maker, that is acquired over a long period of time."

I like her thoughts on this subject. That not only is there craftsmanship in design, there's craftsmanship in almost every undertaking. For me, craftsmanship is the reward for the amount of time and effort put into developing a skill and it's almost always easy to see in the finished work.

You can read what she has to say here. And while you're at it...check out the entire Design Life Now site. It's pretty cool, too!

later...

design friday :: post the first

"The book is dedicated to the idea that design is a way of thinking and making that is accessible to everyone."

Most mornings you can find me in my favorite local coffee shop...inside Borders. I like to go there and work in the midst of all those lovely books!

While there, I usually pick a section of the store and browse for a bit. The graphic design section is always great because there are so many books. There's always something I haven't seen...even if it's not necessarily new. Such is the case with "D.I.Y. Design It Yourself." This book is a design guide for everyone, edited by Ellen Lupton and designed and written by graduate students and faculty at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore.

Lupton is a writer, curator, and graphic designer. She is director of the MFA program in graphic design at MICA. She also is curator of contemporary design at Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City. I always find her books on design, especially typography, so enlightening.

I love it when designers strive to make design accessible to everyone. And that's what Lupton and her students have done with "D.I.Y". The book is filled with design projects anyone can do. And not only that, you develop good design skills in the process. There's also an accompanying website that supplements the book. They've thought of everything!

Read more by and about Ellen Lupton at these sites:

Ellen Lupton: Design Writing Research
Design Your Life Blog
Thinking With Type
Free Font Manifesto
Maryland Institute College of Art

later...

it's shrine time again!

If you've been a long time reader of this blog, you may remember the Shrines to Design I used to pop in periodically. I know some of you have missed that, because you've written and asked me to please do more.

Since things are in a short lull here in my new studio (yes, I've partly moved back in!) while I wait for the carpenter to do the finishing work, I thought today would make a great shrine day. So, today's Shrine to Design is Japanese designer Hideo Wakamatsu.

I found Wakamatsu's site one weekend when I was searching for the perfect laptop bag. I literally typed in "perfect laptop bag" into Google to see what results I'd get. (I also searched under "cool laptop bag.") While Wakamatsu's site didn't make that first list of results, I did find a site that reviewed laptop bags for Mac Powerbooks. It was there that I found what I consider the perfect laptop trolley for me.

Let me say, though, that I already have three laptop carry bags and 2 pouches. I'm never satisfied. First of all, they're all black. UGH! Next, they each have at least one great feature, but not all the features I need. The one I use most is a sling/backpack by Incase. (Another great design company and worthy of a Shrine Honorable Mention.) This one is really great for everyday use, but I don't like traveling with it. Too heavy. A travel bag must be on wheels.

Which leads to my next bag, which is your typical black laptop wheelaboard. BORING! Plus it's too small to carry anything other than a laptop and paperwork and maybe a few books and magazines. Not good for short trips, where a single bag would be ideal.

We're making three international trips in the next 4 months. I wanted a trolley style bag that was small enough to fit in the overhead bin, had a laptop area and a large enough interior to pack a few items. This bag would also be perfect for weekend trips.

After much searching, I found Hideo Wakamatsu's Three Line carry-on trolley.

This bag beautifully meets all my requirements...and it's only 20" tall! It's a fabulous design, too! Comes in three colors: red, silver and light blue. When Kent saw my bag, he wanted one, too! So we're expecting another Hideo box to arrive on our doorstep very soon.

Now I'm coveting their Randoseru backpack. It's a traditional Japanese childrens' backpack!

In my search for the perfect bag, I did run across a lot of very cool bags. So, if you're in the market for a laptop bag check out...

Casauri, where style and technology click! Yummy colors, great bags. Their Citrus Wheeled Mini was a close 2nd to the Hideo trolley. I'm a sucker for anything green!

   

More cool bag sites to explore:
Crumpler...Australian-designed bags from a Canadian site. Great camera bags, too!
Case Closed Bags...NYC based company. I heart NYC.
Frances & Grace...from right here in Georgia.
Abbi New York...elegant, sophisticated...New York.
I have more...many more. I'll share them at another time.

later...

2 "must have" books

Well...at least they were "must haves" for me!

Just ordered these from Amazon.com:

   

They're both written by the very talented Jim Krause, author of Color Index, Layout Index and Idea Index.

Design Basics Index is filled with inspiration on building design concepts. It's one of those books I'll add to my design library and most likely become well-worn in short order.

Photo Idea Index is the digital photography book I've been looking for...not how to use all the camera bells and whistles, but how to compose and produce interesting, "outside the box" digital photography. And the cool thing is that most of the shots were taken with a little 4 megapixel Canon pocket camera just like mine! It's the camera I carry with me most of the time, so it's the most likely one I'll have available when unexpected photo opportunities present themselves. The rest of the photos in the book were taken with an 8 megapixel Canon SLR...which I also have.

I can't wait for these books to arrive...especially the photo book. I've been wanting to go out and "play" with my cameras for months. This is just the inspiration I need.

later...

today is wednesday...

So it must be Shrine week! No time this week for long posts, so let's fill it with links to more Shrines to Design!

How many times have you seen a font and wondered what it was? Have you posted it on forums hoping someone would recognize it? Well, the answer to your prayers is called What The Font! (Love that name.) Check it out!

Oh! And my book's back in stock and shipping. Color me happy.

later...

told ya!

Told ya posts would be sparse. Told ya I'd be deep into design. Told ya!

But here's some eye-candy I stumbled on today...

It's a gallery of Time Magazine covers at the National Portrait Gallery. Plan to become totally absorbed. I had to drag myself away to get back to work. I think I'll make this today's Shrine to Design! site.

later...

deconstructions

That's what I'm calling layered files that I upload so you can see how I go about designing compositions. You can then download the files, load them into Photoshop or Photoshop Elements and "deconstruct" them. Some will be very simple, others more complex. Today I uploaded the very first one to the Digital Designs Yahoo group.

Yeah, you have to register with the group in order to download the files. But you can opt out of getting the daily e-mails if you don't want them.

The first upload is the image I posted her yesterday...Originality. And you can download that image here.

later...