I am not a graphic designer. But as an interaction designer, it is extremely valuable if I can at least envision a visual direction for my designs and rough them out so the whole design holds together cohesively in the final product. Plus at my new job as the solo designer, we don't always have the time or resources to hire a graphic designer.
So I started to read up on graphic design, teaching myself the principles. I checked out a lot of books from the library, and bought others. And the best overall book: The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams. There are 4 basic principles: Contrast, Alignment, Repetition and Proximity. Learn theses basics and apply them to your designs, and you'll do at least as well as me :-)
Here's an example of a web application I designed entirely by myself; it's a Facebook app called Where I Hang. What do you think? Leave me a comment!
So I started to read up on graphic design, teaching myself the principles. I checked out a lot of books from the library, and bought others. And the best overall book: The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams. There are 4 basic principles: Contrast, Alignment, Repetition and Proximity. Learn theses basics and apply them to your designs, and you'll do at least as well as me :-)
Here's an example of a web application I designed entirely by myself; it's a Facebook app called Where I Hang. What do you think? Leave me a comment!
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