So I am starting to feel like textures are being under-rated these days. Almost like people forgot about them and what they can do for design. Does anybody else think this or am I just looking in the wrong places? I am a firm believer in the magic of textures. I feel that one texture alone can completely change the mood or tone of a piece. If you have had class with me then you might know about my texture obsession, but I can’t help it. I love them. There are so many to choose from, thousands, and when you use them in the right way they can really give your work that extra pizzazz that is missing or get across the tone that you are trying to convey. You can use familiar textures, recognizable ones that give viewers a familiarity between your work and themselves. Or you can adjust them in such a way that they can be used for emphasis, to highlight or minimize certain aspects of your piece. Also, they are so easily adjustable that they can be used in almost any way. Sometimes I feel that hours of digital effects can be achieved through one texture and little tweaking, but that is just my opinion. I am just all about the textures.
Sheri, I totally agree with you on this subject! I feel like texture is important for design and it can make a good piece of work into a great piece of work. I feel like many designers sometimes just forget about texture in their work, but this reminds me to use it in my work for the future because it really does look great!
ReplyDeleteI love texture! It can definitely change the tone of a piece if used correctly, and you're right that sometimes it's a design aspect that gets passed over because people seem to be really focused on "clean" and "streamlined" design these days. But I've also seen a fair amount of designs that incorporate the two (for example, this blog's template).
ReplyDeleteGAH!!!! I LOVE USING TEXTURE! It adds such a cool dimension to the work. Alas, not every piece I do would benefit from them, in my opinion, but I do so love adding a little tweak to the background through texture.
ReplyDeleteI love texture as well. I frequently take high res photos of various textures that I find in nature or in other environments. I am beginning to put together a collection for myself as a resource for future projects.
ReplyDeleteTexture in graphic design is an art in itself.
ReplyDelete“In graphic design, the use of textures is an awesome way of evoking sensations on the person seeing the design that go beyond the purely visual. Tact is a very powerful sense, and can make something look luxurious and rich instead of just beautiful, or refreshing and cheerful instead of just light. When talking about textures, we can refer to both to the texture of the medium used by the design and the visual appearance of it, as it's the case with digital designs created to be shown on a screen. In the first case, the texture can be actually felt by the person seeing the design, so it becomes even more powerful, but with the adequate use of layered graphics, visual only textures can be equally evoking.”
“In our minds, some visual textures are associated with clear tactile perceptions and they affect how we perceive the message. Because of that, learning to use the right textures for the right goals will increase any graphic designer cache, since it will show his or her ability to make the audience feel what the advertiser wants them to feel when seeing their product or website.”
Textures are rad! Whats so great is that literally any surface can be used for added effects with texture, I definitely agree that they can help to enhance design!
ReplyDeleteI agree, I use textures often. I don't think they are necessarily forgotten, just overlooked or misunderstood. They can do a lot for a photo or graphic, even just subtly.
ReplyDeleteI think we lose a lot of texture because so much of graphic design is now simply sent out and printed, and we (especially as students) don't have the budget to experiment with unique textures.
ReplyDeleteHere's a cool use of texture that I found from the artist who I blogged about in the comments about Threadless. He even mentions having a nice budget for the project that allowed him to be able to do this!
http://www.chrisweibring.com/blog/?p=307
Completely right, I always forget to use them- but they have such character and attitude to them, that other techniques are not able to achieve and when used always make the piece much stronger. Reminds me of the capstone booklets from 2009. They were made to look like a package, with outside brown paper wrapping and inside bubble wrap treatments, bound with twine. Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteI actually feel like I see tons of textures in designs lately. Maybe that's just where I'm looking, but I almost feel like some overuse it. Just like any design element, there is a place and time for texture!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to work more with texture in the future. It does have such a distinct, human look - sort of the other side of the "handmade" discussion posted last week.
ReplyDeleteSheri you totally got me into using textures in my work and I agree with you, they totally add that extra something you might be missing.
ReplyDeleteI knew this was your post just by the title. I also agree with Jenna, thanks to you I got around to finally thinking of textures.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I like textures in regards to design. It brings a unique, interactive element to a piece of art.
ReplyDeleteI love textures I use them for everything. They add so much to a design.
ReplyDeleteI agree with nina, that they may be a little overused lately. Yea, they definitely can be useful and effective, but don't use texture for texture's sake.
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