The use of textures and biomimicry is a powerful technique for creating compelling designs. Texture is the surface quality or feel of an object. The way your skin rubs against the rough fabric of a wool blanket — a sensation and experience created solely by the quality of texture. In graphic design, texture is generally only a visual thing, but it creates a physical illusion and it continues to play a leading role in the creation of all types of visual elements. In this article, we’ll walk you through ways that texture can be incorporated into your own designs.
Use Natural Textures to Bring Organic Life to Your Designs
The first trick on our list is to incorporate natural textures. Natural texture imagery comprises things like the crisp look of fresh grass or the touch of a feather and inspiration can be taken from every corner of our world. Implementing natural elements into design infuses it with life, bringing vividness and beauty to the result.
In the poster above, Keith Barney has created a brilliant example of how nature’s texture can be intertwined with graphic elements to create a compelling poster design. The same immersion effect (of the text being immersed into the animal’s head) can be achieved with the use of botanical photography where certain areas of the foliage are deleted to make the text look like it’s popping out of the leaves.
Designer, Dawid Sieradzki, has managed to strike the perfect balance between natural texture and minimalist art creating an organic design. The color-inverted flowers grab the attention of the viewer with their earthy beauty and the deepness of their colors and texture, and they contrast brilliantly with the white text and circular image at the heart of the design. The key design lesson here is to set contrast between a natural-textured background and a striking foreground. To achieve the same effect, choose a background with similar natural qualities, hues and tones to the one above and overlay it with a powerful message.
Make a Bold Statement With Textured Typography
Texture can be combined with typography to create stunning design effects. Typographical art offers a wide spectrum of design variations that add diversity and accent to modern minimalist designs. Depending on type size, shape, color and texture, typography art can create a powerful statement without the need for complex design compositions.
This “A” poster by Eren Saracevic is an absolutely gorgeous example of textured typography applied in contemporary graphic design. The design is achieved with the use of 3D splatter visualisation transferred into 2D poster design.
Use Tactile Texture To Build Visual Interest
Unlike purely visual textures, tactile textures are those with a physical quality. Tactile textures come with a wide variety of uses, especially in print art where the paper type, glossy ink layers and matte surfaces attract the viewers’ attention and transforms it into a physical interest towards the design and creates a bond between the visual and physical qualities of the object.
This gallery opening poster is a wonderful example of tactile texture applied in graphic design. The title’s texture is beautifully interlaced with the poster’s overall minimalist style. Creating a similar image can be done with the use of 3D text visualisation or photographed lettering placed on a clean background.
Create Immersive Graphic Design With Textured Graphics
Textured graphics and backgrounds can be used in your designs in a way that gives them the effect that they are truly immersed. Immersing visual texture into your design features brings depth and detail to your art. This beautiful poster by PKG Branding is a great example of how immersing visual texture (the stunning plant feature) into the textual message of a design can be used to create an overall striking design
Fabian De Lange’ s exquisite poster design is another gorgeous example of immersive texture interlaced with graphic elements. The “Mumbai” art project represents a beautiful composition of 3D leafs and textile which intertwine with the surrounding minimalist graphics to create an immersive design.
Inspired by the role of textile in the Eastern culture, this poster of the ING Creative Festival makes a beautiful statement. The aim of this project is to maximise the impact of the photography while keeping a simple layout. The isolated fabric textures slightly overlap the ING logo to create a sense of immersion.
Aim To Create Visually Provoking Designs With Textured Backgrounds
Textured backgrounds are one of the most powerful tools for creating visually provoking graphic designs. They create an accent in design compositions by capturing attention with bright colors and diverse shapes. Background textures and photographs are an unconventional way of sending out a message to the viewer and building captivating designs.
The Saxon Campbell breast cancer awareness poster beautifully uses texture, shape and color to remind us of the core message of the topic without actually presenting a raw image. The same effect can be created by applying a slightly blurred photo or referencing texture in the background.
The Wrap
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