3D

Something having three dimensions e.g. width, length, and depth. Three-dimensional space is a geometric model of the physical universe in which we live. The three dimensions are commonly called length, width, and depth (or height), although any three mutually perpendicular directions can serve as the three dimensions.

Color Visual

Color is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, yellow, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light (distribution of light energy versus wavelength) interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors. Color categories and physical specifications of color are also associated with objects, materials, light sources, etc., based on their physical properties such as light absorption, reflection, or emission spectra.

Colours

Color selection for Website design is a topic that's been approached from many different angles. Some people approach it from a standpoint, explaining how to ensure readability and cross-platform compatibility. Some well-meaning people try to explain that design is all about feelings, describing colors with such hallucinatory delineations as happiness, energy, and stability. Others come to the table with advertising concerns like, "Yellow means cheap, green means money, and black may mean elegance. Have you ever wondered where designers get that mystical ability to say whether a color is or is not "working"? While it's true that sea-foam green doesn't make a good accent for a palette of primary colors, nobody really explains why. Just like having a knack for programming concepts, some natural ability can be advantageous when you're working with color, but most of the skills can be gained from a basic understanding of color theory. Armed with a little knowledge and a few safe rules of thumb, you'll be more dangerous with a palette than a card-counter at a poker table.

Communicate with Color

First impressions are lasting impressions, and Web designers have only a fleeting moment to engage a visitor. According to the Institute for Color Research, "all human beings make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or item within 90 seconds of initial viewing, and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone.

Elements of information graphics

The basic material of an information graphic is the data, information, or knowledge that the graphic presents. In the case of data, the creator may make use of automated tools such as graphing software to represent the data in the form of lines, boxes, arrows, and various symbols and pictograms. The information graphic might also feature a key which defines the visual elements in plain English. A scale and labels are also common.

Rendering

Rendering is the process of generating an image from a model, by means of computer programs. The model is a description of three dimensional objects in a strictly defined language or data structure. It would contain geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting, and shading information. The image is a digital image or raster graphics image. The term may be by analogy with an "artist's rendering" of a scene. 'Rendering' is also used to describe the process of calculating effects in a video editing file to produce final video output.

Image

In common usage, an image or picture is an artifact, usually two-dimensional, that has a similar appearance to some subject usually a physical object or a person. Images may be two-dimensional, such as a photograph, screen display, and as well as a three-dimensional, such as a statue. They may be captured by optical devices such as cameras, mirrors, lenses, telescopes, microscopes, etc. and natural objects and phenomena, such as the human eye or water surfaces.
A digital image is a representation of a two-dimensional image using ones and zeros (binary). Depending on whether or not the image resolution is fixed, it may be of vector or raster type. Without qualifications, the term "digital image" usually refers to raster images.

3D computer graphics

3D computer graphics in contrast to 2D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. Such images may be for later display or for real-time viewing. Despite these differences, 3D computer graphics rely on many of the same algorithms as 2D computer vector graphics in the wire frame model and 2D computer raster graphics in the final rendered display. In computer graphics software, the distinction between 2D and 3D is occasionally blurred; 2D applications may use 3D techniques to achieve effects such as lighting, and primarily 3D may use 2D rendering techniques. 3D computer graphics are often referred to as 3D models. Apart from the rendered graphic, the model is contained within the graphical data file. However, there are differences. A 3D model is the mathematical representation of any three-dimensional object (either inanimate or living). A model is not technically a graphic until it is visually displayed. Due to 3D printing, 3D models are not confined to virtual space. A model can be displayed visually as a two-dimensional image through a process called 3D rendering, or used in non-graphical computer simulations and calculations.

Pixel art

Pixel art is a form of digital art, created through the use of raster graphics software, where images are edited on the pixel level. Graphics in most old (or relatively limited) computer and video games, graphing calculator games, and many mobile phone games are mostly pixel art.

Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways. The most common method of presenting animation is as a motion picture or video program, although several other forms of presenting animation also exist.

Design Principles

If you've visited any CSS gallery sites lately, you may have noticed that church web sites are popping up all over the place, with designs ranging from cliched grunge to classic and refined. Being Christmas, Darren decided it was a good time to explore just what went into creating an online presence for a spiritual organization.

The PNG Image Format

PNG is a relatively new invention compared to GIF or JPEG, although it's been around for a while now. (Sadly some browsers such as IE6 still don't support them fully.) It stands for Portable Network Graphics. It was designed to be an alternative to the GIF file format, but without the licensing issues that were involved in the GIF compression method at the time. There are two types of PNG: PNG-8 format, which holds 8 bits of colour information comparable to GIF), and PNG-24 format, which holds 24 bits of colour (comparable to JPEG).

PNG-8 often compresses images even better than GIF, resulting in smaller file sizes. On the other hand, PNG-24 is often less effective than JPEGs at compressing true-colour images such as photos, resulting in larger file sizes than the equivalent quality JPEGs. However, unlike JPEG, PNG-24 is lossless, meaning that all of the original image's information is preserved.

PNG also supports transparency like GIF, but can have varying degrees of transparency for each pixel, whereas GIFs can only have transparency turned on or off for each pixel. This means that whereas transparent GIFs often have jagged edges when placed on complex or ill-matching backgrounds, transparent PNGs will have nice smooth edges.

The JPEG Image Format

JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, a bunch of boffins who invented this format to display full-colour photographic images in a portable format with a small file size. Like GIF images, they are also very common on the Web. Their main advantage over GIFs is that they can display true-colour images (up to 16 million colours), which makes them much better for images such as photographs and illustrations with large numbers of colours.

The main disadvantage of the JPEG format is that it is lossy. This means that you lose some of the detail of your image when you convert it to JPEG format. Boundaries between blocks of colour may appear more blurry, and areas with lots of detail will lose their sharpness. On the other hand, JPEGs do preserve all of the colour information in the image, which of course is great for high-colour images such as photographs.

JPEGs also can't do transparency or animation - in these cases, you'll have to use the GIF format (or PNG format for transparency).

Summary of image formats

Design and art

Design is often viewed as a more rigorous form of art, or art with a clearly defined purpose. The distinction is usually made when someone other than the artist is defining the purpose. In graphic arts the distinction is often made between fine art
and commercial art.
Design implies a conscious effort to create something that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. For example, a graphic artist may design an advertisement poster. This person's job is to communicate the advertisement message (functional
aspect) and to make it look good (aesthetically pleasing). The distinction between pure and applied arts is not completely clear, but one may consider Jackson Pollock's (often criticized as "splatter") paintings as an example of pure art. One may assume his art does not convey a message based on the obvious differences between an advertisement poster and the mere possibility of an abstract message of a Jackson Pollock painting. One may speculate that Pollock, when painting, worked more
intuitively than would a graphic artist, when consciously designing a poster. However, Mark Getlein suggests the principles of design are "almost instinctive", "built-in", "natural", and part of "our sense of 'rightness'."[8] Pollock, as a trained artist, may have utilized design whether conscious or not.