CRAP! (that's an acronym)

Paper PokeMaster

Paper PokeMaster

<witty usertitle goes here>
Member
I've seen a lot of graphics with tons of room for improvement. So I've decided to post this tutorial about CRAP. Yes, you read me right. CRAP.

The filter changed the acronym to crud, but I think you can tell what it is. ;)

CRAP means Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity. No, I did not make this up. I heard it from one of the graphic design teachers at OCCC. Maybe she made it up. Anyway... Let's go into detail about what all this means.

Contrast- Make things stand out. Well, the focal point needs to stand out. If the background stands out, then that's a bad thing.

Repetition- Repeat some elements of the graphic. Mainly for fonts, but for some other things as well.

Alignment- The placement of objects in the graphic in relation to each other. Ever heard of the Golden Ratio (or whatever it's called)?

Proximity- The distance between two elements. Not good to have them too close, but it's also bad to have things far away.

Allow me to show two well-known graphics that follow the rules of CRAP.


final_fantasy_vii_logo.jpg

Let's look at the Final Fantasy logo and inspect its CRAP elements.

Contrast- The contrast here is the white background against the black text and green art. The simple white background draws attention to the text and art.

Repetition- The repetition here is the font used for FINAL FANTASY VII. It uses the same font, not two different ones. Or even three. This makes the text look good without distracting you from the overall look of the logo.

Alignment- The alignment here is pretty good. The second I in both of the VIIs lines up perfectly. The edges of the artwork line up with the N and the V in the large text above the line. It extends below the line twice the height of the Japanese text.

Proximity- Notice the distance between the letters in FINAL FANTASY. Now notice the distance between the line and all of the text. It's the same. Having the same distance between elements is very good. However, having a slightly different distance can look bad, so be careful!



the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-logo.jpg

Let's inspect this Zelda logo now. This one's CRAP may be a little harder to find.

Contrast- The red text of ZELDA stands out from the largely blue background images. In the game, its playing a little movie behind the logo so the white doesn't count.

Repetition- THE LEGEND OF and OCARINA OF TIME both use the same font. Also, the blue and yellow color scheme is repeated between the sword and shield in the background. The same shade of red is used on the eagle thing on the shield and on ZELDA.

Alignment- The Z in ZELDA is perfectly centered on the shield. Also, the blade of the sword lines up exactly with the / in the Z. The left edge of the L and D  in ZELDA line up with the left edge of the T in THE and the right corner of the L in LEGEND. The bottom right corner of the A lines up with the right edge of the E in TIME.

Proximity- The small text on the top and bottom both are the same distance away from ZELDA. THE is the same distance away from the sword, the shield and ZELDA. The O in OCARINA is the same distance away from the shield that it is from ZELDA.

So, hopefully, looking at these examples have shown you what CRAP is and how to use it. Now you can make better images than ever before! Have fun.

Original Post
 
RE: crud! (that's an acronym)

Fan Creations forum.

*Moved*

dmaster out.
 
RE: crud! (that's an acronym)

Question from a person that is no good at art. I have heard of blinding contrast that don't appeal and instead hurt the eyes of an art critic. How do you tell the difference between good contrast and bad contrast?
 
RE: crud! (that's an acronym)

How do you tell the difference. That is a question I've been wanting answered for a while. How do you because surely it depends on how contrasted you want, doesn't it?
 
RE: crud! (that's an acronym)

Zyflair said:
Question from a person that is no good at art. I have heard of blinding contrast that don't appeal and instead hurt the eyes of an art critic. How do you tell the difference between good contrast and bad contrast?
Click to expand...

I don't own the thread, but I think some advice could be given, feel free to not even pay attention to this post if you don't want to Zyflair.

Good Contrast: When you can see the letters clearly and easily. Where the important objects of the picture are pointed out, and easy to find.

Bad Contrast: When you cannot see the letters clearly, or maybe not at all. Or when the objects of the picture are so contrasting to the rest of the picture it looks as if it doesn't belong there at all. Kind of like green-screen back in the sixties.
 
RE: crud! (that's an acronym)

Haha sort of. Good contrast is where the focal point stands out and the colors look good. Also so the background color or pattern doesn't distract from the focal point. Example- those thin sig bars. they have colors that look good and a simple background pattern.

Bad contrast is when you can't see the focal point or text or if there's a distracting color or pattern in the background.
Think of a banner where both the text and the backgound are bright pink. All over the entire banner are huge purple hearts that are really shiny. Hideous and distracting. :x
 
RE: crud! (that's an acronym)

I like how the forum censors completely butcher this thread lol
 
RE: crud! (that's an acronym)

Paper PokeMaster said:
Think of a banner where both the text and the backgound are bright pink. All over the entire banner are huge purple hearts that are really shiny. Hideous and distracting. :x
Click to expand...


What if you want it like that? (Which is my point.)
 
RE: crud! (that's an acronym)

If you want it like that, then it's your choice. No rules can override what people want.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top