Creative Curio

Texture can open up a wide world of sensual experience.

When the audience can relate to your design, which is telling the story of a person, business, product or service, they can have a much deeper connection than with a composition devoid of that experience.

What is texture?

Texture is the surface quality of a form or shape. It is a good way to add details to your design. Notice I didn’t say an easy way! Texture can be a complicated element to use effectively, and it exists in many forms, from stripes to rust to typography.

How Can You Use Texture?

Texture can be used to…

• Define shapes or space
• Add visual interest
• Create a mood and emphasize
• Create a tactile response and add realism

Texture to Define

Objects that have a different surface quality than those next to them are separated by their variation in texture. Notice how in this ad that I designed for a college, the absence of the typographic texture creates a shape, in this case the word success. Success stands out more than it would if I had merely dropped black letters spelling success onto an empty white background.

Add Visual Interest

I once had a professor tell me that texture can “make your eyes vibrate.” We are drawn to the details of objects that stimulate our curiosity. We want to see more when a texture piques our interest and we can appreciate these details in a composition. You can add texture with photos, scans of objects, filters in Photoshop, and remember that earlier we discussed how line and shape can add texture, too.

The Mood

Smooth textures describe sophistication, femininity, and softness; they are welcoming, high-end and simple. Rough textures can be violent, masculine, crude, and poor. Emphasize a product’s qualities by tying them to the background. You wouldn’t put a diamond against a background of straw! No! You put it against a piece of satin to show off its richness, luxury and beauty.

Tactile Response and Realism

Have you ever seen a photograph or an illustration so real you could almost touch it? That’s probably because the artist knew how to use texture to create the illusion that you can reach in and touch the objects. Depth is created with texture, too, as shadows and highlights form contours on the surface of a shape.

Other Ways to Add Texture

Outside of the texture you can add to your composition in the digital realm, the paper used to print a piece on also creates texture. Paper can be glossy, matte, smooth or rough. There is no end to the texture you can include through a careful selection of paper!

Varnishes on the paper can also dramatically add to the final texture of a piece. A varnish is a separate coat of clear “ink” applied to all or part a printed piece. This can be a substantially extra cost, but it can add so much uniqueness!

The best way to become familiar with textures is to experiment! Try scanning some different types of paper, take a macro photo of some sand or photocopy some bubble wrap. See what adding them to your composition does. But remember to not let the texture take over your design and obscure the message!

Resources

Tara (of Graphic Design Blog fame) made a great suggestion in the comments. We need a list of texture resources!

• Smashing Magazine has a great article with links to about 27 different texture websites.
• Tara mentioned TextureKing.com (which is also feature in the SM article)
• Charity at Design Adaptations introduced me to the Stripe Generator (there’s also Tartan Maker)
• Free Picture Photos has some great high resolution textures
• Textures.forrest.cz has about 800 low resolution textures that can be used for tiling

Do you know any others we didn’t mention? Let us know in the comments!

Technorati Tags: Design, Graphic Design, Texture, Elements of Design

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