Catalonia PAU Design II (Disseny II) cheat sheet

Elements of visual language: point, line, plane/shape, form, colour, texture, value (light-dark) and space; principles organise them: balance, rhythm, proportion, contrast, hierarchy, unity/variety, emphasis and movement.

Colour models: RGB is additive (screens, light); CMYK is subtractive (ink on paper); Pantone is a spot-ink matching system. RYB is a traditional painter's model, not a device standard.

Colour relationships on the 12-step wheel: complementary = opposite (max contrast); analogous = adjacent; triadic = three evenly spaced; split-complementary = one hue plus the two neighbours of its complement.

Contrast of value (light vs dark) reads faster than contrast of hue: at small sizes or in greyscale, a design must still work on value contrast alone.

Balance: symmetrical (mirror, static, formal), asymmetrical (different masses balanced around an axis, dynamic) and radial (elements radiating from a centre).

The rule of thirds divides a frame into a 3x3 grid; key elements placed on the intersections or lines tend to read as more dynamic than dead-centre placement.

Proportion systems: the golden ratio approx. 1:1.618, the Fibonacci sequence (1,1,2,3,5,8,13...), and modular scales (each step a fixed multiplier, e.g. x1.25 or x1.5).

Hierarchy is built by size, weight, colour, position, isolation and whitespace; a single dominant element per view is the usual decision rule to avoid competing focal points.

Texture can be physical (tactile, material surface) or visual (simulated on a flat surface); rhythm comes from repetition with variation, and it becomes monotonous when repetition has no variation.

Type anatomy: baseline, x-height, cap height, ascender, descender, counter, bowl, stem, serif, terminal. x-height strongly affects perceived size and legibility at small sizes.

Classification: serif (old style, transitional, modern/didone, slab), sans serif (grotesque, neo-grotesque, humanist, geometric), script, display and monospaced.

Type measurement: 1 point = 1/72 inch (approx. 0.353 mm); 1 pica = 12 points. Body text in print commonly sits around 9-11 pt; leading (line spacing) typically 120-145% of type size.

Kerning adjusts space between a specific pair of letters; tracking (letter-spacing) adjusts a whole range; leading is vertical line spacing. Do not confuse the three.

Grid types: manuscript (single column), column (multi-column), modular (columns plus horizontal divisions), hierarchical (adapted to content). The baseline grid aligns text across columns.

Signage decision rules: legibility distance drives letter height (a common rule of thumb is about 25 mm of cap height per 3 m of reading distance); sans serif, high contrast and pictograms aid quick reading.

Poster: the reading sequence is usually image/headline first, then subhead, then body and credits; it must work at viewing distance and in reduced size (thumbnail test).

Corporate identity vs brand: the identity is the controlled visual system (logo, colour, type, grid, tone); the brand is the perceived reputation built over time. A logo is one asset inside the identity.

Form follows function (Sullivan) states that shape should derive from use; the counter-principle is that form also carries meaning and emotion, so the two are negotiated, not opposed.

Ergonomics: anthropometry supplies percentile data (5th percentile female to 95th percentile male covers most users); design for reach, clearance, grip and posture, and check the critical dimension for the specific task.

Material selection criteria: strength-to-weight, stiffness, durability, cost, formability, joinability, recyclability, thermal and electrical behaviour, and surface finish.

Common processes: injection moulding (thermoplastics, high volume, tooling cost high), vacuum forming, extrusion, blow moulding, die casting, stamping, CNC milling, laser cutting, 3D printing (FDM/SLA, low volume, no tooling).

Joining: screws (disassemblable), snap fits (tool-less assembly), adhesives (permanent, mixed materials), welding (same-family metals/thermoplastics), and dovetail/interlocking joints in wood.

Design for disassembly and the waste hierarchy (prevent, reuse, repair, recycle, recover, dispose) guide sustainable choices; material mono-majority and labelling make recycling feasible.

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) compares impacts across extraction, production, distribution, use and end-of-life; the use phase often dominates for energy-using products.

User-centred design loop: observe users, define needs, prototype, test with real users, iterate. Usability criteria: effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction (ISO 9241).

Accessibility in products: minimum target sizes, contrast, one-handed operation, tactile cues, and avoiding colour-only coding (about 8% of men have some colour-vision deficiency).

Industrialisation (late 18th-19th c.) separated design from making; the 1851 Great Exhibition and Henry Cole's criticism of ornament drove reform debates.

Arts and Crafts (Morris, Ruskin, late 19th c.) rejected industrial division of labour, championed craft, honest materials and medieval models; it influenced later craft revival and book design.

Art Nouveau (c. 1890-1910; Gaudí in Catalonia, Horta in Brussels, Guimard in Paris) used organic line and total-design interiors; it was the bridge to modernism.

Bauhaus (Weimar 1919, Dessau 1925, closed 1933): Vorkurs foundation, unity of art and craft, workshops, functional typography (Bayer), tubular steel furniture (Breuer), and the slogan 'form follows function'.

Modern movement / International Style: grid, sans serif, asymmetry, absence of ornament; key figures include Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Gropius and, in graphic design, Tschichold's New Typography.

De Stijl (Mondrian, van Doesburg, 1917) reduced form to orthogonal lines and primary colours; Constructivism (Rodchenko, Lissitzky) applied geometric abstraction to propaganda and typography.

Post-war and contemporary: Ulm School (systematic design, 1953-68), Swiss/International Typographic Style (grid, Helvetica, Müller-Brockmann), Memphis (1981, anti-functional), postmodernism and digital design.

Catalan/Spanish context: Gaudí and Domènech i Montaner (Modernisme); the ADI-FAD and Delta Awards (from 1958) recognise Spanish industrial design; Mariscal's 1992 Barcelona Olympic mascot Cobi is a landmark of Spanish graphic design.

Barcelona's 1992 Olympics and the city's design schools (Elisava, founded 1961; Eina, 1967) consolidated design as a professional discipline in Catalonia.

Brief analysis: identify client, target user, constraints (budget, deadline, materials, regulations), deliverables and success criteria; convert vague requests into measurable objectives.

Research methods: desk research, benchmarking/competitor analysis, user interviews, observation, questionnaires, personas, user journey maps and mood boards.

Ideation tools: brainstorming rules (defer judgement, quantity then quality), mind maps, SCAMPER (substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put to other use, eliminate, reverse), morphological analysis and sketching.

Double Diamond (Design Council): Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver, with divergent and convergent thinking in each diamond; the Define stage produces the problem statement.

Prototyping fidelity: low-fidelity (paper, foam, wireframe) to test concepts cheaply; high-fidelity (functional model, clickable prototype) to test detail and usability.

Evaluation: heuristic evaluation, usability testing with tasks and metrics (time on task, error rate, satisfaction), and feedback loops that feed the next iteration.

Communication of a solution: problem statement, research evidence, concept development, final proposal, technical specs, mock-ups and a rationale linking decisions to user needs.

Project planning: work breakdown, Gantt chart, milestones and deliverables; documentation (sketchbook, technical sheets) is part of the assessment in a design project.

Orthographic projection (dihedral system): front, plan and side views aligned on the same sheet; in first-angle projection the plan sits below the front view, in third-angle it sits above.

Isometric projection: three axes at 120 degrees, equal scale along all axes; it shows three faces but not true lengths of inclined edges. Perspective uses vanishing points (1, 2 or 3) and foreshortens with distance.

Scale: scale = drawing dimension / real dimension. 1:1 is full size; 1:2 halves; 2:1 doubles; 1:50 and 1:100 are common for furniture and architecture.

Dimensioning rules: dimension lines parallel to the measured edge, extension lines perpendicular, arrows at the ends, units stated once (mm is standard in technical drawing), no duplicate dimensions.

Line types: continuous thick = visible edges; dashed = hidden edges; chain/dash-dot = centre and symmetry axes; continuous thin = dimension and extension lines.

Standard sheet sizes follow the ISO A series: A0 is 1 m2 (841 x 1189 mm); each subsequent size halves the area (A4 = 210 x 297 mm).

Presentation: vanishing-point perspective, exploded views, sections, detail enlargements, material and finish annotations, and a title block with scale, date, author and projection symbol.

Digital tools: vector (Illustrator, Inkscape) for logos and line art, raster (Photoshop) for images, CAD (AutoCAD, Rhino, Fusion 360) for technical drawings, and 3D rendering for realistic visualisation.

Digital tools shift the workflow: parametric and generative design, rapid prototyping and collaborative cloud tools compress iteration time; version control and file naming keep collaboration traceable.

Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.1/2.2 levels A, AA, AAA; minimum contrast ratio 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text at AA; keyboard operability, alt text, captions and resizable text.

Universal design (seven principles, Mace): equitable use, flexibility, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, size and space for approach and use.

Ethics: honest representation (no misleading claims or doctored imagery), privacy and consent in user data, avoiding dark patterns, inclusive representation, and transparency about AI-generated content.

Environmental impact: material choice, energy in production and use, packaging, transport distance, product lifespan and repairability; ecodesign regulation and extended producer responsibility push design decisions.

Obsolescence: planned, functional (a part fails) and psychological (perceived outdatedness); designing for repair, spare parts and modularity counteracts it.

Design in contemporary culture: designers mediate public opinion through posters, signage and interfaces; campaigns and public-interest design show design as a civic tool, not only a commercial service.

Intellectual property: copyright protects original works automatically; a registered trademark protects a sign; a design registration protects the appearance of a product; a patent protects an invention.