Graphics are visual illustrations like photographs, drawings, Line Art, graphs, diagrams, typography, numbers, symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings, or other images. It is one of the five key elements of multimedia technology. It is a technique of combining text, illustration and color and consists of a conscious selection, creation, or arrangement of typography generally used in a brochure, flier, poster, web site, or book. The main purpose of graphics is clarity or effective communication, association with other cultural elements, or merely, the construction of a distinctive style. Graphics are primarily used to explain ideas or highlight essential features and to connect a programme together with a visual unity that adds lustre and impact to the production and impress the target audience, which is the key business objective.
There are different kinds of graphics including, computer graphics, pixel art, vector graphics and computer animation among others. Computer graphics is a representation of a pictorial data created by computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of pictorial data by a computer. The two common types of computer graphics include, 2D computer graphics which are created via digital images from two-dimensional models, like 2D geometric models, text, and digital images, and by particular techniques. 2D computer graphics are mostly used in applications, such as typography, cartography, technical drawing, advertising, and many more. The other kind of computer graphics is 3D computer graphics which uses a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for calculating and depicting 2D images. Computer animation is created using both 2D and 3D computer graphics.
Pixel art is another kind of graphic which is in the form of digital art, created via raster graphics software, that enables editing of images on the pixel level. In this kind of graphic, the image is drawn pixel-by-pixel in tiny detail using color palette and old computer graphics tools. Examples of pixel art are computer and video games, graphing calculator games and mobile phone games. Computer icons are also typically created in a pixel art style.
Vector graphics is the creation of digital images in the form of an array of pixels or through a sequence of commands or mathematical statements that place lines and shapes in a given two-dimensional or three-dimensional space. It is generally used in photographic images.
There are various uses of graphics. It is used in magazines complements text for helping readers for understanding a particular concept or make the concept more clear, interesting and attract readers, unlike the majority of scholarly journals. Graphics are of great use in business and economics to create financial charts and tables to highlight changes over a period of time. They are used considerably for advertising the sale of goods or services. Other uses of graphics are in cartoons, graffiti, poster art, flag design and many more. Computer graphics are now heavily used in films including the Harry Potter series and such other hi-tech, large budget films.
