Whether designing a website or marketing graphic or special event flyer, the art of creating a visual representation of your message can be rather tricky for some. Designing visual art to communicate your message is simple when you follow these basic principles of design.
I’m always researching and learning more about actual design techniques. Looking at the artwork and psychology behind why people respond the way they do to what they see is fascinating to me. Trying to understand how people think and react to design elements is important and can help your Internet presence be more successful. When you are wanting to drive more traffic to your website or creating a Facebook Ad to promote lead generation, understanding people and their reactions to graphic elements is a must.
Many site builders take the guesswork out of how to layout and build a website. They even provide graphics and colors, but the actual science or art of creating a website that draws users and helps your business grow may take a little training and thought. I found these basic design principles to be helpful.
Balance
Balance provides stability and structure to a design. The weight of the design is determined by the placement of your elements. They don’t have to be the same size, but the weight must even when looking at the image. Balance can be achieved by placing the same size element on each side or a large element on one side and several small elements on the other side. Balance can also be considered either symmetrical or asymmetrical. Symmetrical balance is when the weight of the elements on both halves of the design is even, almost as if there is a center line. Asymmetrical balance is when there is a use of contrast. A dark element would need to be balanced by several lighter elements. In this image, the left side balance is shifted to the left because the “weight” of the orange circle is heavier than the small blue circle. The right side balance is even because the weight is even. Your eye isn’t drawn one way or the other. Also, the right side achieves both symmetrical balance as well as asymmetrical balance.
Repetition
Repetition strengthens a design by tying individual elements together. It helps to create association, consistency and teaches your users to follow an arrangement of items you develop. Repeating the same elements over and over creates a consist pattern where the eye is lead quickly from one corner to the other. In contrast, when using the same size and color but adding a different pattern to each element, more time is needed to absorb the new information within each one. Keeping it simple for your viewers to process exactly where you want them to go is critical. Repetition can help create that “safety zone” for your viewers to know exactly where you want them to go and what you want them to do.
Contrast
Contrast allows you to emphasize or highlight certain elements in your design. Contrast is created when two elements are perhaps similar, but total opposites. It needs to create some type of comparison visually. You might try different font types such as classic/contemporary, serif/san-serif, different line thickness or maybe different size and shapes like big/small. Contrast plays a crucial part in the organization of information on a web page. It can guide the viewer to where you want them to look first or what is your most important message they might consider. For it to work, it needs to be strong and somewhat obvious so it makes an impact on the viewer. In the above image, the dark shapes contrast the light background. The round-edged circle contrasts the sharp-edged triangle. The small triangle contrasts the large circles. The two clear shapes contrast the blurred shape.
Dominance
Dominance creates interest in a design. It is how different elements can be adjusted to give emphasis to an object. In design, dominance can be in the form of repetition and create a lack of monotony. Repeated objects that do not have a form of dominance will make your graphics boring, monotonous and confusing. Dominance of an object can create a sense of dynamic as well. Is your eye drawn to the red circles or the red triangles? What about the small blue circle or the large blue circle? Different people create dominance in different ways. Make sure to create the overall dominant affect you want your users to choose.
Hierarchy or Alignment
Hierarchy or Alignment is one of the most basic and important principles of design. It allows you to create order to your web pages and overall design layout. Aligning design elements in a certain order allows them to create an invisible visual connection between them. It tightens the design and eliminates the haphazard, messy effect when elements are randomly placed. As an example, in the image above, hierarchy or alignment can be in order of size or color.
Canva is one of my favorite online design tools to help create outstanding graphics. They give you practical examples to start with or you can pay for others. This article was inspired by their article, so here’s the link and some information they provided on a practical example:
You can view this article in more detail here:
https://designschool.canva.com/blog/five-principles-design-can/