Anyone who reads an introduction to art or design will come across a variety of words used to describe how things look. There are terms for commenting on every aspect. Lines, tones, movements, textures, weights, scales, shapes, configurations, symmetries, and effects are just a few examples.
However, too many words to criticize part of the design can confuse and complicate the process. The approach to teaching design is to learn the basics simply and directly. So we focused on five basic graphic design principles for a graphic design course online.
- Alignment
- Repetition
- Contrast
- Hierarchy
- Balance
1. Alignment
Alignment creates a sharper and more uniform design. Alignment is one of the most basic but important design principles and is very reassuring to the reader as it allows you to see the order visually. I’ve seen the design, but don’t know where to look?
Left, right, center?
The powerful placement in the design allows our eyes to seamlessly flow the visual message. Aligning the elements so that each element visually connects to the other elements on the page streamlines the design and eliminates the random and annoying effects of randomly arranging the elements.
You can complement it with this resource from Toptal; Breaking Down the Principles of Design.
Aligning elements that are not close to each other creates invisible connections, which can lead to the idea that they belong to the same part. Other than the 2D graphic design was evenly hung along invisible lines, such as switching the right/ left / centering of paragraph text in Microsoft Word documents, and marking parking spaces back and forth with straight lines.
You can observe the arrangement as a painting. And if you want to see a scary arrangement, check out these confusing Los Angeles signs.
2. Repeat
Repetition enhances the design by combining different parts in other ways to create associations. Think of repetition as consistency. By repeating the elements of the design, you can instantly create familiarity and identity. Repetition is an important factor in unifying multi-page documents.
For example, when viewing a publication, it should be immediately clear that pages 5 and 10 belong to the same publication in terms of a grid, font, font size, color, spatial relationships, and so on.
Repeat can also be used to create as long as it doesn’t overwhelm graphic elements such as patterns. Pay attention to the contrast. Repetition helps people understand that different things belong together. Think of it as a family. Each individual in the family looks a little different, but there are enough similarities that you can see them all related to each other.
3. Contrast
Contrast is the most effective way to enhance and impact your design. Examples: large / small, classic / modern fonts, thin / thick lines, cool / warm colors, dark / bright, smooth / coarse textures, horizontal / vertical, etc.
Contrast plays an important role in organizing the information on the page. What is the point? What do you notice the most? To be effective, the differences need to be obvious and extreme. While studying the dedicated courses suggested by TangoLearn you will learn all that. Digital design contrasts are displayed. For example, if you agree to the online terms of use, “agree” is shown in bold, and “reject” is a bright colour that is likely to evaporate.
4. Hierarchy
Think about it-hierarchy is usually what we think of when explaining rankings in organizations such as businesses, politics, and churches. It is a system that classifies people and things in that sense.
In the design, the hierarchy creates a visual composition of the design and gives the reader an idea of where to start and stop reading. You can assign priorities to elements that are part of your design. The designer can then make decisions about location, size, contrast, color, etc. to ensure that the desired hierarchy is achieved.
Customers often ask to increase the size of many items on the page because they consider all of these items to be “really important”. The problem with this approach is that nothing stands out anymore. In general, there is one message that is more important than any other message. It means that you need to get the most attention and guide your audience to the rest of the content.
5. Balance
Balance provides design stability and structure, either by element symmetry or tension. Balance is a weight that is distributed by the placement of elements on the page.
Let’s look at some well-balanced examples of both symmetry and tension in graphic design.
In the simplest case, asymmetric equilibrium can be established at the invisible centerline where the weights of the elements are equal on both halves of the sides. Symmetrical balance can be seen, for example, in the symbol of yin and yang and Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting The Last Supper. This form of symmetrical balance can look stilt and boring but generally looks very traditional and harmonious.
Conclusion
That’s it. Five principles of graphic design. Do you have a good understanding of the basics of graphic design? As a final challenge, keep an eye on the next time you scroll through your design inspiration or go out into the world. Notice if the principles of graphic design work.
