Design principles: decoding visual communications

One of the hardest parts of talking about design principles is figuring out how many principles there actually are (are there five? Seven? Ten?). And once that's figured out, which of these supposed design fundamentals should be included?

Google "principles of design" and you'll be returned with results for articles that include anywhere from five to dozens of individual graphic design principles. Even articles that agree on a number do not necessarily agree on which should be included in that number.

In reality, there are about a dozen basic design principles that both novice and expert designers should keep in mind when working on their projects. In addition, there are about a dozen other "secondary" design principles that are sometimes included as fundamentals (eg, Gestalt principles, typography, color, and framing). The main design principles are explained and illustrated below, and all of them can be applied to the printing of stickers and labels.

 

Basic principles of visual design

As already mentioned, there is no real consensus in the design community about what the main principles of design actually are. However, the following twelve principles of visual design are the ones most often mentioned in articles and books on the subject.

1. Contrast

One of the most common complaints from designers about client feedback often revolves around clients saying that the design needs to "pop" more. Although it sounds like a completely arbitrary term, what the client generally means is that the design needs more contrast.

Contrast refers to how different elements in a design are, especially adjacent elements because these differences make different elements stand out. Contrast is also a very important aspect of creating a design that is accessible to people with disabilities. Insufficient contrast can especially make text content very difficult to read, especially for people with visual impairments.

 

2. Balance

All design elements and principles — typography, colors, images, shapes, patterns, etc. — have visual weight. Some elements are heavy and draw the eye, while other elements are lighter. The way these elements are arranged on the page should create a sense of balance.

There are two basic types of balance: symmetrical and asymmetrical. Symmetrical designs place elements of equal weight on either side of an imaginary center line. Asymmetrical balance uses elements of varying weight, often placed in relation to a line that is not centered within the overall design.

 

3. Highlighting

Highlighting or highlighting deals with the parts of the design that need to stand out and stand out visually. In most cases it means that this is the most important information that the design needs to convey. Highlighting is done by size, color, contrast and other design principles.

Emphasis can also be used to reduce the impact of certain information. This is most obvious in cases where "small print" is used for supporting information in the design. The tiny typography hidden at the bottom of the page weighs much less than almost anything else in the design, and is therefore understated.

 

4. Proportion

Proportion is one of the easier principles of graphic design to understand. Simply put, it is the size of the elements in relation to each other. Proportion signals what is important in a design and what is not. Larger elements are more important, smaller elements less so.

 

5. Hierarchy

Hierarchy is another design principle that directly relates to how well content can be processed by people using a website. It refers to the importance of elements within a design. The most important elements (or content) should appear to be the most important.

Hierarchy is most easily illustrated through the use of titles and headings in the design. The title of the page should be given the greatest importance and therefore should be immediately recognizable as the most important element on the page. Headings and subheadings should be formatted in a way that shows their importance in relation to each other, as well as in relation to the title and text.

Redesign of the New York Times

 

6. Repetition

Repetition is a great way to reinforce an idea. It's also a great way to unify a design that combines many different elements. Repetition can be done in several ways: by repeating the same colors, letters, shapes or other design elements. The illustration shows the repetition of graphic elements in the design of stickers .

This article, for example, uses repetition in the title format. Each design principle is formatted in the same way as the others in this section, signaling to readers that they are all equally important and that they are all connected. Consistent headings unify these elements throughout the page.

 

7. Rhythm

The spaces between repeating elements can cause the creation of a sense of rhythm, similar to the way the space between notes in a musical composition creates rhythm. There are five basic types of visual rhythm that designers can create: random, regular, alternating, fluid, and progressive.

Random rhythms have no discernible pattern. Regular rhythms follow the same spacing between each element without variation. Alternating rhythms follow a set repeating pattern, but there are variations between the actual elements (such as the 1-2-3-1-2-3 pattern). Flowing rhythms follow bends and curves, similar to the way sand dunes ripple or waves flow. Progressive beats change as they go, each change adding to previous iterations.

Rhythms can be used to create a number of feelings. They can create excitement (especially flowing and progressive rhythms) or create certainty and consistency. It all depends on how they are implemented.

8. Template

Patterns are nothing more than the repetition of multiple design elements that work together. Wallpaper patterns are the most ubiquitous example of patterns that almost everyone is familiar with.

In design, however, patterns can also refer to set standards for how certain elements are designed. For example, the top navigation is the design pattern that most internet users have interacted with.

 

9. White space

White space—also called "negative space"—are areas of the design that do not include any design elements. The space is actually empty.

Many novice designers feel the need to pack every pixel with some sort of "design" and neglect the value of white space. But white space serves an important purpose in design, primarily giving design elements room to breathe. Negative space can also help highlight certain content or certain parts of a design.

It can also make design elements easier to spot. This is why typography is more legible when using upper and lower case letters because the negative space is more varied around the lower case letters, allowing people to interpret them more quickly.

In some cases, negative space is used to create secondary images that may not be immediately visible to the viewer. This can be a valuable part of branding that can delight customers. Take the hidden arrow in the FedEx logo, for just one example.

10. Movement

Movement refers to the way the eye travels across the design. The most important element should lead to the next most important and so on. This is achieved by positioning (the eye naturally first falls on certain areas of the design), emphasis and other design elements already mentioned.

11. Diversity

Variety in design is used to create visual interest. Without variety, the design can become monotonous very quickly, causing the user to lose interest. Variety can be created in a variety of ways, through color, typography, images, shapes and virtually any other design element.

However, diversity for diversity's sake is pointless. Diversity should reinforce other design elements and be used in conjunction with them to create a more interesting and aesthetically pleasing result that enhances the user experience.

12. Unity

Everyone has seen a website or other design that seemed to just throw elements onto the page regardless of how they worked together. Newspaper ads using ten different fonts come to mind almost immediately.

Unity refers to how well design elements work together. Visual elements should have clear relationships with each other in the design. Unity also helps ensure that concepts are communicated in a clear, cohesive manner. Designs with good unity also appear more organized and of higher quality and authority than designs with poor unity.

Other design principles

Other design principles are also touched upon in various articles on this topic. These include typography, color, Gestalt principles, grid and alignment, framing and shape. Some definitely fit the definition of "principles" while others are more like design elements.

Typography refers to the way text is arranged in a design. This includes the fonts used, their spacing, size and weight, as well as the way different text elements relate to each other. Good typographic design is heavily influenced by all the other design principles mentioned earlier in this article.

The use of color in design is one of the most psychologically important parts of design and has a huge impact on the user experience. Psychology and color theory heavily influence some of the other principles mentioned earlier.

Gestalt principles include similarity, continuation, closure, proximity, figure/ground, and symmetry and order (also called prägnanz ). Some of these principles are closely related to the above principles.

Grid and alignment are closely related to balance and refer to the way elements are arranged in relation to the invisible grid on the page.

Framing refers to how the primary design object is positioned in relation to other elements on the page. It is most often heard referred to in cinematography or photography, with the way the main focus of the image is placed in the overall image. But the principle carries over to the design.

Shape is also a major part of any design, both in terms of the specific shapes used as elements within the design and the overall shape of the design itself. Different shapes can evoke different feelings, i.e. circles are organic and fluid, while squares are more solid and formal, and triangles give a sense of energy or movement.

These "principles" or design elements are important aspects of good design and should be considered along with other fundamental principles to create the best user experience.

 

Conclusion

What constitutes "basic" design principles is certainly up for debate. But understanding and applying the above principles is vital to the success of any design project.

Designers should aim to understand how each of these design principles actually affects their work. Studying how other designers have implemented these ideas to structure their own designs is also an incredibly valuable tool in learning to create better designs.

It is entirely possible to create a good design without a thorough understanding of these design elements and principles. However, this is usually done by "designer intuition" and can take a lot of trial and error to create something that really looks good and creates an optimal user experience. Designers could save a lot of time and energy by practicing the principles we've discussed until they become second nature.

Created: Stickershop