
The principles of design are essential if we wish to develop attractive designs. The design concepts that apply to both art and graphic design might be applied to our job to enhance our quality.
To help you better comprehend the importance of design principles, we’ve compiled a list for your perusal.
You’ll also find lots of examples of good design to help you grasp the concepts.
Overview of the Ten Principles of Design
- Alignment is the first step.
2. Emphasis and Priority
3. Distinguish
4. sense of proportion and size Nearness
5. Harmony
6. Colors and Patterns
7. a lot of empty room
8. Exertion of Power
9. Assembly
10. Contrast
In the field of graphic design, it is important to keep everything in line.
Alignment is the first design principle we’ll go through.
Is it better to arrange things in a logical order or not?
The term “alignment” refers to the relationship between distinct aspects of a design. Keep in mind that you can disrupt the alignment to draw attention!
Makes it easier to keep track of things and prevents clutter.
The pieces of your design will appear jumbled, disjointed, and cluttered if they are not properly aligned. Look at this poster, for example. The designer aimed to evoke movement, yet all of a sudden, nothing seems to be in sync. As a result, the bouncing lines cause vertigo in the spectator.
Makes it easier to read
In order to increase the readability of material, alignment is critical. There are several aligned columns in this example, which helps to keep the material in order and make the page seem clean.
Creates a sense of unity and connection between the various sections.
An important function of alignment in design is that it connects the many elements of your design. In this case, even though we cannot understand the text, the alignment helps us navigate. It’s clear which image corresponds to which piece of text.
Grid, center, and edge alignment are the methods used to accomplish this.
A grid is a common tool for arranging the elements of a design in relation to it. Premade grid arrangements are common in design tools, making it easy to go right into the creative process. Naturally, it’s not possible to see the grid in the finished product, but the alignment that was achieved is rather obvious:
Centered and edged alignments are possible. One of these options is usually used by the designer to order the pieces. Here’s an illustration:
As a follow-up to our previous look at examples of the alignment principle in action, here are a few more:
Graphographical Hierarchy
Hierarchy is the next concept of design. Hierarchy is the arranging of distinct components of the design, in terms of size and color, in order to convey priority.
Choosing which design components stand out and which ones to “keep down” is something we do with a lot of consistency.
The use of hierarchy in art and design aids the viewer’s concentration by directing their gaze in a certain direction.
Hierarchy and emphasis can be used in the following ways:
Increase or reduce the visibility of pictures and text by changing their size.
The greatest technique to direct attention is to make an object larger in size. The larger the text and images, the more noticeable they will be to the eye of the observer.
It’s simple to establish a hierarchy in a document by using titles, headers, subheadings, and the content itself. Your title should be the first thing the reader notices. The reason it’s so much larger than the rest of your design is because of this.
Title (header) and pictures are both prominently displayed in the following example. The body of the text is also important. By emphasizing the price, the designer is demonstrating the value of the product.
Accentuate critical details with color and contrast.
Imagine a block of black lettering with a red section of it. Because it’s a distinct hue from the rest of the text, the red will pique the reader’s interest.
Designers frequently employ color contrasts to draw attention and convey what’s most essential.
The devoted post has some amazing color combination ideas. In this course, you will learn how to use powerful color schemes to generate contrast in your designs.
Hierarchy and focus have been put into practice in these gorgeous designs:
The use of contrast in graphic design
Hierarchy and focus are intimately linked to the next concept of design: contrast. When it comes to creating visual contrast, there are several ways to go about it.
Make a few sections stand out
In your design, use contrast to convey to the viewer what’s vital and what’s not.
An example of the contrast between a white label and a colorful backdrop may be seen here:.
Deepening the picture
In addition to adding depth to your design, contrasting aspects make it “pop” and move to the foreground, while low-contrast elements “fade away. “.
Design that is easy to use for people with disabilities
Accessible designs also need to have enough contrast. For persons with visual impairments, the accessible design ensures that they can still read and understand your material.
Due to a lack of contrast between the text and backdrop color, some persons may find it difficult to comprehend the following paragraph:
In graphic design, scale and proportion are important concepts.
The relationship between the relative sizes of various components is at the heart of scale and proportion.
Creating a variety of sizes for each part
Scale and proportion aid in separating information into distinct portions and establishing a logical framework for the information.
The scaling concept can be shown in the following example:
Contrast is often achieved by varying the size and proportions of objects.
Contrast is aided by the use of objects of various sizes. The following sample uses a variety of font weights and sizes. The different portions must be contrasted because the design is mostly text-based. Scale and proportion are two ways in which this might be accomplished.
Proximity in Graphic Design (5):
The eye sees a collection of objects when they are near to one other. A visual connection (e.g., through color and shape) can also help the eye see them as a single object. As a matter of fact, that’s the fundamental notion of closeness.
It’s a time saver.
This design idea is often employed to better organize the design and make it easier to understand.
You’ll see that we’ve placed the product names, prices, and descriptions in close proximity to one another. As a result, they are viewed as a collective:
Helps to draw attention to certain areas.
You might think of grouping and visual links as a way to assist you to create focal points. The proximity concept may be used to organize your parts in such a way that a certain section shines out:
Balance in graphic design is critical.
The balancing principle can be shown as a scale. The scale won’t be balanced if you place too many objects on one side.
Make sure the scales are level.
When a design has equal sections on either side of an invisible midline it is visually appealing.
It is possible to achieve this in two ways:
Balanced symmetry
It’s when the objects on each side of the central axis have roughly the same mass and size (weight). Symmetrical balancing might be tedious since it is the simplest to obtain. An example of asymmetrical balance, however, may be seen here.
Balance that is asymmetrical
Using this type of balance is a little more daring, but it may provide a lot of intrigue and surprise. Contrasting two large forms with a large number of smaller shapes creates an unbalanced balance.
A single large image is offset by two smaller ones on the right in the following example:
Designing Graphics using Color and Patterns
Color and pattern are the next two principles.
We’re skilled at spotting patterns in the midst of the noise.
Nature is full of repeated elements, such as color, shape, form, and texture.
We’re hard-wired to seek patterns since they’re so appealing to the sight.
A pattern of little lines is evident in the image below, but there is also a repetition of color. Font thickness (weight) patterns are also apparent, allowing us to see the many elements as one cohesive design:
Pattern as a predetermined benchmark
“A set standard” might be defined as a “repeating item” or a “pattern”.
For instance, we are accustomed to looking for menus at the top of a web page – to navigate. It’s easier for us and our customers to get about when we have a set of guidelines in place.
- Graphic Design Space
Space is one of the most fundamental design ideas. Why?
Regardless of how beautiful the furniture is, no one likes being crammed into a space.
Space for your design to breathe
This is exactly what the space concept is all about: making room for the various components to breathe.
It’s # Bond. 007 and space travel. A Blank Canvas.
When we talk about “space” in a design context, we’re usually referring to white space — the empty area that isn’t occupied by anything.
White space may be utilized to separate your material into chunks, making it easier to read.
Present information in a step-by-step, piecemeal fashion.
A lack of space might lead to a design principle known as closeness if you don’t use it to your advantage. In close proximity, all the elements will be regarded as one, which may not be what you desire. Most likely, you are looking for well-structured content chunks.
In this example, there is no white space:
Your designs will appear more polished and refined if you add some negative space to them.
Therefore, it is critical to adhere to this design concept. However, it’s also one of the simplest to put into practice and raise the quality of your creation.
Graphic Design in Motion
Movement is the next principle of design that we’ll be looking at. A design’s ability to engage the viewer’s attention is enhanced by the use of movement.
Invisible lines guide the viewer’s gaze toward the point of interest.
Patterns, recurring design components, and anything else that creates a sense of direction can be used to create this effect.
Graphic design’s pursuit of harmony and cohesion
The last design concept is harmony, which brings together all the others. This time, instead of focusing on the individual components, we’re focusing on the overall design.
The following strategies are used to produce harmony:
- a point of view
It’s important to maintain a sense of distance between the parts in order to achieve a cohesive design.
Continuity, recurrence, and similarity
In order to keep the design cohesive, we use this strategy to ensure that all of the design’s parts are identical.
Repetition in a steady beat
Rhythm in design may be achieved by the use of repeated components, whether they are in terms of color, size, or placement.
It is possible to use one color for the main text and another color for the subheadings, for example (teal). Your design will flow more smoothly and your audience will be able to absorb the information more quickly.
Take a look at the following examples to see how each of these strategies is put into action: