There are 4 Fundamental Principles of graphic design, they are Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. The following will serve as a breakdown of how each may benefit strong design, while, explaining scenarios whereby each may interact in positive and negative ways to the overall appeal of a particular design.
Contrast - as it relates to design, contrast is the difference between light and dark, big and small, or, simply when elements are just in some way visually different. Color contrast is one of thee, if not the, most important consideration(s) to examine when creating a design. For example, if we have a design that has dark blue text on a dark brown background, likely, it would be difficult to distinguish what the text says. Opposingly, yellow text on a black background would demonstrate excellent contrast and we would see the text clearly.
Shape contrast can also be a very important consideration as well. This refers to when a design uses 'repetition' of particular elements that possess the same general contours (or specific contours).
- An example of great shape contrast would be an example design that, let's say, is for a flyer for "Thomas Construction Services". This flyer might have a silhouette hammer graphic for the 'T' in Thomas. To complement this strategy, this hammer graphic could be used a background graphic (maybe a singular color) as to let the foreground elements stand strongly.
- Shape conflict is generally defined as when two or more graphic elements do not display in harmony (visually)
- This leads us into some key points for Repetition
Repetition - generally refers to the repetition of the same graphic element (icon, image, text, other items). Repetition can sometimes walk the line of too much vs. too little in the way that the effects of the principle should be examined closely. An example of repetition can be as simple as inserting a line into your design at a 45 degree angle, then, duplicating this line again somewhere on your design (or, simply re-using the 45 degree angle on a different object).
In a global sense (global as in cross-media), repetition is crucial to the fundamentals of branding. Just think of a general set of company collaterals. You might have a website, business card and flyer. Do we see the repetition of the logo on each of these? The repetition of the colors? Of graphics? We certainly do, this is a term I'm coining as global repetition.
Alignment - in general terms, this refers to elements of a particular design aligned in some ordered structure. Alignment is the principle that is responsible for the 'clean edge' of a document is left-justified, for example.
The most common use of the principle is for that of text alignment. The alignment of text is how we visually order information to be read by the reader. In a 'strict' design, all elements (text, logo, images, other items) would follow the same alignment pattern.
Alignment is a principle that most commonly interacts with Proximity.
Proximity - generally refers to the placement of elements in a design to produce a group or pattern for said elements.
A strong example of proximity would be to examine a business card design.
With a business card, the most important attribute is the contact information. A functional business card will have the contact information grouped together (in proximity to one another). Opposingly, if we were trying to read the address and the P.O. Box was in the top-right and the Postal Code was in the bottom-left, this would be poor proximity. This example is not easily read by the user.
Overall, the key to strong design is to mix all of these principles into one coherent, harmonic design. With that said, all or most of the principles should already be in place if you are happy with the design in question. Don't overthink it, but keep these principles close by in those moments when you are stuck.
This article was brought to you by the good folks at Brandom Design. Graphic designers in Saskatoon and Humboldt offering logo design, web design, web hosting and much more.
Great read!
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