Principles of Design

Characteristic found in art and design such as Balance, Contrast, Proportion, Rhythm, Unity, and Variety.

All good graphic design will incorporate at least one of the principles.

Not all the principles need to be used in each design project.

Balance in Design

• Balance is the result of arranging elements in the design so they equal each other.
• Every object in nature has balance. All man made structures have balance.
• Balance in graphic design can be symmetrical (formal) or asymmetrical (off-centre).

Symmetrical Balance

• Symmetrical balance uses a central axis to divide the picture through the middle on a vertical or horizontal line.
• Images on both sides of the line have equal weight and are a mirror of each other.
• Symmetrical balance produces images that are pleasing and stable.

Asymmetrical Balance

• Is achieved by arranging objects on the page that may look different but have equal visual weight.
• Asymmetrical balance creates images conveying energy and excitement.

Contrast

• Contrast creates interest in the design.
• Contrast can be found in the choice of fonts, shapes and size of graphic, use of colour, and in the use of shadow and light.

COntrast

• Font and graphics have certain weight base on the use of bold, italic and underline, or combinations of all three.
• By carefully choosing these effects you can add visual interest to your design.
• Adding an italic to a regular line of text creates interest in that word or phrase.
• You don’t want to emphasize everything or the viewer’s eyes will get bored.

Contrast in Colour

• The control and choice of colour includes luminance (brightness) chrominance (how much colour) and hue.
• Colours that are positioned opposite each other on the wheel are called complementary colours.
• Complementary colours are colour opposites and create the most extreme contrast.

cONTRAST IN cOLOUR cONTUNIED

• Avoid using complementary colours as the differences tend to be too extream to work together in a layout
• Colours that sit near each other are considered intermediate colours and don’t create a lot of contrast. Mixing these colours would create good backgrounds

Rhythm

• Rhythm is created with the use of lines, forms, colours, and texture.
• It's the regular repetition of particular forms or accents.
• Rhythm in design causes the viewer’s eye to move around the page.
• Good design will use Rhythm to direct the viewer’s eye to important parts of the layout.

Proportion

• The relationship by size between objects in the design.
• Generally, more important objects will be larger than less important objects
• Generally, more important objects will be larger than less important objects.
• Proportion applies to text as well as graphic objects.
• proportion applies to text as well as graphic objects.

Untitled Slide

Unity

• Unity deals with the overall impact of the design.
• Effectively communicates the message
• Unity considers the relationships of all the images used.
• Each graphic and text element needs to work together toward the whole.

Continuance

• Continuance is the idea that once you begin looking in one direction, you will continue to do so until something more significant catches your attention.
• Perspective, or the use of dominant directional lines, tends to successfully direct the viewer's eye in a given direction.