11 Principles of Design: A Comprehensive Guide

Design is an essential part of any successful project, and understanding the principles of design is key to creating something that is aesthetically pleasing and optimizes the user experience. In this article, we'll explore the 11 principles of design and how they can be applied to your work. The repetition of elements in a design unifies the design, makes it consistent, and shows the relationship between components. Repetition has a uniform frequency when two repeating elements have the same distance between them.

If the distance between the elements is not equal, then we have an unequal frequency. To create a rhythm, an object needs to have different distances between several frequencies. Rhythm in design influences emotions, creates emotion that gradually increases over time and creates tranquility in design. The undulating rhythm of Poke London creates a sense of calm and relaxation.

This invokes the feeling of trust within the brand. Movement means guiding the user's eye to a predetermined trajectory in a composition. Movement in the design can be used in interesting ways, such as the position of a subject, which can suggest how other external forces may influence it to move it. In addition, the same position of a subject can also suggest how these forces have influenced their movement before reaching that position.

What better way to explain the movement than to give an example of an infographic? “How does a car engine work” by Anima Graff uses motion and movement to explain the various steps in how an engine actually works. For a deeper insight into the use of movement in your designs, read my article on the principle of movement design. Now, let's remove 3 objects from the right side of the axis and have only one circle left. Since the weight and layout are not the same, the design is said to be asymmetrical. So, when is a composition balanced? A composition is balanced when all the objects it contains have visual equilibrium. White space is the empty space of a design.

It is also known as negative space. For beginners, blanks may seem like a bit of a contradictory approach. But white space has its purpose: it emphasizes an object in a composition. With a combination of visual weight and white space, we can create interesting visual illusions.

Here, with some small tweaks, we can make it look like gravity is acting on it. The Drink Seriously website uses a lot of white space around your images and texts to create a minimalist and precise design. Contrast occurs when the elements of the composition have very different properties, such as color, size, shape, etc. In the image above, your eye is attracted to the circle. We can use color to direct users to a specific area. Color contrast is mainly used to make the design stand out.

On the grid website uses the contrast between the emblematic image of the city and the blue background to create a dynamic image. Emphasis on design is used to highlight a certain area of the composition to indicate its importance. Dollar shave club emphasizes a product that uses the principles of scale, white space and contrast. The Nifty website uses ratio and contrast hierarchy to direct users on what to read next. The next step to learn more about the fundamentals of design would be to search for “The 7 Elements of Design”. Many people are confused between design principles and design elements. However, these are completely different terms. To learn about design principles based on how the human brain works, read my article on “7 Gestalt Design Principles”.Learn 11 basic design principles and how to apply them to your graphic design work.

See visual examples of essential design principles. There is a lot of debate about exactly how many design principles exist - some designers say 7, others 12 and others somewhere in between. But when it comes to design principles, numbers aren't what's important. Learning and following established principles allows you to create more cohesive designs that delight users and deliver exceptional user experiences. Balance is created by uniform distribution of elements throughout the design. Every element on your page has weight.

By understanding this, you can make smart decisions about where to place them. The balance can be symmetrical or asymmetrical - symmetrical scales weigh elements evenly on both ends of the page while asymmetrical layouts weigh them on only one side. Symmetrical designs tend to be more pleasing while asymmetrical designs bring more visual interest to your composition. When you have two elements that are on opposite sides of the spectrum they create contrast - designers create contrast in typography by choosing two typefaces with completely different characteristics. It is also possible to achieve contrast by placing dark text on a light-colored background and vice versa - contrast can create difference between same elements in your design. Repetition is an essential element that creates rhythm - by creating repetitive patterns designers can bring consistency which helps strengthen overall design. Being consistent and repetitive is especially useful for creating brand identity as you'll want your visual identity to be instantly recognizable. Proximity helps create relationship with several elements on website - this also makes elements more organized by grouping them together visually connecting them by color or font size. In order to tell story through designs designers must be able guide viewer through various elements - if viewer's eyes get stuck on one element it means all elements don't work in harmony. Alignment contrast and balance work together create movement - so make sure you adjust elements so everything helps achieve harmony. When it comes typography in web design choice fonts can play very important role setting overall tone page - by experimenting with font sizes contrast styles designers can invoke strong emotional response from viewers.< p >By understanding these 11 principles you'll be able create designs that are aesthetically pleasing optimized user experience deliver exceptional results!.

Gloria Foulke
Gloria Foulke

Wannabe twitter lover. Freelance social media maven. Friendly twitter nerd. Hipster-friendly zombie advocate. Avid zombie practitioner. Amateur baconaholic.