The principles of design are a set of fundamental recommendations designers adhere to create balanced, effective, and visually pleasing designs.
There are seven traditional and universal principles of design, which are significant across the industry: emphasis, balance & alignment, contrast, repetition, proportion, movement, and white space.
Graphic design serves an important role in the way consumers interact with, perceive, and experience your brand, so it’s vital that you not only understand the practice but also embrace it within your business. Here’s the thing though: unless you’re familiar with the principles of design and how to use them correctly, then your graphic design efforts will fall short.
We’ve created this helpful guide to teach you everything you need to know about the 7 basic principles of design and how to use them.
Let’s get started…
7 principles of design and how to use them
1. Emphasis
Emphasis places importance, prominence, or value on specific design elements
How to use emphasis
- First ask yourself: What is the most vital piece of information your audience needs to know? This should have the most emphasis placed on it in the design.
- Create an outline of the design in your mind, allowing your brain to organize the information in the hierarchical way it sees fit.
- Based on this mental design, lay out your graphic design to visually convey this order.
- For the information you wish to emphasize the most, consider utilizing elements of design such as placing it in the center, making it the largest component of the design, using a bold and eye-catching font, or using an attention-grabbing or contrasting color.
2. Balance and alignment
Balance and alignment ensure the design and its elements have an even distribution in regards to position and weight
How to use balance and alignment
- Keep in mind that each design element placed within your piece carries its weight, whether it be in the form of size, color, texture, or more.
- To keep your design balanced, you must focus on having an even alignment. In other words, don’t cram all of the design elements in one area, but rather, space them out in a way that is pleasing to the eye.
- Utilize symmetry to create a design that features equally weighted design elements which are in alignment with each other.
- Alternatively, embrace asymmetrical design by grouping elements with contrasting weights, such as one large piece of text with multiple smaller pieces of text. While it isn’t symmetrical, it still has balance.
3. Contrast
Contrast is used to make an element strikingly different from others within the design, therefore giving it importance.
How to use contrast
- Contrast allows a design element to ‘jump off the page’ and is best used for parts of the design you wish to remain memorable.
- Contrast also creates a difference between elements, which can give them the space they need to ‘breathe.’
- The background color of your design should vary greatly from the colors of the rest of the elements, as this creates the necessary contrast to ensure the text and graphics are legible.
- Contrast is vital to text, as it allows you to signal which pieces of information are the most important to the viewer. This text might be larger, bold, or a different color, for example.
- Contrast among the text is most successful when only one or two different, yet complementary, typefaces are used within the design. You might also consider using a single typeface but in two different weights.
4. Repetition
Repetition reinforces some recurring design elements, either by creating a motif or pattern within the design
How to use repetition
- Repetition of design elements, such as one or two typefaces or no more than three strong colors shouldn’t be seen as boring, but rather, unifying and strengthening the overall design.
- Random design choices, such as having a single piece of text in a color not seen anywhere else in the design, can seem like an error as if it is out of place.
- Repetition creates a motif, and therefore, puts you in control of the design and what you are conveying to your audience.
- The pattern is a great way to incorporate repetition in your design and currently, beautifully illustrated patterns, are on-trend.
- Brand identity is another example where repetition in graphic design is necessary. This includes placing your logo on your website, business cards, social media profiles, and more. Additionally, your product packaging design should be repeated across your offering to strengthen your brand identity.
5. Proportion
Proportion: the comparative relationship between elements about their size and alignment
How to use proportion
- To get the proportion of your design right, it’s helpful to look at the design in sections, rather than as a whole. Then, determine if each part is balanced on a smaller scale.
- When you group smaller, yet related elements together, you can give them importance based on their relationship with their surrounding elements. An example would include ticket information on a concert poster, which is often placed inside of a small box at the bottom of the design.
- Proportion can be hard to master, as all of the elements of the design must be sized perfectly and set out in a visually pleasing way. By mastering principles including contrast, balance, and alignment, however, proportion should naturally be achieved.
6. Movement
Movement in design relates to how the viewer is encouraged to visually scan the design and in what direction their eyes move
How to use movement
- The positioning of your design elements can create a sense of movement, deliberately guiding the viewer’s eye from one piece of information to the next in order of importance.
- Movement is important in this manner, as it creates the narrative of your design.
- To determine if you have successfully utilized movement in your design, glance at it as a whole to determine if your eyes are drawn to a single element, particularly those that are too large, too bold, not in proper alignment, or in a color that doesn’t match the rest of the color palette.
- Adjust any element that doesn’t feel right until you finally achieve the level of harmony desired.
7. White space
White space represents the blank area of the design that doesn’t contain text or graphics
How to use white space
- Since white space is negative space, it encourages you to look at where you haven’t added elements to the design. In other words, it’s the empty spaces within the design, and is vital for giving your design elements ‘room to breathe.’
- Use white space to create a hierarchy and organize your design successfully. A significant amount of white space around an element tells the viewer it is important.
- White space can also be used to group similar elements, therefore communicating to the viewer that they’re related.
- Finally, white space can be used to create a different image or convey a different message entirely, when used creatively.
The bottom line
While learning how to use the principles of design can go a long way in helping you create successful graphics, they should by no means be seen as rules, but rather, as guidelines. After all, some of the most effective and memorable designs have deliberately ignored or broken some of these design principle recommendations.
The trick to manipulating these design principles in a way you see fit is to always ensure the most important information is being communicated in your design, above all else. You should view the principles of design as many moving parts that are combined to successfully tell a narrative. It is only once you are familiar with them and how they work, that you will be able to stray from this advice to create your signature design style.
