• Anybody can put images and text together to
make a graphic design. It is the way those
images and text are put together that
distinguishes a good design from an ordinary
one…I want to make you all good designers!
• The design or arrangement of the parts on any
2D surface is called its composition
• Every graphic designer creates compositions by
using design’s most basic building blocks: the
elements of art and the principles of design
“Once you think you have finally solved a design problem, put it aside and start over.
Your next solution might be even better.” –Chava Ben Amos
The Elements and
Principles
of
Visual Design
The Elements of Design
These are the building blocks that the
artist uses separately or in combination to
produce artistic imagery. Their use
produces the visual language of art.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Line
Shape
Form
Color
Value
Texture
Space
Line
• Line is a path on a two-dimensional plane.
• Line is the simplest way to communicate
visually.
• It has length and width, but its width is very
thin compared to its length.
• A line is created by the movement of a tool
and pigment, and often suggests movement
in a drawing or painting.
•
• Lines have
direction: vertical,
horizontal, oblique
• Direction evokes
emotion: oblique
lines and zigzags
connote action,
danger,
suddenness.
• A solid line
separates
columns of text, a
pair of lines set
apart a phrase,
and a short dotted
line separates a
section of text
from other parts
of the page.
Shape
• When a line’s ends meet or overlap to enclose
a space, a shape is created.
• Shapes have two dimensions, length and width,
and can be geometric or free-form (organic).
• Design in painting is basically the planned
arrangement of shapes in a work of art.
Some ways to use squares and rectangles:
• To symbolize honesty, stability, equality, comfort, or
familiarity. It could also symbolize rigidity or uniformity.
• Related to the first bullet item, use repeating squares to
suggest familiar themes (checkerboard pattern to represent
a game board, the checkered flag at the end of a race, a
tablecloth).
• To highlight, organize, or set apart information using a solid
or outlined box.
• Use a square unexpectedly. Set a block of text in a solid or
outlined but tilted box — with or without also tilting the text.
Some ways to use triangles:
• To symbolize action or conflict.
– In a logo, a triangle might be better suited to a growing, dynamic
high tech company than the more stable, familiar square, for
example.
• Related to the first bullet item, use triangles to suggest
familiar themes (flag, pyramid, arrow or pointer).
– A single or a series of triangles can point the eye to important
information or act as an arrow to get readers to turn the page.
• To highlight, organize, or set apart information using a
solid or outlined triangle.
– Use a triangle to suggest progression.
– Place it behind a 'Top 10' list or the steps to accomplish a specific
task.
• Replace the letter A or V in text with a triangular shape
that suggests that letter.
– Try a wedge of pie for the letter A in the phrase Amy's Desserts.
Some ways to use circles:
• To symbolize infinity and protectiveness.
– Circles could also suggest something well-rounded or complete.
• Related to the first bullet item, use circles to suggest
familiar themes (bullet holes, a stack of cannonballs, a
bunch of grapes -- or just about any round fruit or
vegetable, a target, the earth).
• To highlight, organize, or set apart information using a
solid or outlined circle.
– Try a freeform circle that looks like it was drawn with a marker or
pen to highlight important text.
• Replace the letter O or other 'round' letters in text with a
circular shape that suggests that letter.
– Try an orange in the word Orange or a basketball, baseball, or
soccer ball to replace an O or other letter in the nameplate of a
sports newsletter.
Form
• Form describes volume and mass, or the threedimensional aspects of objects that take up
space.
• Shading, shadow, texture or a gradation of
tones help create 3D form in a 2D work
Space
• Can be described as the empty or open
areas around or within a work of art
• The space around objects in a
composition is called negative space
• The objects, elements or images in the
composition form the positive space
• The Graphic
Designer
needs to think
about how to
fill the space
they are
working with
• The layout of
font and
imagery is
importance for
developing a
sense of space
Texture
• Texture refers to the surface quality, both
simulated and actual, of artwork.
• Texture gives the surface of any shape or
form a particular quality or personality, and
thus enhances the viewer’s emotional
response
Color
• Color depends on light because it is made of light.
– There must be light for us to see color.
– A red shirt will not look red in the dark, where there is no light.
• Color can play a symbolic role as well which is important
for designers trying to portray a particular mood or
feeling
– Designers should always be aware of how color can add
emotional or other meaning to any design!
– Color may connote emotion (excitement, rage, peace) and
stimulate brain activity (action, relaxation, concentration).
Primary Colors
• Red
• Yellow
• Blue
Secondary Colors
• Orange
• Green
• Purple
Complimentary Colors
• Yellow-purple
• Red-green
• Blue-orange
Primary colors can be used to
make strong visual statements
What makes this low-light design
interesting, even without color?
Value
• Value refers to the degree of lightness of
darkness of a color
• Value contrasts help us to see and
understand a two-dimensional work of art.
• This type can be read because of the
contrast of dark letters and light
background.
• Value contrast is also evident in colors,
which enables us to read shapes in a
painting.
The Principles of Design
The elements are the basic tools of designers
and the principles are the glue that pulls the
elements together and guides their use
• Balance
• Movement
• Rhythm
• Emphasis
• Unity
• Variety
• Pattern
• Proportion
• Contrast
• Dynamics
• Closure
Gestalt
• When you look at an image, you perceive
the image as a whole, rather than seeing
all its specific parts.
• This overall impression is called a Gestalt
• It conveys a total visual message and
makes an impression because of the
individual experiences, past and present,
that you, the viewer, bring to the ad or
design you’re looking at
Balance
• Balance refers to the distribution of visual
weight in a work of art.
• Balance can be either symmetrical or
asymmetrical in a work of art.
• Symmetrical: design appears stable
• Asymmetrical: creates tension which can
help create visual excitement
Movement
• Visual movement is used by artists to direct
viewers through their work, often to a focal area.
• Such movements can be directed along lines,
edges, shapes, and colors within the works, but
moves the eye most easily on paths of equal
value.
• Techniques to enhance the principle of
movement:
– Repetition: Repeating lines, shapes, colors can make
a composition seem to jump or swirl
– Rhythm: Repeated lines and shapes can be used to
create patterns that suggest rhythm and tempo
Movement
in Graphic
Design
Rhythm
• Rhythm is the repetition of visual
movement - colors, shapes or lines.
• Variety is essential to keep rhythms
exciting and active, and to avoid
monotony.
• Movement and rhythm work together to
create the visual equivalent of a musical
beat.
• A designer may repeat
elements in order to
achieve emphasis
• The repeating curves
that make up the hills,
leads the viewer
through the design
Emphasis
• Many of the elements and principles of design
are present in every visual image. It is the
degree of emphasis that makes one element or
principle dominant or more noticeable than
another
• Emphasis is used by artists to create dominance
and focus in their work.
• Artists can emphasize color, value, shapes, or
other art elements to achieve dominance.
• Various kinds of contrast can be used to
emphasize a center of interest.
Emphasis in Graphic
Design
• You can lead that viewer
all through your
advertisement, but if you
don’t stop that viewer with
one point of interest, then
you’ve lost your viewer.
• The emphasis in a design
is the message that you
want to convey
Dynamics
• Your eyes perceive different amounts of
tension according to what you are seeing
• This tension creates a level of stress
called dynamics
• Designs create energy, and that energy
can be more dynamic or more static
depending on how the components of the
image have been used
Unity
• Visual unity is one of the most important
aspects of well-developed art and is planned by
the artist.
• Unity provides the cohesive quality that makes
an artwork feel complete and finished.
• When all the elements in a work look as though
they belong together, the artist has achieved
unity.
Unity in Graphic Design
• Nowhere is unity more important than in an an
campaign. Creating unity is a form of branding:
you must establish a look and attitude that are
recognizable even before the content of the ad
is read. This particular campaign for Target
works quite well in this way. The design is
fresh and attention-getting.
• As simple as the idea is—combining related
objects with images of the products the ads
feature—it is sure to get noticed because it is
also playful. Too often, the tendency is to take
our assignments so seriously that we forget
the value of whimsy and entertaining design in
making customers feel good about the
products we are endeavoring to sell.
• Another nice feature of these ads is the
treatment of the type. Not only are the
headlines clever but the type is tastefully
applied to the ad. It is interesting that the
Target nameplate does not exist anywhere on
the ads. The symbol is enough to identify the
store.
• A design that
shows variety
may use many
different colors,
textures, shapes
or lines
• The use of
different colors,
sizes, shapes, etc.
to create interest
and avoid
monotony.
• About variety
• Variety may be
achieved by
varying aspects of
the same theme
Variety
Pattern
• Visual patterns are
created by
repeating basic
elements – also
called motifs- such
as dots, lines,
symbols or shapes
Proportion
• Size relationships between the parts of an object
• Proportion helps designers send important
messages without using words
• Graphic designers must make decisions about
proportion:
– How much of an area should be blank, and how much
should include text and images?
– How big should words be in relation to a
photograph/image?
Contrast
• Contrast refers to differences in values,
colors, textures, shapes, and other
elements.
• Contrasts create visual excitement, and
add interest to the work.
• If all the art elements - value, for example are the same, the result is monotonous
and unexciting.
Closure
• Seeing an unfinished form or shape as
completed in the mind’s eye
• When you see something incomplete in your
everyday life, you probably look for some sense
of resolution
– Finding that resolution lessens stress and creates
restfulness
• Visual closure creates the same sensation, by
letting the viewer complete the image
perceptually, the designer makes the viewers
mind work
Harmony
• The sense of order or agreement-among
the parts of a whole; aesthetically pleasing
relationships among parts of a whole.