What Are Design Principles And Its Elements?

 
 
What are Design principles and it’s elements?
 

Design principles and elements

The elements, or principles, of visual design, include Contrast, Balance, Emphasis, Movement, White Space, Proportion, Hierarchy, Repetition, Rhythm, Pattern, Unity, and Variety. These principles of design work together to create something that is aesthetically pleasing and optimizes the user experience.

Visual design elements and principles describe fundamental ideas about the practice of visual design. The best designers sometimes disregard the principles of design. When they do so, however, there is usually some compensating merit attained at the cost of the violation. Unless you are certain of doing as well, it is best to abide by the principles.

Principles of design

Principles applied to the elements of design that bring them together into one design. How one applies these principles determines how successful a design may be. The principles of design are the rules a designer must follow to create an effective and attractive composition. The fundamental principles of design are Emphasis, Balance and Alignment, Contrast, Repetition, Proportion, Movement, and White Space. Design differs from art in that it has to have a purpose.

The 8 principles of design

  1. Balance

Balance refers to the arrangement of the artwork in a way that does not allow anyone element to overpower another.  Large areas are not left blank without an equally full area to balance the piece.  Work can be asymmetrical and still remain balanced.

  1. Unity

Unity refers to how well one element functions with the remaining elements.  A painting of a freshwater fish tank would appear divided were it to include elements seen in a saltwater fish tank.

  1. Contrast

Contrast refers to the use of conflicting elements or colors while still remaining harmonious and unified when the artwork is viewed as a whole.

  1. Variety

Variety pertains to the different types of elements used in a piece–for example, small and large elements, as well as black and white elements.

  1. Movement

The path the eye follows when viewing a piece of art, or the elements in a work that create movement.  An obvious example would be the lines that appear around Charlie Brown when he kicks at the football only to have Lucy pull it away.

  1. Harmony

Harmony in design refers to the use of similar or consistent elements, for example, the white font being used in conjunction with a photo of a humpback whale, which has splashes of white on its tail.

  1. Proportion

Sometimes called “scale,” this principle refers to the size of elements in a design.  In the film “Beauty and the Beast,” to highlight the ferocity of the Beast, he was drawn much taller and stockier than the other characters.

  1. Rhythm

Rhythm is more readily noticed when it incorporates patterns, but the general definition is the repetition of elements or the use of lines to give the impression of energy or activity.

Understanding the basics

What are the elements of visual design?

The elements, or principles, of visual design include Contrast, Balance, Emphasis, Movement, White Space, Proportion, Hierarchy, Repetition, Rhythm, Pattern, Unity, and Variety. These principles of design work together to create something that is aesthetically pleasing and optimizes the user experience.

Why is contrast important in design?

Contrast refers to how different elements are in a design, making them more easily discernible from one another. Contrast is very important in creating accessible designs. Insufficient contrast can make text content in particular very difficult to read, especially for people with visual impairments.

What does rhythm mean in design?

The spaces between repeating visual elements create the basic design principle of rhythm to form, similar to the way the space between notes in a musical composition create a rhythm. There are five basic types of visual rhythm that designers can create: random, regular, alternating, flowing, and progressive.

What is the balance design principle?

Every element and principle of a design—typography, colors, images, shapes, patterns, etc.—carries a visual weight. Some elements are heavy and draw the eye, while other elements are lighter. The way that these elements are laid out on a page should create a feeling of balance.

How is emphasis achieved in design?

The basic design principle of emphasis is used to either make certain elements of a design stand out (such as through using contrasting colors, making an element larger, increasing the white space around it, etc.), or not stand out (like when including tiny “fine print” at the bottom of a page).