Once you see that something as simple as making a slight adjustment to the color scheme or adding a shape can be the a-ha! moment that elevates your design, you’ll be on your way to crafting more meaningful and effective compositions.What is a game? There are a lot of theories, and while most game designers will agree on certain aspects, there has never really been The best way to master these elements is to experiment. If the principles of design are the instructions, the elements are the tools. Graphic designers use most or all of these elements of design while being guided by a set of principles, known as the principles of design. But type can also be more than words: if used in an intentional way, type can also be a striking visual element or a shape, as well as provide structure between the content and the visuals. Typography is an important element of design because it literally conveys the message you want to communicate. Type Bold, stylized type creates a memorable design for a bike shop that works equally well with or without the logotype. Frames also help define shapes in the blank white space of a page. They can be pretty and decorative or basic and utilitarian. This super whimsical design by Cross the Line extends the frame beyond the text and incorporates it into a dog leash.įrames can be subtle but once you train your eyes to look for them, they’ll start showing up everywhere.įrames organize information and create hierarchy for the eye and highlight the most important information for the viewer. More than with any other element, textures serve as a nod to our natural environment. On the other hand, if you’re selling building supplies, you’d probably lean toward cement, stone, and brick, with grittier textured text. Want to imply softness, comfort, and coziness? There’s no quicker way than a cotton textile background. While we can’t feel them on websites and printed pages, textures from the outside world can be brought into a composition to give it life.
Texture is everywhere as we navigate the world around us by both sight and touch. Texture This design by bomba really pops of the page because of the excellent vintage textures that make it seem chromed and shiny. A designer progresses by leaps and bounds once she sees everything in her design as shapes that need to be ordered and sized based on an invisible grid. Other components of a composition, like blocks of text, are also shapes. They can be geometric (squares, ellipses, triangles, etc) or organic (a speech bubble, a blob, those little spiky things that pop on the screen when Batman punches someone). While our kindergarten teachers all hope we know what a shape is, for our purposes, a shape is any enclosed space defined by lines or in contrast to its surroundings. Shape The diamond shapes in this website design draw the eye toward different pieces of information making it easier for the viewer to digest and navigate. Finally, consider what color space ( CMYK or RGB) is best for the printer or screen where the design will be seen.
Learn the basics of color theory to be sure a composition has the right mood, temperature and tone. In addition to hue (red versus blue), consider the saturation and brightness (or “value”) of each color. Even a design set entirely in grayscale needs to be balanced and contrasted appropriately. Color is incredibly important and should never be an afterthought. Often designs are undone by sloppy, careless or inappropriate color choices. Color These beautiful and evocative illustrations are made more effective by great color choices. The eye will also see lines in other places-think buildings, branches of a tree, a horizon, or a set of train tracks-that offer a natural edge or borders. They can be formed into shapes or frames (more on both of those a bit further down). Lines can be used to emphasize, setting particular information off in a busy composition and drawing the eye to a particular area. A diagonal line, for example, has kinetic energy and movement, while a straight line is more ordered and clean. They can be smooth, rough, continuous, broken, thick or thin. Lines enclose and contain the parts of a design by creating outlines. The building’s edge creates a stunning visual line in this webpage design.