Page’s have a hierarchy elements. This affects placement, size, visual weight, color density, and more. No emphasis creates confusion and visual noise. Obviously, two things cannot be dominant or emphasized at the same time. The page needs a hierarchy of dominant, subordinate, and accent ranking of colors, typography, and images. Without a hierarchy, there is no emphasis. Without emphasis, there is confusion or chaos.
The idea is to communicate. Without emphasis, the viewer doesn’t know what to focus on and gets overwhelmed and frustrated. Bad pages have weak focus and weak hierarchy. The central theme or idea would be muddled. Order is determined in the human mind, but there are visual cues that help direct our mind from most important to least. This is not always easy. Sometimes we have to discard something we really like to achieve the right emphasis.
Scale and proportion are both design elements that have to do with size. Scale is the size of one object in relation to the other objects in a design or artwork. Proportion refers to the size of the parts of an object in relationship to other parts of the same object.Color and contrast: Contrast helps organize your design and establish a hierarchy—which simply shows which parts of your design are most important (and signals viewers to focus on those). But more than emphasizing the focal point of your design, good use of contrast adds visual interest.Typographic hierarchy is a system for organizing type that establishes an order of importance within the data, allowing the reader to easily find what they are looking for and navigate the content.Spacing Wider spaces separate elements from each other and narrower spaces connect elements to reveal relationships between them. Overlapping elements maximizes their relationship. By controlling and shaping space in our designs, we create rhythm, direction, and motion. We create design flow through our use of space.The principle of proximity is simply the process of ensuring related design elements are placed together. Any unrelated items, should be spaced apart. Close proximity indicates that items are connected or have a relationship to each other and become one visual unit which helps to organise or give structure to a layout.Negative Space – or white space, as it’s often called – is the area of the layout that is left empty. It may be not only around the objects you place in the layout but also between and inside them. Negative space is a kind of breathing room for all the objects on the page or screen. Gestalt principles also state that the negative space not only helps to define links between objects but also helps in defining their limits.Alignment is a design principle that refers lining up text or graphics on a page. While you probably won’t notice when the elements in a design are aligned, you will almost definitely notice when they aren’t. A design with poor alignment will look cluttered and unfinished.The “rule of odds” suggests that an odd number of subjects in an image is more interesting than an even number. Thus if you have more than one subject in your picture, the suggestion is to choose an arrangement with at least three subjects.Repetition is the reusing of the same or similar elements throughout the design. We use repetition to create a sense of unity and consistency throughout a design. Repetition creates a particular style, creates cohesiveness, creates emphasis, hierarchy structure and strengthens a design.Leading lines are great for producing several effects: Guiding the viewer’s eyes through the photo, helping them explore the whole scene. Drawing attention to the main subject or focal point of the shot. Adding depth and a sense of perspective to make the scene feel more “real” and three dimensional.The Rule of Thirds is another way to look at the layout of a design. The idea is straightforward; you place a simple grid overlay (divided equally into thirds, both horizontally and vertically) on the space to be used for the design. The resulting grid provides a sort of “roadmap” that helps you choose where to place your design elements.Perspective is the technique that is used to create the illusion of depth in your picture. Perspective makes your picture look like it is moving to the distance like in a landscape or cityscape. Positive space – Similar to a positive shape, it is the actual sculpture or building.
