Design elements and principles

“Design is intelligence made visible”—Alina Wheeler. Design is an intricate, fun and educating business. Being a designer, you always stay at the beginner level, no matter how professional you get at designing. With the evolving technology and trends, you always are always learning new things that can help you become better at designing. All this can become a little overwhelming for a designer. So without letting the confusion take over, let’s discuss the six principles of design which can help you to perfect your designing skills.

1. Line

The line is a significant part of the design. They channel ideas and meaning to the design, for example, a straight line can evoke order and neatness, where wavy lines and create movement. A technique called “leading lines” is often applied in photography, which can lead the eye through the design.

Using lines to design is a great way to stylise your illustrations. Lines can emphasise on the illustrations creating an intriguing effect. Lines used in the design are a simple, versatile and effective element. You can experiment with them and create something out of the box to be successful.

2. Colour

It’s not rocket science to understand the importance of colours as a design element. Colours are responsible for creating a specific mood, atmosphere and channels emotions of the viewer. Each shade has certain associations attached to it, which can either make your design or perish it to the ground.

Colour isn’t a principle limited to branding element as they expand to every visual design such as photographs and illustrations. If you are looking forward to designing a sophisticated logo, try using metallic, perhaps a metallic silver to give it a classy look. However, if you are trying to play with colours to make your logo fun, you can try the contrast of colours which evokes happy feelings.

3. Negative spaces

Negative spaces play a great role in delivering a hidden meaning to the viewers. It manipulates the simple form of design to make something new. Negative spaces can create stunning and clever designs provided they are tragically used.

You can take the examples of some of the big names of the market such as FedEx or Coca-Cola. Although these names are simple typographic symbols, there is a hidden element in both the logos. FedEx on one side has a hidden arrow between the E and X of the name. On the other hand, Coca-Cola has a hidden flag in the word cola, which describes its origins.

4. Illustrations

Powerful images can make or break a brand. Photographs and illustration are the form of art which can tell stories, support ideas and evoke emotions of the audience. It is a large part of the branding and can engage the audience.

Just like children books illustration tell a story to the young readers, illustrations used in the design can tell a visual story to the potential customers.

5. Typography

Just like colours, typography is a big part of the design. It can speak volumes about your brand, and the way you choose your type whether in the heading or a body it says even more. There are many different fonts that you can choose, but you need to make sure that it suits your brand.

For instance, let’s take a look at display fonts. It basically refers to a more stylish and fancier typeface, but if you want to use it in the body, you need to choose the ones which are legible for the audience. Once you have decided your font, stick to it.

6. Texture

Texture refers to the appearance of the design. It may be the actual surface of the design where the viewer can feel the texture, which can set your design apart from all the other elements of design. The material used in packaging creates this texture of the design.

On the other hand, the style of the design implies texture. This can be achieved by creating a visual texture with layered graphics that can reflect actual textures or create an impression of the original texture. Texture can be applied to any element in the design.

Conclusion

Graphic designing is not as easy as it may seem. You need to follow the rules and be creative to produce something out of the box. You can experiment with the design elements but make sure that it can convey the message of your company.