The recurrence of an element, color, shape, or form in design is called repetition. So, the larger the element is, the more important it is, and the opposite – the smaller an element is, the less significant it usually is. It shows the important elements and points out the less important ones. It comes organically once you’re done with your contrast and balance. Proportion is the relative size of the design elements compared to each other. This is the second function of emphasis – reducing the impact of the information, you don’t want to catch the eye of your audience first. You can have the word “up to” smaller just above the most important element of your poster, to keep the visual hierarchy. Otherwise, your design will be unbalanced and messy, and as a result, it won’t be able to fulfill its purpose.įor example, if you’re making a sale announcement for a brand and some products are even 50% off, you can place the “50%” in the middle of your poster and make it bigger and bolder than the rest of the elements. To have a perfect emphasis on your design you need to have a clear understanding of what’s important in your composition. Good design with emphasis helps to draw attention to your information and makes it stand out with its shape, size, or color. Your target audience won’t be able to concentrate on the information, and the whole design will turn out to be confusing.Įmphasis highlights the most important element and makes your audience concentrate on the focal point of your design. Say, you’re working with text, and have chosen more than two or three typefaces and fonts, the entire composition will look all over the place. On your composition, you can show contrast with contrasting colors, light and dark hues, small and big shapes, thin and thick fonts, and more.įor example, if you’re designing any kind of logo, you can create contrast with a pink background, blue or green elements, and white text. Radial balance: the elements are arranged around the central point of your design.Ĭontrast is used to create an obvious difference between the objects of your design and highlight them as a result. Symmetrical balance: the elements on both sides of the centerline have equal weight.Īsymmetrical balance: the sides have opposite weights, but still look balanced. There are three kinds of options when it comes to the balance of a design: symmetrical, asymmetrical, and radial. To make your composition stable and engaging for your audience, you should create balance for your elements. Your ship should be balanced to move forward with ease, and the same goes for the visual elements of your design. Once you start placing all your baggage on one side, it will slowly start to sink because that will be the heavy side of your boat, while the other side will remain weightless. Think of it as a wooden boat on a peaceful lake. Objects, text, their size, and shape, color and texture, all have weight, which is important to distribute on your composition with care and evenly. Any element in your design has a visual weight.

Elements and principles of design