Skip to main content

Elements and Principles of Design


    The science behind the art of design is accredited to six elements and six principles. The six main elements (or visual traits) of design are; line, color, shape, texture, size/scale, and direction. Whereas the principles of design–the message created by the used element–are as follows: proximity, balance, alignment, repetition, contrast, and space. The principles of design, however, are not limited to these. Your principles may depend on style or practice.

    So, why do elements and principles matter? If you're venting anger or calming your chi, it might not. However, if you're looking to create captivating visuals, understanding some of the core traits will help you to convey your message or story successfully. You don't want a crowded mess now, do you? Well, actually, you might...if you know how to do it tastefully!
    Once you've got a pretty good grasp on some principles or elements or elephants, it'll be your ticket to success! No matter who you are, a writer or an artist, your design knowledge will improve the quality of your work. With even the simple concepts, you can begin creating a logo, drafting out website pages, or planning social media posts. 

    Whether you need those for your own business to establish your online presence, or if you want to freelance your skills to entrepreneurs and small businesses, your portfolio will surely bloom (and so might your pocket!)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What's Your Type?

    Typography is a vital part of graphic design. Graphic design is everywhere. It's the cover of your book, it's the meme your friends are laughing at, it's the label on your dad's daily socks. Without graphics, your dad might not be able to decide which sock to wear on Tuesdays! Thanks to to graphics, and especially to typography, your dad can not only find socks that go with his fluffy pajamas, but also match the day with the aptly labelled socks.  Wait, what?      Type is another way of describing the words you're reading. More so, it also describes the font, or appearance. For example, my favorite font is Times New Roman. Most known for its role in essay building, Times New Roman is a classic serif font. Its simplistic design makes it desirable for both serif and sans serif fans. Although I'm sure its thanks to brainwashing from countless hours of essay writing, Times New Roman has always been a favorite of mine. The features as I describe them ar...

Practicing Monograms for the 'Gram

    Before starting the monogram project, I was optimistic that mashing two or three letters together was going to be easy and fun. Oh, how very wrong I was. After a plethora of user errors... my nice way of describing  unintelligible  button smashing... I was on a slow track to understanding how shape, color (and  absence of), size, and font types come together. By creating what I had floating around in my head, and manipulating those [listed] features, I was able to design a line of monograms that could carry the message of one of my Instagram accounts, @lifepoorlyexplained.      1. I used one of my favorite funky (100% free) fonts, Ragg, to attempt a manipulation of stroke lines.      2. I flipped the L and mimicked the P's stroke line. I realize it looks like I jus     Three letters of unusual shapes proved to be more than annoying for a beginner like me, so I went ahead and practiced a few more concepts wit...

The Profession of Graphic Design

  Describe who you are as an artist, designer, student? What you are focusing on in your field of study? What are people going to read on this blog?      I am a writer by trade, but I dream in pictures. After graduating with a B.A. in Creative Writing, I kept feeling that tugging in my brain telling me that there was something else. Growing up, I had always wanted to design things. School buses, bedrooms, logos, websites (I have too many of those)...anything you can think of, and more. Silly thing is, I never took the time to understand the principles of design, to use illustrator... until now!      My prior experience with photoshop, cinematography, photography, and some design knowledge, has allowed me to sustain some sort of portfolio, but it causes me to wince when I forward it to someone, especially job potentials. That is why I am taking graphic design. I hope to improve and expand my portfolio beyond words and home-baked grap...