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good design has C R A P By Kate Hansen - Adapted from Robin Williams The Non-Designer’s Design Book ONTRAST EPETITION ALIGNMENT ROXIMITY 4 Good design has Contrast Repetition Alignment Proximity Yes, it’s an acronym. These are the four principles of good design. Let’s look at each of these separately. C O N T R A S Contrast –A designer should avoid elements on a page that are merely similar. Rather, to attract attention, make elements (type, color, size, line, thickness, shape, space, etc.) very different. Contrast is one of the most effective ways to add visual interest to a page. For contrast to be effective, it must be strong. Don’t be a whimp! Contrast is created when two elements are different. If they are only slightly different, then you don’t have contrast, but you have conflict. Make things really different – BOLD! T BE C Ways to add contrast: Matters O Size N C T Type R A T Face Thickness Hor vertical S olor zontal R E P Robin’s Principle of Repetition states, “Repeat some aspect of the design throughout the entire piece.” Repetition adds consistency. Make a conscious effort to unify all parts of the spread. E Try These Repetitive Elements: T •Thick rule line I •A certain bullet •Color T •Spatial relationships I •Font size O N •Bold type, thickness R E P E T I T I O N This has good contrast in color and size, AND plenty of repetition: A L I G N M E N T Robin’s Principle of Alignment states, “Nothing should be placed on the page arbitrarily. Every item should have a visual connection with something else on the page.” •When items are aligned on a page, the result is a stronger, cohesive unit. •Center alignment is easy and overused. Try something different and bold. Good alignment can help you organize your information. Here are four different ways to arrange the same information. Notice how each is aligned differently, yet they all have very different looks. A L I G N M E N T CENTER Aligned This is somewhat dull and flat looking. The centered photo limits the space and the eye naturally drifts upward toward it, away from the text. LEFT Aligned The left aligned photo is an unexpected twist, but the white space underneath it seems out of place. It is better than center aligned, but I think we can do better… RIGHT Aligned The flush right alignment creates a good use of white space to frame out the text and photo. Our eye has a place to start and stop without interruption. P R O X I M I T Y Robin’s Principle of Proximity states that “you group items together, move them physically close to each other so the related items are seen as one cohesive group rather than a bunch of unrelated bits.” •Objects near each other are seen as a unit •Use space to group elements •Use different fonts and sizes to group elements •Use thick or thin text or lines to group elements •Use color to group elements •Use alignment to separate groups P R O X I M I T Y Compare these two Apple Group fliers. Which one is easier to read? How do the groupings of proximity help organize the flier? Which elements were used to group information? Thick, bold headings, white space to separate groups, alignment. http://www.macworld.com/article/142240/2009/09/designtipsprox.html G I V E I T A T R Y Now, give it a try. Here is a strong visual with repetition and contrast. What can you do with it? G I V E By adding a little more contrast with a red font, repeating the shapes and font colors, aligning the text to the boxes, and using proximity to separate the information, this can get a simple message to the viewer with very few changes. F C I T A E Coffee Baked Goods Smoothies A T R Y Café Old Town 1234 Union St. My Town, IL. 231.442.8179 G I V E I T A T R Y Now it is your turn…. First, find one sample of good design and write a summary of how it meets the four basic design principals. Secondly, find a sample of design that breaks the design rules of C.R.A.P. and write a summary of why it is not good design. You may use magazines, the internet, newspapers, fliers, newsletters, or yearbooks from our stacks.