Design Principles

Use design principles to make pleasing visuals. Whenever you organize information on paper, in a slide presentation, or in advertising, make sure you use these design principles to guide you. If you decorate a public space or an office, consider these design principles. Know these design basics, and you have a common vocabulary to collaborate with others when designing anything.

1. Balance, Proportion, and Unity Balance or intentional unbalance is created by equal or unequal weights of design elements. Proportion refers to how large or small an element is compared to another, for instance, how large a desk is compared to a chair. Unity is the feeling of the end result of your design. What is the total effect? Does it feel complete? That is unity.
2. Repetition, Rhythm, and Pattern Repetition is when you repeat an element in the design. Many artists say that a good idea is to repeat an element three times in a design. Rhythm happens when you make a pattern of repetition. Pattern happens when rhythmic repetitions happen to a significant degree, and someone can see and could easily describe how to repeat the pattern.
3. Movement Movement refers to how the elements in the design make your eye move. For instance, an arrow makes your eye move in the direction of the arrowhead. Of course, not all movement in design is as obvious as an arrow.
4. Variety Use a variety of shape, line, color and pattern to make your design interesting. Variety refers to including several variations in your design elements. For instance, a yellow circle, square, and triangle would be variety of shapes.
5. Emphasis The element that is most noticeable is where the emphasis is. In business, it is smart to especially know where you want to place visual emphasis for your customers. Create emphasis with a bold color or font, or contrasting shape, texture or size.