Creating stellar designs is not only about inspiration or the outcome of great ideas rather requires a basic understanding of the design concept. Although, nuances of design tend to vary there are some basic principles that every designer whether pro or amateur needs to swear by.
Here are 10 elements of graphic design that will help you come up with polished and professional looking designs.
1. Color-Color is an important element of graphic design, it is used to create visual interest, generate emotions and draw emphasize on a specific section. Color is very important from both the point of views user and designer. Color can stand alone as a background and can be effectively applied to many different elements such as typography, texts, shapes, and lines.
Every color conveys a different emotion and connects to the feelings of the people.
For Example blue conveys calmness and confidence whereas yellow conveys happiness, and cheerfulness. Colors are associated with emotions and communicate a different message, so whatever color you pick while you create a logo design using any logo generator tool or any other graphic design for your brand, product or upcoming event, you need to make wise color choices. When it comes to designing, colors play an important role in setting the tone of the message and directs the eyes of the viewer. So, make sure the color you chose in your design, has a purpose and meaning in their use.
2. Line- In simple words, a line is a mark between two but if we see it from a design perspective that is not mere dividers. When used effectively, lines can convey emotion, movement, and ties together your composition. It is good to define the line of movement in your composition before you start the actual design process to achieve the desired mood by your piece of design.
There are different types of Lines used in designs to create different visual impact and effects. For example, bold and thick lines are used in content, composition, or design to draw attention because it has visual power. Similarly, dashed lines, dotted lines, and curved lines are used for different purposes and have a different impact. These lines are powerful and when used with an illustration, keeps the user interested.
3. Shape- What comes to your mind when you think of shapes. Well, shapes are not only for preschoolers, but they are also an essential element of design as well. Shapes are commonly divided into two categories: Geometric shapes with uniform proportions like triangle, square, circle and organic shapes with less-defined edges like wiggly, blobs, etc). Every design creates shapes and how these shapes interact within the design, is important in forming overall appeal of the design. A graphic designer while working on a design, needs to focus on both the shapes, the one that they are deliberately making and the ones that are naturally formed.
4. Contrast-
Another important element of the graphic design is the use of the contrast such as (dark vs light) or by size differentiation (big vs small) to highlight important elements of the design. Contrast is created to draw viewer attention to a particular section of the design or to give your composition a polished and professional look.
Though contrast is mainly achieved by color, it can also occur with the use of types, texture and other graphic elements.
5. Space-
Space in simple words is the empty or left space between various elements in your design. When working on a design, it is easier to get carried away and fill the entire composition with images, shapes and other graphic design elements. But it is good to give some breathing space to your elements.
Space can be used effectively in the design to lead the eyes of the viewers. Just by changing space in a composition, you can create a different feeling.
6. Typography- Typography is another important part of graphic design elements. Each font has a different personality and conveys a different meaning, so font selection needs to coincide with the purpose of your design. Whether you are creating a logo design or any other piece of art, right typography plays a crucial role in the success of your work.
Your font selection conveys the personality of your brand. For instance, if you are a core b2b company or a contemporary fashion blog, your typography should convey this.
7. Texture- The texture have recently started gaining ground, they were not very popular few years back. Textures have replaced single-color backgrounds and are considered similar to solid color backgrounds. There are many different types of texture styles used like natural elements, flat, stone, paper, and concrete among others. Textures when used creatively, can create an excellent visual appeal.
8. Alignment- To ensure a balanced composition, you cannot overlook this graphic design element. Alignment plays an important role in connecting various elements visually either by centers or by their edges. So, make sure your design has an invisible axis that balances out various elements in your design.
9. Scale/ Size- Can you imagine a website with all same sized ingredients? Such website or composition will appear boring and have a hard time engaging the viewers. Going for variations in the size and scale of your objects, shapes, and other elements enable designers to highlight, add visual interest and emphasize. Although, the amount of variation done depends heavily on the piece of composition.
10. Harmony- According to Alex (a designer and author of The Elements of Graphic Design) “Harmony is the main goal of graphic design”. So, you should try to achieve harmony in n your every composition. To achieve harmony, you need to get away with the superfluous elements if any. When all the elements of design work together without any interference, harmony is created.
Wrapping up
A good design is not enough, you need to make sure above -mentioned elements are in accordance with each other before you declare your project complete. So, that you can effortlessly create great designs.
