5 Basic Principles of Graphic Design

These 5 basic principles will help people who are not graphic designers and need to develop design projects as part of their own business.

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1. Alignment

Alignment is the first thing you’ll notice in a design, and it’s one of the most important aspects to consider. Alignment refers to the way you arrange elements in relation to each other and/or the margins of your design. If elements are not aligned, they will create tension and uneasiness for your viewers.

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2. Contrast

Contrast is about creating differentiation between different elements in order to highlight a specific piece of information or content. For example, you can use contrast in color (i.e., light vs dark), size (i.e., big vs small), and shape (i.e., circles vs squares). Contrast can help grab attention, guide users through a design, organize information, and create hierarchy.

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3. Repetition

Repetition refers to how often you repeat visual elements throughout a design (elements such as colors, shapes, textures, patterns, etc.). When you repeat something enough times, it starts becoming familiar and recognizable to people—which helps them remember it better when they see it again later on.

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4. Proximity

Proximity refers to the space between elements of your design. If all the elements (text, images and so on) in your design are grouped together, they appear to be related to each other and the viewer will understand them as a whole. This doesn't necessarily mean that you should put text and images right next to each other; you can also use white space or negative space as separation between groups of elements.

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5. Balance

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Balance is the distribution of the visual weight of objects, colors, texture, and space. If the design was a scale, these elements should be balanced to make a design feel stable. There are two types of balance: symmetrical (or formal) and asymmetrical (or informal). Symmetrical balance refers to objects that are of equal weight or importance. Asymmetrical balance occurs when unlike objects have equal visual weight.

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