Design Principles

Throughout the last couple weeks, our class worked with InDesign with special attention to layout and formatting. We have completed several projects within the last few class sessions, include a newsletter, 2page book-spread, magazine cover, and brochure. All of these assignments required attention to layout and design in order to have a visually appealing end result.

The acronym taught in class to demonstrate proper layout was C.R.A.P. This stands for:

Contrast
     -"Elements that aren’t the same should be very different so they stand out, making them “slightly different” confuses the user into seeing a relation that doesn’t exist. Strong contrast between page elements allows the user’s eye to flow from one to another down the page instead of creating a sea of similarity that’s boring and not communicative."

Repetition
     -"Repeat styles down the page for a cohesive feel if you style related elements the same way in one area, continue that trend for other areas for consistency."

Alignment
     -"Everything on the page needs to be visually connected to something else, nothing should be out of place or distinct from all other design elements."

Proximity
     -"Proximity creates related meaning: elements that are related should be grouped together, whereas separate design elements should have enough space in between to communicate they are different."

This information was taken from the following site, and is explained in further detail: http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/how-crap-is-your-site-design

In my experience with the projects this week, I found that alignment was the most challenging detail to perfect--This is because it is the most difficult to exact. 

While C.R.A.P. outlines the basics of design principles, there are more specific elements to be critical of in order to produce the best project. For example color, size, texture, and value are important elements. These can be further explained by the following links and image:

http://www.johnlovett.com/test.htm
http://flyeschool.com/content/elements-artdesign-and-principles-designorganization

However, once you are aware of these principle of design, creating a visually appealing layout will become second nature. Happy designing! 

Image: http://cdn1.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/10/laptop-color-design.jpg