Designing Visually Pleasing Materials

Have you ever completed a design and have not been pleased with the end result? If so, it is possible that you are missing one of the four elements of design: balance, visual syntax, unity or proportion. I’m going to explain a little bit about each of these four elements.

Balance – In order to achieve balance, you should focus on optical weight. Optical weight is a visual system of measure.  Optical weight is based on the following six rules:

1. Anything located in the upper left hand quadrant of a layout has the most optical weight.
2. Large items are noticed more, seen for a longer time and remembered more.
3. Elements that are dark carry more optical weight.
4. Color conveys more optical weight than black and white.
5. White space draws attention to the other information on the page.
6. Rectangles are normal shapes, everything else conveys optical weight.

Visual Syntax – Typically a person’s eyes go in a Z pattern when looking at a piece.

So, to increase visual syntax, you should try to use a Z page layout.  You should include the “What’s in it for me” across the top, filler text in the middle and a call to action across the bottom.

Unity – There are seven elements that contribute to the unity of your piece. They are as follows:

1. Typography – try to stick to only using 2 fonts. You can have an additional font if necessary, but two is the key number.
2. Paper – The heavier the paper, the more important people perceive something is.
3. Style of Art – Don’t mix and match different styles of art.
4. Color – Don’t overdue it on colors, stick to a color scheme.
5. Size – 30% of your design should be white space. Let the content determine the size of your piece.
6. Graphic Elements – You can use repeat graphics throughout the page in order to grab people’s attention.
7. Grid – Don’t go from 1 column to 2 columns, keep things consistent.

Proportion – The underlying skeleton of your layouts.

To make your piece proportionate, you should consider whether you are going to use a one-column (newsy or important perception), two-column (formal and conservative look), or a three-column (flexible, friendly and casual look) grid layout.

The grid is the key to your design. You can make your piece graphically appealing by carrying headlines, text and graphics through two or more columns.

These are just a few things to think about when you are designing a piece. When you complete your design you should go back and make sure your document has used these four elements correctly.