Elements of Design ( Note: To hide or display these lecture comments, go to VIEW and click COMMENTS) These are principles that work not only in business documents, but in many applications, from business cards to newspaper pages. ( Note: To hide or display these lecture comments, go to VIEW and click COMMENTS) These are principles that work not only in business documents, but in many applications, from business cards to newspaper pages.

Credit where credit is due … Robin Williams Susan Hilligoss Susan Hilligoss and Tharon Howard Most of this material comes from these two sources. The one on the right is written by professors here at Clemson.

Four concepts ContrastAlignmentRepetitionProximity But this book offers four principles that I think you can apply across the board, no matter what kind of document you are designing. I think they also are relevant to architecture and product design. Here’s a memory peg for remembering them, “CARP.”

Proximity “Proximity, or closeness, implies a relationship.” Principle One is proximity. Robin Williams describes it this way: “Closeness implies a relationship.”

Proximity Key idea: “Group related items together” This is how you apply proximity.

Proximity All examples from The Non-Designer’s Design Book Problem: Reader’s eye must bounce all around card to obtain information Here’s an example of a proximity problem. I’ve seen this kind of design often, however. This must be the name of a band!

Proximity Solution: Solution: Group together related elements Group together related elements Simply by grouping related items, you make this card much more understandable and memorable.

Proximity Problems:  The two items in top left are in close proximity but not related  Gaps separate related items Here are the same problems again. Look at the ad, and think about how the proximity of elements might be changed to improve this.

Proximity Sol ut ion: Regroup information Change to caps/lowercase Use squared edges Let image break out of box Robin Williams definitely regrouped information here to relate information. But she also made some other design changes to add visual appeal to this ad.

Proximity Problem: Everything is close to everything else Here we go again: a shopping list; all things are equal.

Proximity Solution: Contents are grouped Contrast is added with headlines/rules But note how pulling related items into proximity with each other makes this information easier to use. The logic of its organization is clear now. Also, note how contrasting typography, to create subheadings, help “chunk” the information. Subheadings in a report do the same thing. Use them!

Alignment Key idea: “Nothing should be placed on the page arbitrarily. Every item should have a visual connection with something else on the page.” “Nothing should be placed on the page arbitrarily. Every item should have a visual connection with something else on the page.” Now let’s talk about alignment. Here is the key idea: Visually connect the elements.

Alignment  No element has any connection to the others.  Elements aligned Aligning information, in this case, flush right, really helps. Proximity and contrast also are being used here.

Alignment Here’s a pretty standard layout, centered.

Alignment But look how much crisper it looks with alignment, plus some thought about proximity.

Alignment Trapped white space pushes elements apart Does the text go with the cartoon, or are they independent chunks of information? The ragged right type seems to separate the elements.

Alignment “ Find a strong line and use it.” Flush right type makes use of image’s border. Change the alignment, and it becomes obvious that they go together. Note the strong lines Robin Williams uses in this example to get alignment. Flush right type, strong vertical line on the cartoon.

Repetition Key idea: “Repeat some aspect of the design throughout the entire piece.” Principle 3 is repetition.

Repetition When you get to the end of the information, does your eye just wander off the card? Here we go with the band again. Not a bad card, right? But note the question here: Now look at the change...

Repetition Repeated bold type encourages reader to “bounce” between the two dominant typefaces Boldfacing that number, so it pairs with the headline, really makes it jump, and it hold your eye on the information.

Contrast Problem:  What is the focus? Border? Eagles? Type? Our final concept is contrast. This slide shows the kind of design you see all the time from do-it- yourself Yellow Page customers. How in the world do you start accessing this information? It is daunting!

Contrast Solution:  Contrast  Alignment  Repetition  Proximity Here is the same ad with all four principles being applied. How are they being used here?

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