In the creative process, principles of design function as the fundamental guideline governing how visual elements build effective composition. Without these characteristics, a design can appear cluttered, unstable, and difficult to keep the audience’s attention. Understanding these basic principles allows designers to create clean, organized, and easy-to-understand visuals.
These principles of design relate a lot to the way humans’ eyes process visual information. Humans tend to follow certain flows, recognizing contrast as an important mark and catching the focal point before any other details. Therefore, principles of design are not just about aesthetics but also about how visuals are accepted and understood.
This article provides you with complete pictures of each core design principle—from balance and contrast to hierarchy and harmony. These principles are the visual foundations we have previously explained in the Fundamentals of Design articles, making this discussion the next essential step to building a well-thought-out, communicative design.
Table of Contents
According to the Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF), principles of design are the fundamental guide to help designers arrange the visual elements so that the visual composition will be more structured, simple to understand, and effective for the message delivery. These principles guide the audience’s perception, understanding, and prioritization of the visual display’s information.
As an analogy, if design elements like lines, colors, or shapes are the “raw materials,” then principles of design are “the way to manage” them so that the visuals are more directed. They are meant to be universal and applicable for various design fields, including graphic designs, UI/UX designs, and photography.
It is important to know that principles of design function as the framework, not the mandatory rules. For designers, understanding these basic principles can help them make a structured decision, such as which elements should be more emphasized and how to arrange the flow of information. Hence, principles of design are vital to learn, especially in creating visual artwork.
As one of the principles of design, balance ensures that each visual element has balanced “weights” in a composition. Balance helps designs feel more stable, neat, and readable. When a layout is unbalanced, audiences may feel the irregularity, even if they don’t know why.
Generally, balance is divided into three main shapes:
This balance proportionally places elements on equatable sides in a composition, resulting in formal, regular, and predictable impressions. Symmetrical balance is often used in editorial layouts to create a sleek and organized structure.
This balance is achievable through various different elements—starting from the size, color, to shape or position—arranged strategically to create a balanced visual composition. Asymmetrical balance provides a more modern and dynamic look, perfect for landing pages or contemporary web designs.
Radial balance occurs when all elements are arranged around a central point and radiate in various directions. This type of balance creates a strong, dramatic, and concentric visual focus, making it often used in posters, logos, and decorative ornaments.
To ensure this balance works well, designers often utilize simple methods like a flipping test (seeing the design upside down) or grayscale test (erasing the colors to evaluate contrast distribution). These two methods help determine whether the composition feels stable without having to depend on colors or additional elements.
Contrast is one of the principles of design that uses visual disparities to highlight specific parts of a composition. Colors, sizes, shapes, textures, white spaces, and typography all demonstrate the difference. Without contrast, all elements will appear “the same,” resulting in a design that is unfocused and so plain.
The following are some common contrasts used when designing:
Color difference is the most obvious type of contrast, with light colors opposing dark colors and warm colors opposing cool colors. This contrast is particularly helpful for emphasizing crucial features like CTA buttons and headlines.
The difference between two objects or texts creates a clear emphasis. Large-sized objects will directly attract attention, while the small ones function as the supporting element. This contrast is mostly used for posters or websites’ hero sections.
Using different shapes in one composition will bring up more attention from the audience. For example, using circles in the middle of square-shaped objects will create an appealing visual disturbance.
The difference between rough and soft, glossy and matte, or flat and grainy texture can create a visual depth. This contrast functions as a character that enriches visual nuances in a design.
Elements with white space around them will appear much more important than elements that look crowded. The contrast of space creates focus without changing color or size, enhances readability, and makes the design feel more premium.
As one of the principles of design, hierarchy serves as a guide to help the audience understand information in an organized manner. Designers use visual hierarchy to determine which aspects of the design are primary and which are secondary. Visual hierarchy also manages the line of sight, which begins with the focal point and continues to other aspects. A poster’s text structure is the most obvious example. The largest headline text will capture the audience’s attention, followed by the subheading and then the content.
In a hierarchical system, emphasis is a technique for establishing the most dominant focal point. Emphasis draws attention to specific features so that they become the audience’s primary focus when viewing a design. The previously described contrast principle, which includes brilliant colors or larger sizes, can be used to achieve this impact.
By arranging hierarchy and emphasis properly, designers can direct the audience’s sight to the main message and naturally arrange the information flow. As a result, the design message can be conveyed clearly and effectively.
The next principles of design are unity and harmony. These two ensure that all elements in a design composition appear harmonious and complete. By ensuring the concept of unity and visual harmony, a design can deliver its message more clearly, effectively, and professionally. Without unity and harmony, a design will look messy and inconsistent despite the appealing elements it has.
Unity relates to the cohesion of concepts; all elements in a design must be connected to the same goal, whether its style, color, or layout. When the design adheres to this principle, its diverse elements will appear solid and not random.
Meanwhile, harmony focuses more on the balance among elements. This principle ensures that the shape, color, texture, and typography used in a design complement each other, resulting in a consistent visual despite the various design elements used.
Understanding rhythm and movement is essential for any designer looking to master the principles of design. They create a seamless visual journey for the audience, guiding them effortlessly from one element to the next. Rhythm emerges from the harmonious repetition of elements like shapes, lines, and colors, crafting a mesmerizing pattern that draws you in. Consequently, design will exude a vibrant energy, transforming it from static to dynamic with a captivating rhythm.
Meanwhile, movement guides the audience’s gaze through the visual flow. The direction of lines, object positions, or specific contrasts may create an illusion of movement, resulting in a dynamic composition. Designers may create a more engaging visual experience by appropriately arranging rhythm and movement without overdoing it.
Proportion and scale manage the relationship of sizes between elements, generating a harmonious and easy-to-understand visual. Proportion focuses on the size balance of a composition, such as the comparison of image, text, and white space sizes. When appropriately organized, the sizes of design elements create a composition that feels balanced and not heavy on one side.
On the other hand, scale is used to highlight certain elements based on their size differences, making them either larger or smaller compared to other elements. This technique is similar to the size contrast we previously explained and is often applied to create an emphasis that determines the main focal point.
The example of these principles of design can be seen in most poster designs, where the title is written in an incredibly large size, while the supporting texts are in smaller ones, and the other visual elements are placed in a balanced proportion. In the UI and branding context, scale is also used to ensure that all elements function properly without disturbing the whole composition.
Let’s put emphasis on the fact that, although the principles of design help create clear and effective compositions, small errors in their application can make a design feel heavy, confusing, or unstructured. Here are some of the most common mistakes that designers, especially beginners, need to avoid:
Using too many colors, sizes, or shapes can result in an overcrowded and unstructured design that is hard for the audience to understand.
Without hierarchy management, the audience struggles to prioritize which information to view first. Making all elements look equally important will diminish their importance.
By not providing enough white space, the design feels cramped and tiring. White space helps elements breathe and makes the design composition more well-organized.
Inconsistent sizes of texts, icons, or images will make a design look unstable. Avoid improper proportion, as it can disturb the visual flow and rhythm.
Avoid using similar elements repetitively without having any variations. This thing will create a monotonous composition with no focal point or good visual dynamics.
By avoiding these mistakes, the principles of design can work best, resulting in a more directed, clear, and understandable design.
Understanding the principles of design enables designers to produce clearer, more directed visuals that effectively communicate the design message. These principles, which include balance, contrast, hierarchy, emphasis, proportion, rhythm, unity, and harmony, provide an essential foundation that organizes how each piece works as a whole.
By continuously applying these principles, your design will appear more solid, comfortable, and easily understandable to the audience. Moreover, every visual decision, from element placement to size or color selection, can be more measured and optimized.
