Member-only story
6 key design principles for creating an engaging visual experience.
Know the basics so you can master the complexities.
Art is subjective. And yes, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. However, if you’ve encountered a confusing parking sign or a website from the early 90s, you’ll know that poor design exists.
Like any other profession, graphic design also has rigid guidelines that function beneath the surface to harmonize and balance the work. Understanding design principles and how they interplay is crucial for both emerging and senior designers. Consciously implementing them is the secret to producing aesthetically pleasing and practical designs.
When I started as a designer, I didn’t fully understand these principles to be able to leverage them in my designs. However, with time I got acquainted and began to understand what works and, most importantly, why it works.
In this article, we’ll look at each principle individually and understand how they interact to help you reach the targeted audience with the right message.
What are Design Principles?
In a nutshell, design principles are rules, behavioural patterns, and considerations to judiciously employ in your designs to minimize users’ cognitive loads and increase appeal. Experts from various disciplines, including behavioural science, sociology, ergonomics, psychology, etc., laid the groundwork for these design principles. They are a representation of the collective knowledge of design pundits and researchers.
How are these principles important for your designs?
Design and usability expert Jared Spool says, “good design, when it’s done well, becomes invisible. It’s only when it’s done poorly that we notice it.” And for this reason alone, good design is difficult to define.
As a designer, you must’ve had moments when you’re about to tear off your hair because something is off in your design, but you can’t put your finger on it. Design principles help you fix this problem and many others throughout the design process by assisting you in determining the core values of your product so that you can make decisions that respect the…
