Design Principles

5 Principles of Design

1. Balance
2. Alignment
3. Grouping
4. Consistency
5. Contrast

Balance

- Design features should offset each other to create a feeling of stability

o E.g. if you add something to the top of the page, add to bottom, if you add to the right,
add to the left, etc..
- Weight of items on page
o What attracts the eye
o Not symmetrical
o Consider balance
o Pg. 369 Figure 13.1

Alignment

- Vertically or horizontally aligned

o Horizontally connects visually to be viewed as a unit
o Vertically allows to see the hierarchy of information in a text.

Grouping

- Near items will be seen as a unit

- Referred to as “using white space”
o Includes Margins, space around a list, area between image and the body of text, space
between two paragraphs
- Use headings to quickly help reader understand structure of document and how to use it
- Use borders to frame

Consistency

- Design features should be the same throughout

o Headings predictable
o Pages follow same grid
o List use same bulleting/numbering
o Page numbers appear in the same space
- Typefaces
o No more than 2
o Usually a serif or sans serif typeface
 - Labels on graphics/charts
- Headers and footers

Contrast

- Makes distinct and different, adding energy and sharpening boundaries

- Culturally Deep
o Use language, symbols, and conventions o the target culture to reflect readers’ design
preferences and expectations
- Culturally Shallow
o Follow western design conventions, but adjusted to reflect some of the design
preferences of the cultures in which they will be used.
o Avoids cultural taboos
o Need to work across a variety of cultures