5 key elements to consider in your visual design.

I thought I’d share the things I think about when approaching a new design. Over the last 10 years or so, I’ve developed a way to think about design when faced with a blank digital canvas, and it’s helped me to develop solutions every time. There are many principles of design and breakthroughs that have happened in its history, but these are the ones that I consider first.

Font

English: A comparison between the fonts Helvetica and Arial. (Original description: Useful letters for fast differentiation between Helvetica and Arial) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Usually, unless I am working on a piece in the interest of fine arts, where one may value abstraction and ambiguity, I am trying to convey something specific in design. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is with words. However, the typography is a message in itself. If you choose to display the word “gravity” in Helvetica, Comic Sans, or Creampuff, it is three different ways of emphasizing the word, one of business and straightforwardness, one of childish play, and one of casual sexiness. Be careful not only what you are saying, but how you are saying it, and fonts are a great way to define the how.
Background
The way that you set the background of a design allows you to carry through and finish your thought from the foreground. What textures best represent your ideas? What makes the most sense from a legibility standpoint? Will a cracked and peeling wall of paint give the adequate tone, or will it be a simple fade from a lighter color in your palette to a darker one at the edges?
Line
Logo for the School of Visual Arts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hard, thick edged lines create gravity and strength in a design. Lighter, curved, frilly lines create an atmosphere of elegance. Angular accents create active layouts, pointing the eye here and there. You can use line to direct the eye, border elements in your design, or bring the viewer back again and again to a symbol.
Palette
I often use photography as a starting point for palette. If I am doing a design on fresh food, I might use a photo of fresh food as my palette, choosing colors from the deepest red in a tomato or the brightest green in asparagus to reinforce my points.
Layout
Using lorem ipsum to focus attention on graphic elements in a website design proposal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What happens visually when you line three words up, one after the other, in a perfect square? What happens when you take those same three words and create a rectangle? What about if you give them some space? What about if you angle the words? The overall shape of your design will carry a message, the virtual lines created by words will carry a message, and the flow of the viewer’s eye from one element to another will carry a message.