Design Principles Principles of Information Technology Applying principles to create appealing and professional printed and electronic publications

OBJECTIVES List the four design principles Define the four design principles Identify characteristics of the four design principles Identify publishing techniques that demonstrate the four design principles Classify webpage designs according to the use of the four design principles © UNT in Partnership with TEA

BASIC DESIGN PRINCIPLES Contrast Repetition Alignment Proximity © UNT in Partnership with TEA

CONTRAST Definition: A method of design which emphasizes the differences between objects that are dissimilar, it purposely brings out their differences to set things in opposition. Note: ways that contrast is used on this slide is shown in the font: color- opposition of white and yellow; size- title is much larger than definition; Weight- title is bold (thicker letters); Form – title is all caps and definition is sentence case; Position – title is right aligned and definition is left aligned. © UNT in Partnership with TEA

REPETITION Definition: A method of design which purposely duplicates elements or aspects of elements within the same document. Note: ways that REPETITION is used on this slide is shown in: Each slide so far has repeated the same background design, the same background color, the same layout of objects, the same color and size of title and definition font. © UNT in Partnership with TEA

ALIGNMENT Definition: A method of design which uses spatial properties to determine the optimal placement of objects or groups of objects. Note: ways that alignment is used on this slide is shown in: Title is most important so it is at the top © UNT in Partnership with TEA

PROXIMITY Definition: A method of design which uses spatial properties to purposely place related items together. Note: ways that Proximity is used on this slide is shown in: The term/title is spaced further away from the label “definition” while the label is spatially closer to the words that make up the definition. © UNT in Partnership with TEA

ASPECTS OF CONTRAST Items must have opposing elements Needs to be strong to be effective Can be demonstrated using: Color Size Objects Alignment © UNT in Partnership with TEA

ASPECTS OF CONTRAST Setting font color in opposition to background color Setting font color in opposition to background color 1 3 Setting font color in opposition to background color Setting font color in opposition to background color Ask the students to determine which item 1-4 is more visually appealing to them – and tell why. When the font color is not significantly different than the background color – it is difficult to read. Rule of thumb: Black vs. White is the strongest contrast and is considered visually appealing. Remember: to be considered contrast it must be obvious and STRONG 2 4 © UNT in Partnership with TEA

ASPECTS OF CONTRAST 1 3 Font style of Font style of 2 4 Font style of title is same use bold to create contrast Font style of title is same use kerning to create contrast 1 3 Font style of title is same use size increase to create contrast Font style of title is same use combination of the above to create contrast All of these samples have the same style of font. Ask the students to determine which item 1-4 is more visually appealing to them – and tell why. When the font size, thickness, and spacing is varied, it creates contrast without creating conflict. 2 4 © UNT in Partnership with TEA

ASPECTS OF REPETITION Items must have obvious similarities Needs to be strong to be effective Can be demonstrated using: Color Objects Alignment © UNT in Partnership with TEA

ASPECTS OF REPETITION Repeating Font Random font 1 3 Repeating Colors style choice for all text on document creates unity Random font style choices creates conflict 1 3 Repeating Colors in text and objects creates unity Random Color choices for objects creates conflict Ask the students to determine which half of the slide is more visually appealing to them – and tell why. The left side of the slide repeats color of slide design background in the textboxes fill color and also in the font color. The right side of the slide chose random colors for background and text, it also chose random font styles 2 4 © UNT in Partnership with TEA

ASPECTS OF REPETITION Repeating images Repeating images 1 3 using a duplicate of an image, even resized, creates unity Repeating images using a duplicate of an image, re- colored, is acceptable 1 3 Repeating images using different images, even with a common theme, is distracting Repeating images using different images, even of the same object can, be distracting Ask the students to determine which set 1-4 of the slide is more visually appealing to them – and tell why. #1 is the most unifying because of the duplication. #2 has similar objects but not similar design, nor do they pull in any colors from the overall color theme of the document design, one is a square object while the other is more rounded – their differences are more obvious than their similarities so they are very distracting. Although #3 is the same image just recolored, unless both images pull in other colors from the font, background, or other design objects, they still distract rather than unify. #4 has common objects but one is outlined in white, 2D objects, neon colors, & a square shaped background fill while the other is outlined in black, 3D, basic colors & transparent fill. 2 4 © UNT in Partnership with TEA

ASPECTS OF ALIGNMENT Items must have obvious spatial placement Needs to be visually noted instantly to be effective All items should significantly support the purpose of the publication Element placement should never be random Can be demonstrated using: Object rotation Text direction Line spacing Object size © UNT in Partnership with TEA

ASPECTS OF ALIGNMENT Arranging Text Arranging Text 1 3 Arranging Text all text is left aligned bullets are indented but still aligned left Arranging Text title is centered bullets are centered as well 1 3 Arranging Text title is left aligned bullets are right aligned Text text can be arranged other than horizontally n Arran g i Ask the students to determine which set 1-4 of the slide is more visually appealing to them – and tell why. Remember: alignment is using spatial properties – being constantly aware of the space, around and between all the objects to create the BEST or MOST visually appealing arrangement of items. Nothing is placed at random. All item placement should be supportive of the main topic – here it is arrangement of text, that’s why the 4th option can be acceptable. 2 4 © UNT in Partnership with TEA

ASPECTS OF PROXIMITY Provides organization for the viewer All elements are supportive of main purpose Elements are then divided into subgroups Depending on the subtopic points Items related to each subtopic should be spatially grouped together in an arrangement Can be demonstrated using: Color Size Objects Alignment © UNT in Partnership with TEA

ASPECTS OF PROXIMITY Plumbing Emergency (210) 971-1352 1 3 James Madison fast response time (210) 971-1352 Plumbing Emergency James Madison Fast response time 1 3 James Madison Fast response time Plumbing Emergencies (210) 971-1352 Plumbing Emergency (210) 917-1352 James Madison fast response time Ask the students to determine which set 1-4 of the slide is more visually appealing to them – and tell why. Remember: proximity is the process of using space between and around objects but focus now is on placing related items together. 2 4 © UNT in Partnership with TEA

REVIEW The four design principles Contrast - emphasizes the differences between objects that are dissimilar. Repetition - purposely duplicates elements Alignment - determine the optimal placement of objects Proximity - place related items together © UNT in Partnership with TEA

ACTIVITY #1 Using the Internet – navigate to various websites that demonstrate use of the four design principles. Place a copy of the screen snapshot into a Word document. Resize the snapshot, if needed. Above the snapshot, place a label to identify the design principle represented. Beneath the snapshot, create a textbox. The textbox should contain text that displays the definition of the design principle listed AND A justification or reasons why the snapshot represents that principle. © UNT in Partnership with TEA

REPETITION This webpage shows repetition in the color theme. It has black, white and various shades of gray in the background as well as within the various objects – even in the clothes that the models are wearing. Repetition is also demonstrated by the use of the same font style for all text objects. The icons in front of the list of links all repeat the same size and shape. The software ads in the lower right repeat the same size, shape, colors, and arrangement of text/objects within each group. EXAMPLE Webpage screenshot of www.adobe.com Note: instructor may need to review with students the process of how to take a screen snapshot and paste into Word or PowerPoint. Navigate to webpage. Press the keyboard button labeled “Print Screen”– located in upper right corner of keyboard above the asterisk on the 10-key pad. Open Word or other word processing software. Place the cursor where student wants the picture to be located. Click the paste button. © UNT in Partnership with TEA