Design Principles for All the Designers

A Workshop by Ravi Bhadauria at ADMEC Multimedia Institute
Must to Know for All Designers
www.admecindia.co.in
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A Presentation by: Ravi Bhadauria
ADMEC MULTIMEDIA INSTITUTE
Leader in Animation & Digital Media Education
ISO 9001 : 2015 CERTIFIED
www.admecindia.co.in | www.graphic-design-institute.com
Phones: +91-9811-8181-22, +91-9911-7823-50
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Preface & Acknowledgment
Dear Reader,
ADMEC Multimedia Institute is a growing institute which provides industry oriented training to
the world at large. Being a multimedia institute we offer training for designing content for the
advertising and publishing on various medias also.
This presentation is one of the best presentations from our study material for our weekly
workshops which ADMEC conducts every week at the center. We want to share this with the
world so that everyone can take benefits from our efforts.
This presentation contains all the points helpful in my lecture on “Design Principles for All the
Designers” in the classroom whether they are graphic, web, animation, video editor, multimedia
designer or from any other design discipline e.g. fashion, interior, architectural designing.
We express thanks to many books and websites, specially Google for making it one of the best
presentations of all the time.
Thanks
Ravi Bhadauria, Instructor (Web and Visual Designing)
Director ADMEC Multimedia Institute

What are you going to learn today?
 Why principles of design are very important?
 Essential design elements
 Common design principles
 Gestalt design principles of visual perception
 Space and the figure-ground relationship
 Use of Contrast and Similarity in designs
 Visual weight and visual direction
 Projects

The Design Principles
are proven concepts
useful to arrange the
structural elements of
a design.

1. Elements of Design
Design elements are the basic units of a painting, drawing,
design or other visual piece and include:
 Line
 Shape
 Direction
 Size
 Texture
 Value
 Space
 Text

2. Principles of Design
The most intrinsic principles are:
 Balance
 Gradation
 Proportion
 Rhythm
 Emphasis
 Unity or Proximity
 Repetition
 Contrast
 Alignment

Principles of Design
The descriptive principles of how we
visually perceive objects begins with the
principles of gestalt, because many of the
design principles we follow arise out of
gestalt theory.

Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that believes all
objects and scenes can be observed in their simplest forms.
Sometimes referred to as the 'Law of Simplicity’, the theory
proposes that the whole of an object or scene is more
important than its individual parts.
Gestalt psychology proposes a unique perspective on
human perception.
According to Gestalt psychologists, we don't just see the
world, we actively interpret what we see, depending on what
we are expecting to see.

A famous French author, Anaïs Nin, who was not a
psychologist, framed that idea in an interesting way:
'We do not see the world as it is; we see it as we are.'
Gestalt psychology encourages people to 'think outside of
the box' and ‘look for patterns’.

The gestalt principles
are about perception
and what is visually
communicated by
objects.

3. Gestalt Theory
The Key Ideas Behind Gestalt Theory
There are several key ideas behind gestalt.
 Emergence (the whole is identified before the parts)
 Reification (our mind fills in the gaps)
 Multi-stability (the mind seeks to avoid uncertainty)
 Invariance (we’re good at recognizing similarities and differences)
“The whole is other than
the sum of the parts.”

Gestalt Theory
Emergence (the whole is
identified before the parts)
Emergence is the process of forming
complex patterns from simple rules.
When designing, keep in mind that
people will identify elements first by
their general form. A simple well
defined object will communicate
more quickly than a detailed object
with a hard to recognize contour.

Gestalt Theory
Emergence (the whole is identified before the parts)

Gestalt Theory
Reification (our mind fills in the gaps)
Reification is an aspect of perception in which the object as
perceived contains more spatial information than what is
actually present.

Gestalt Theory
Multi-stability (the mind seeks to
avoid uncertainty)
Multi-stability is the tendency of
ambiguous perceptual experiences
to move unstably back and forth
between alternative interpretations.

Gestalt Theory
Invariance (we’re good at recognizing similarities and differences)
Invariance is a property of perception in which simple objects are recognized
independent of their rotation, translation and scale.

4. Gestalt Principles
1. Law of Simplicity
(Law of Prägnanz)
2. Closure
3. Symmetry and order
4. Figure/Ground
5. Uniform Connectedness
6. Common Regions
7. Proximity
8. Continuation
9. Common Fate
10. Parallelism
11. Similarity
12. Focal Point
13. Past Experiences

Gestalt Principles
Law of Prägnanz
(Good Figure, Law of Simplicity)
“People will perceive and
interpret ambiguous or
complex images as the
simplest form(s) possible.”

Gestalt Principles
Law of Prägnanz

Gestalt Principles
Closure
“When seeing a complex arrangement of elements, we tend
to look for a single, recognizable pattern.”

Gestalt Principles
Symmetry and Order
“People tend to perceive objects as symmetrical shapes that
form around their center.”

Gestalt Principles
Figure/ Ground
“Elements are perceived as either figure (the element in
focus) or ground (the background on which the figure rests).”

Gestalt Principles
Uniform Connectedness
“Elements that are visually connected are perceived as more
related than elements with no connection.”

Gestalt Principles
Common Regions
“Elements are perceived as part of a group if they are located
within the same closed region.”

Gestalt Principles
Proximity
“Objects that are closer together are perceived as more
related than objects that are further apart.”

Gestalt Principles
Continuation
“Elements arranged on a line or curve are perceived as more
related than elements not on the line or curve.”

Gestalt Principles
Common Fate (Synchrony)
“Elements that move in the same direction are perceived as
more related than elements that are stationary or that move
in different directions.”

Gestalt Principles
Parallelism
“Elements that are parallel to each other are seen as more
related than elements not parallel to each other.”

Gestalt Principles
Similarity
“Elements that are visually connected are perceived as more
related than elements with no connection.”

Gestalt Principles
Focal Points
“Elements with a point of interest, emphasis or difference will
capture and hold the viewer’s attention.”

Gestalt Principles
Past Experiences
“Elements tend to be perceived according to an observer’s
past experience.”

5. Space and Figure-Ground Relationship
If you see graphic design as a process of arranging shapes on a canvas,
then you’re only seeing half of what you work with. The negative space
of the canvas is just as important as the positive elements that we
place on the canvas.
Design is an arrangement of both shapes and space. To work more
effectively with space, you must first become aware of it and learn to
see it — learn to see the shapes that space forms and how space
communicates.
“White space is to be regarded as an active element, not a passive
background.”

Space and Figure-Ground Relationship

What is the depth?

There are three types of figure-ground relationships:
 Stable (down left)
 Reversible (down center)
 Ambiguous (down right)

Figure-ground is not the only gestalt principle in which space plays a
prominent role. Two others are these:
 Proximity
 Closure

7. Space As A Design Element
Space can do the following:
 establish contrast, emphasis, and hierarchy;
 generate drama and tension;
 provide visual rest between groups of elements.
One of the more important functions of space is to improve readability
and legibility. Macro-space makes text more inviting. Micro-space
makes it more legible.
 Micro-space
 Macro-space

Space As A Design Element
Space can also convey attributes other than quality, such as:
 sophistication
 simplicity
 luxury
 cleanliness
 solitude
 Openness
Don’t be afraid to use space. View it as an important design element
under your control.

8. Connecting and Separating Elements
Through Contrast & Similarity
A few characteristics, however, are most often used to show similarity
and contrast. In no particular order, these are:
 size
 shape
 color
 value
 texture
 position
 orientation

Connecting and Separating Elements
Contrast and Gestalt
 Figure-ground
 Focal points

Connecting and Separating Elements
Similarity and Gestalt
 Closure
 symmetry and order
 uniform connectedness
 common regions
 Proximity
 Continuation
 common fate
 parallelism

9. Visual Weight and Direction
Every element in design have a visual force that attracts the attention
of the readers. The greater the force, the more the user is attracted.
These forces also appear to act on other elements, imparting a visual
direction to their potential movement and suggesting where you should
look next.
We refer to this force as visual weight and to the perceived direction of
visual forces as visual direction. Both are important concepts to
understand if you want to create hierarchy, flow, rhythm and balance in
your composition.

Visual Weight and Direction
Visual Weight

Visual Direction

How Do You Measure Visual Weight?
Although there is no device to measure it yet you can use your experice to manage
and judge it. Followings are few feature to manage it.
 Size
 Color
 Value
 Position
 Texture
 Shape
 Orientation

How Do You Measure Visual Weight?
You don’t have to limit yourself to the primitive features above. You can use
additional characteristics to control visual weight.
 Density
 Local white space
 Intrinsic interest
 Depth
 Saturation
 Perceived physical weight

Visual Weight and Gestalt
 Figure-ground
 Proximity
 Similarity and contrast
 Focal point
 Past experience

Visual Direction
You can think of direction as real or imaginary lines that point from
one element to another or that connect different elements. The lines
don’t need to be visible.
If visual weight is about attracting the eye to a particular location,
then visual direction is about leading the eye to the next location.
Some useful characteristics to manage the visual direction.
 Shape of elements
 Location of elements
 Subject matter of elements
 Movement
 Structural skeleton

Visual Direction and Gestalt
 Uniform connectedness
 Continuation
 Common fate
 Parallelism

The Overall Direction of a Composition
One more concept of visual direction is that every composition will be
seen to have a dominant direction, whether horizontal, vertical or
diagonal.
 A horizontal direction makes the composition appear calm and
stable.
 A vertical direction adds a sense of formality, alertness and balance.
 A diagonal direction suggests movement and action.

Projects
Write your views on the following topics (Minimum 600 Words)
• Design Elements – Types and Uses in Designing
• Gestalt Theory – The Key Ideas for a Better Design
• Gestalt Principles – Must to Know for Every Designer
• Visual Weight and Direction – Role in Designing
• Negative Space – Smart Designers Use it as an Active Element
Thanks
ADMEC Multimedia Institute
Phones: +91-9811-8181-22, 9911-7823-50

R
Click to Read More on Visual Designing:
www.admecindia.co.in/blog-tags/graphic-design
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ADMEC MULTIMEDIA
Helpline 1: +91 9811-8181-22
Helpline 2: +91 9911-7823-50
Web: www.admecindia.co.in

Design Principles for All the Designers

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