The basic principles of design—and how to apply them

This blog post is a comprehensive guide to understanding and applying the principles of design for effective visual compositions. It emphasizes the necessity of learning fundamental design principles for creating harmonious and aesthetically pleasing designs. The post outlines various essential design principles, including balance, contrast, emphasis, unity, proportion, movement, repetition, rhythm, white space, hierarchy, pattern, and variety, especially relevant for digital designs. Each principle is explained with a graphic to enhance understanding. The post also references Dieter Rams's ten principles of good design and other notable design principles. It's a valuable resource for both beginners and experienced designers, providing insights into the building blocks of design and offering practical tips for applying these principles in creative work.

You can’t just flip a switch and create beautiful designs on a whim. Like learning to walk before you run, there are certain fundamentals you’ve got to learn first.

The problem is that if you don’t have the time or inclination to take a design course, resources are pretty scarce. Sure you can rely on Envato Elements or Canva templates, but even then you need to know how to use them properly.

This is why we've put together this post. It’s for you if you’ve ever wondered what goes into good design. We strongly believe that good design matters when creating anything, especially when building forms. You'll find it handy whether you're a complete amateur or a budding designer—so let's get stuck in.

What are design principles?

Design principles are guidelines to follow if you want to create effective visuals, from oil paintings and blog graphics to eye-catching social media posts.

Think of design as carpentry and these principles as your toolbox. You can use them to help you during the design process, and unlike hammers, nails, and screwdrivers, they can exist entirely inside your head.

These tools give you a better understanding—and appreciation—of what goes into the designs we see every day. As you become acquainted with them, you’ll start to see what does and doesn’t work (and why), as well as how you can apply these principles to your own creative work.

How many principles of design are there?

The number of design principles is not fixed and can vary depending on the source or context. However, most lists of design principles include around 7 to 12 key elements.

Commonly recognized design principles include:

1. Balance
2. Contrast
3. Emphasis
4. Movement
5. Proportion/Scale
6. Repetition/Rhythm
7. Unity/Harmony

In addition to these, some sources—including this post—may include other principles like Alignment, White Space, Hierarchy, Variety, and Texture.

The principles serve as guidelines for creating visually appealing and effective designs. The exact number and naming of these principles can vary, as design is a field subject to interpretation and evolving trends.

What is good design?

We’re told that piece of art is subjective. For the most part, that’s true. But if you’ve ever seen an unintelligible parking sign or a website from the early days of the web, you’ll know there’s definitely such a thing as bad design.

As Jared Spool, an expert on design and usability, says, “Good design, when it’s done well, becomes invisible. It’s only when it’s done poorly that we notice it.” This is why good design is tricky to define.

Good design, when it’s done well, becomes invisible. It’s only when it’s done poorly that we notice it.

Luckily for us, in the late 1970s, an influential designer named Dieter Rams saw this problem. In response, he asked himself what constituted good design and came up with his own list of ten principles.

They would go on to inspire generations of designers, including Johnny Ive, the mastermind behind Apple’s most famous products.

Rams’s principles are:

1. Good design is innovative
2. Good design makes a product useful
3. Good design is aesthetic
4. Good design makes a product understandable
5. Good design is unobtrusive
6. Good design is honest
7. Good design is long-lasting
8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail
9. Good design is environmentally friendly
10. Good design is as little design as possible

You might notice that these principles are aimed at product design. Rams worked at Braun, so products were in his wheelhouse, but these principles are easily adapted to UX design, or any other design context.

The principles of design

These are the building blocks graphic designers and artists use to put creative works together; the core principles of art that make up every design, from the fine art of the Louvre to the boxes of Corn Flakes at the local grocery store.

Balance

Where objects in real life carry physical weight, elements in design carry visual weight. Large elements are heavier and small elements lighter, with each element having its own "weight" based on how much attention they draw.

Visual balance is about ensuring your design is equally weighted on both sides of the central point. It’s like a seesaw—too much weight on either side and the whole thing becomes unbalanced.

By striking this balance you create visual harmony and stop your design from feeling too chaotic to the viewer. It’s one of the most important parts of  visual composition, and comes in three basic forms:

Symmetrical balance

Symmetrical design uses an imaginary vertical (or sometimes horizontal) line to divide a design into two halves around a central point. Elements of equal visual weight are balanced on each side of the axis to create symmetry.

There are two variants of symmetrical balance: Reflectional symmetry, where the two halves are exact mirror images, and translational symmetry, where the same shape or elements are repeated on both sides of the design.

Asymmetrical balance

An asymmetric composition is when a design uses unequal weighted elements. One side might have a visually heavy element, balanced with multiple lighter elements on the opposite side.

To run with the seesaw example, it would be like having a 100kg weight on one side and 100 kg of feathers stacked on the other. It still achieves balance but provides a whole different experience.

Asymmetry is often more visually interesting. Where symmetrical designs can be quite static and predictable, asymmetrical balance can give designs a more dynamic feel.

Radial balance

Radial balance is when elements “radiate” from a point in the centre of a design. Think of rays shining from the sun, petals blossoming from a rose, or a squirt of tomato sauce in the middle of a juicy meat pie.

This form of symmetry is a way to add depth and movement to a design and works to draw attention to an object in the centre of a composition.

Emphasis

Emphasis is used to focus the viewer’s attention on a certain part of a composition. The effect is achieved by manipulating elements (like color, shape, and size) to make specific parts of a design stand out.

For example, say you wanted to bring attention to a call to action on a landing page. You could increase the text size and use colors that stand out from the background, emphasizing the CTA and making sure visitors can’t miss it.

Repetition

As you may have already guessed, repetition refers to when an element is repeated throughout a design. It could be anything, from using a certain font color to adding a repetitive pattern to a social media post.

Repetition makes designs visually exciting and cohesive. It also creates a sense of consistency by using a repeating motif that the viewer comes to expect. This makes it particularly useful when it comes to creating your distinct brand identity.

Brand identity is the visible element of your brand. The colours; design; logo. It distinguishes your company from the millions of others out there, so when folks see your designs they immediately know it’s your business.

Every successful business uses repetition. Why do we equate the swoosh and “just do it” with Nike? The blue can with Pepsi? Because these visuals were repeated so often eventually they became synonymous with the brands they represent.

So while repetition can just help you make a sweet iPhone wallpaper, it’s a crucial tool for any company looking to build a visual identity and brand recognition.

Movement

When we think of movement we think of, well, things moving. A pendulum swinging. A Ferrari roaring down the freeway. But in design, it refers to the path a viewer’s eye takes when they look over a composition.

It’s not just what you look at; it’s the way you look at it. Designers can guide this by using lines, edges, shapes, and colors to create focal points and encourage certain ways of seeing.

Movement can be harnessed to distract, direct, and pull the viewer’s gaze around a design. A savvy artist can control this entire process by using subtle cues (particularly with lighting and perspective), like using lines to create directional cues and make images feel more alive.

Proportion

Proportion is the relationship between two or more elements in a design, particularly the size and scale of them. When things are "proportionate”, it means there’s a coordination between them that makes the design look aesthetically pleasing.

For example, when you’re reading a blog post you expect headings to be larger than the body text. Or if you were looking at a realistic drawing of a tortoise and a hare, you expect the hare to be larger than the tortoise.

Proportion is about finding harmony between two elements. You want to make sure things look “right”— that the elements look as if they belong together.

This is something that comes up when creating digital assets and websites online. It’s the bane of many an amateur designer’s existence. Here are a few tips for keeping the elements in your design in proportion:

• Assemble elements that are identical or share a function.
• Establish major and minor areas in the design to prevent monotony and boredom.
• Ensure size variations are subtle (unless the objective is emphasis.)
• Avoid separating the composition into halves, quarters, and thirds.
• Try to keep a sense of balance.

You can also play with proportions in a variety of ways to emphasize elements or get a certain message across. It’s a strategy you’ll notice advertisements do often and is usually best used for more creative projects.

Whether you're creating a digital flipbook or designing your next round of paper design flyers, proportions are key.

White space

The region between different design elements is referred to as "negative” or “white” space. This is part of the design that doesn’t contain anything. No images, drawings, shiny colors, or text. Nothing.

The name is kind of misleading — it’s not a "negative" thing and it doesn’t have to be "white". It can be any color: white space refers to what you don’t add; the empty parts around and within your design.

It’s one of the fundamental building blocks of design and is just as important as any elements you include. Think of it like a diet: what you eat matters, but what you don’t eat matters just as much.

“White Space in design composition is the same as the use of silence in a musical composition. Without proportionate use of silence, music is unstructured. Similarly, without white space, design is unstructured and difficult to consume."

— Mark den Hartog

There are two types of white space: micro and macro. Micro white space is the space between small elements (like text), while macro white space refers to the area between large elements or surrounding a design.

Contrast

Contrast is produced when two or more visual elements in a composition are different. It can be used to create specific effects, emphasize the significance of certain elements, and add visual appeal to your designs.

Designs that look the same are boring—by experimenting with contrasting color hues, shapes, sizes, textures, and typography, you can liven things up. Humans tend to like contrast. It’s a great way to grab attention, control the visual flow, and keep folks engaged.

Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy is about organizing the value of the elements within your design. By ranking information from most important to least important, you make it easier for the viewer to digest your content.

This plays a critical role in UI and UX design. Ever noticed how most landing pages have the same layout? There’s a logo at the top, a menu at the top, and then elements in descending order of importance below.

It’s not because they copied each other's homework—there’s a certain hierarchy that designers stick to draw attention to the right things in the right order (and make it pretty to look at.)

The viewer’s eye should be drawn to the most important element first. These sit atop the throne at the top of the hierarchy, with the elements laid out below ranked in order of importance.

There are several visual tricks to influence this flow, including:

• Size and scale: The larger an element is the more likely a viewer is to see it. By making something smaller you can reduce its importance and put the emphasis elsewhere. Be sure to use vector graphics for easier scaling.
• Color and contrast: A splash of color makes a big difference. Use bright colors to make certain elements or information pop.
• Fonts: Use different typefaces and stylizations like italics and bold to draw the eye and move text higher or lower on the hierarchy.
• White space: White space enables you to give an element breathing room and make a central element stand out.

Patterns of hierarchy

People read a page in the same way: from top to bottom. But we don’t just stare blankly at the page and wait for information to register, we scan it.

The human eye tends to follow the same path during this process. For that reason, designers stick to two common patterns to make it faster to absorb information: the F-pattern and the Z-pattern.

The F-pattern applies to pages made up mostly of text, like an online or printed article. Readers scan in the shape of an “F”—first, with the headline across the top, then down the left side of the page, and to the right as they identify things they find interesting.

Designers use a Z-pattern for layouts with less text and more visuals. With this pattern, viewers scan across the top of the page and then diagonally down towards the opposite corner. They then scan the bottom in the same way as the top.

Most websites are designed in this way. Notice how the most important parts like the logo and navigation menu are at the top, while the secondary information like clients and chatbot is at the bottom.

Rhythm

Don’t worry, you can leave your dancing shoes at home. In design, rhythm hasn’t got anything to do with the way you move your hips. It’s about giving your composition a feeling of action and movement.

Designers create rhythm by repeating lines, shapes, colors, and other elements. This makes a path for our eyes to follow, builds patterns, and imbues the design with a sense of flow.

There are a few different types of rhythm:

• Random rhythm: Repeating elements without any regular intervals.
• Regular rhythm: When the elements are of a similar size and length and spread out over predictable intervals.
• Flowing rhythm: Natural patterns where the intervals are organic (like a tiger’s stripes or a bunch of flowers in a garden.)
• Progressive rhythm: A gradual change or sequence of elements that change over a series of clear steps (like a color gradient for example.)

Rather than letting the viewer’s eye settle on a focal point, rhythm encourages viewers to move their eyes across the entire piece, following the lines and forms to their natural endpoints. It’s something you see reflected across nature and works of art.

Pattern

People tend to get confused between repetition in patterns, which is understandable, as they both deal with repeated elements. But the similarities end there.

While repetition occurs when the same elements are repeated throughout a design, a pattern is composed of different components repeated in the same way. Think of the way gift wrapping is usually made up of a few different repeated elements—that's a pattern.

You'll also notice patterns commonly used as backgrounds on websites and in mobile applications.

As a general rule, it's best to use colors, textures, and shapes to create patterns. Try to avoid doing so with words — it tends to just give folks headaches. Despite the occasional bright colors and wacky designs, the key to creating effective patterns is simplicity.

Variety

Variety isn’t just the spice of life—it’s the spice of design too. It’s integral not to revert to the same old elements within a design to make sure things are visually interesting for your viewers.

Variety keeps things engaging. It stops designs from being stagnant, predictable, and downright boring — all things you want to avoid. By ensuring elements are varied you stop designs from feeling monotonous and uninspired.

The easiest way to do this is through juxtaposition and contrast. Place bright colors next to lighter hues, text next to images, and round shapes next to square ones. By doing so you can keep viewers engaged and your design interesting.

Unity

We've put unity last on this list for a reason—it only occurs when all the various elements within a design coexist to form a holistic experience pleasing to the eye.

Unity adds order and makes a piece feel like a coherent whole, instead of a messy combination of individual parts that just so happen to exist on the same page. It's developed both visually and conceptually.

• Visual unity: An extension of “harmony”, is about elements working together, like color schemes, the use of complementary styles, and in some cases, the repetition of colors and elements to achieve consistency. An example would be using the same colors for all the buttons on a webpage to keep the design cohesive.
• Conceptual unity: This is when you combine elements for the user’s convenience; it’s about naturally blending form and function. An example of this is how you can double-tap on Instagram to “Like” an image—it reduces friction and requires less action from the user.

To achieve unity you need to look out for three things: whether the elements you’ve used have a good reason to be there, whether they work together, and whether the message or concept you’re trying to display is communicated clearly.

By making sure your designs unite you reduce cognitive load and ensure viewers actually understand whatever it is your design is trying to achieve.

Put your design skills to work

Alright, got the design principles down? Great! But wait, there's more. If you're wondering how to apply these design principles to forms, you'll want to dive into our guide.

Check out our guide to creating beautiful forms that convert.

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