Basic design rules to watch out for when creating your next project.

The Principles of Design & Composition

Have you ever looked at something you’ve just designed for your business and thought.. there’s something off about this?

Once you find out what to look for, cleaning up your designs are that much easier.

Here are some tips that will help you design your next post or marketing piece.

Mistake 1: Too Many Fonts

Using too many typefaces can make your designs look overwhelming, busy and unprofessional. Try sticking to 3 typefaces when creating a design; a font for headlines, subheadlines and body text.

Mistake 2: Hierarchy

This means visually ranking different elements in a design and portraying information in a way that shows an order of importance.

Hierarchy is so important to guide the viewer through the design and determining what they see first.

It can be created with accent colors, text/objects size, and adding shapes and lines.

Mistake 3: Proximity & Grouping

Grouping related elements together helps to give your design order and keep things organized. Creating relationships between elements and organizing information in a design is an orderly way to help the viewer digest the information.

Mistake 4: Aligning Your Elements

The placement of text or other visual elements so they line up in a composition. Having good alignment helps your design look more orderly, organized, balanced, and intentional.

Mistake 5: Pixelated or Blurry Photos

We live in a visual world and we’re constantly being bombarded with visuals all day long.

If you’re using low quality photos that appear fuzzy or pixelated, you will stand out, in a bad way.

They will make your brand look unprofessional, and honestly, like you lack attention to detail.

Mistake 6: Lack of Negative Space

Negative space, aka white space, is the empty space, in a design that does not contain any content. It’s not necessarily white, it’s the space between, around, or below design elements.

Designs with too much text and imagery squished into a small area can make your posts look cluttered, congested, and overwhelming. And it makes it hard for the viewer to process and read the information.

Mistake 7: Creating Contrast

Contrast helps create a visual distinction between two elements. It is attractive to the eye, helps organize information, grabs your viewer’s attention and creates focus so you can clearly communicate your message.

Contrast can be created by using color, size, font choice, or using unique design elements like patterns, textures, shapes, etc.

If you’re ready to create a visually appealing and cohesive brand that your customers will love, then contact me today to book a call.

As an Art Director specializing in branding, logo design, and social media content creation, I’m here to help you avoid these common design mistakes and create a brand that truly reflects your vision and values.

Let’s work together to create a brand that stands out from the competition!