5 Basic Principles of Layout in Graphic Design

Design layout is no longer a new concept for people who work in the design world. It functionally and aesthetically contributes to the design efficiency. 

An effective layout should be visually attractive and help people understand the message. It means that you need a good understanding of a good layout to create a good design.

Layout is understood as a page design that shows both texts and pictures.

It is also defined as an arrangement of elements on page to achieve the anticipated effects. The arrangement includes size, shapes, placements and spaces between different elements.

Design Layout Elements

The layout elements are crucial to design a project. The arrangement could either be simple or complex. Some common layout elements are:

1. Texts, text consists of few elements such as title, sub-title and paragraph. If a design has a long text, you should align the text well to help readers catch the message faster.
2. Images, images really help telling your stories – and provokes the viewer’s emotion. They are the right element to split texts and effectively involve the viewers. 
3. Lines, used to divide the parts and emphasizes words or phrases.
4. Shapes, add creative touch on layout if they are well-executed. Rectangular and circles are most common shapes yet others are also available to use.
5. White space, adding white space between the layout parts would increase the design readability and simplicity.

Having a good understanding of layout design is a way of achieving goals. Not to mention the benefits of a good layout in graphic design. A well-organized layout delivers clearer ideas and easily understood by the viewers, helps navigating and branding, as well as marketing campaigns.

Layout Purposes

In addition to those benefits, here are the purposes of design layout:

1. Builds better communication through images and texts.
2. Helps audiences catch the design information
3. Arranges design space and elements harmoniously

5 Basic Principles of Layout in Graphic Design

Graphic design is a visual art using images, typography and colors to communicate messages. And graphic designers use different principles to create visually and effectively attractive layouts.

1. Hierarchy: hierarchy principle is about placing crucial information at the top while less crucial ones are at the bottom. Hierarchy is created in different ways such as size and scale, color/contrast, typography selection, range, proximity, negative space, alignment, etc. 
2. Balance: balance principle distributes the same space on both sides. A balance layout combines symmetry, asymmetry or radial symmetry. While some design styles rule these principles out, most styles still use them.
3. Alignment: there are two alignment types in design, they are edge alignment and center alignment. Edge alignment includes top, bottom, left or right alignments layout. While center alignment is the opposite and centers  the design elements instead. You can use a grid to help you position them.
4. Proximity: Proximity happens when similar things are grouped together or visually connected. It is important in a design for telling which elements are related to each other.
5. Space: White space in layout is important to divide and arrange different elements. It can be used to prevent elements competing with each other which leads to confusion.

There we have the layout design explanation. We hope this article help you to have a better grasp on layout design. Enjoy!

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