Design Tips Worth Remembering

> Relating an element's form to its meaning helps convey the message.

> Space in a page draws in readers by making the page look accessible.

> Making a page look crowded conveys the message of a bargain, while an un crowded spacious look projects a feeling of quality.

> There are two kinds of balance to be that can be achieved in Graphic Design; symmetrical and asymmetrical. Symmetrical balance has an axis of symmetry, asymmetrical balance achieves a state of balanced "tension", or balance through contrast.

> Colour is not only a visual tool, but an evocative one. Consider the cultural impact of colour as well as the visual one.

> Keep it simple, work against clutter.

> "A poster must do two things well: to be noticed and to hold your attention long enough to get the message across. And in that order." Emil Weiss (1896-1965)

> There is fashionable design and there is good design, good design involves the unchanging nature of man, fashionable design lives in the temporary moment.

> The forms of both image and type should share more than the same page. Their message should be unified in appearance.

> Don't try to be different to achieve something "creative". Creativity is a result of the restrictions inherent in any design piece.

> Colour should be used to emphasize important elements within the designed piece, not to decorate the page.

> Analyze what is useful to the reader, and remove what is not.

> "I define beauty to be a harmony of all the parts... fitted together with such proportion and connection, that nothing could be added, diminished or altered, but for the worse." Leon Battista Alberti (1406-1472)

> Good graphic design needs one element to dominate the others. This creates a starting point or subject emphasis.

> Consider the effect of the addition of depth to any 2 dimensional design piece.

> "Typography is simply the voice, for the head is the destination" Rick Valicenti

> Not all white space is "wasted space". The only piece of graphic design that is wasted is one that has not been intentionally created.

> The final design tip for now will be to listen to the suggestions and experience of your designer and their experience.