https://designschool.canva.com/blog/visual-design-composition/

1. Visual Design
DMET 255

2. Focal Point

3. Find your Focus
The focal point of this piece is
the model and her clothes. So,
she has been placed centrally,
has type and a block of color
positioned in a way that
highlights and draws attention
toward her face and then to her
outfit, and leading lines direct
the eye down her frame and
gradually toward more
information.

4. Focal Point
The focus on the photograph of
the man. The design orients
the focus to this image by
placing him centrally, framing
him with the graphics, and
using the doodled graphics to
lead the eye in toward the
photograph.

5. Leading Lines
Just like you point at something when you want people to look at it, by
positioning certain lines and shapes in certain ways you can control
the viewpoint of your design, aka where viewers’ eyes go when they
see your design.

6. Flowcharts
Flowcharts use lines to direct your eye
from one point to the next in an
obvious way.

7. Leading Lines =
Focal Point
This poster design by Design By
Day that uses strong leading lines to
first guide the eye toward the main
focal point (the title), and then to
various rungs of information.

8. Scale and Hierarchy
In a very brief explanation, hierarchy is the arrangement and design
of elements in order to visually signal importance. So, you might make
a more important element bigger and bolder than a less important
element which might be smaller and fainter.

9. Type Hierarchy
These days, our headlines or
titles don’t have to be six inches
tall to catch readers’ attention,
but the image to the right
provides a dramatic reminder of
just what typographic hierarchy
is all about — organizing and
formatting your type choices in
such a way that readers or users
can clearly see what’s most
important, which enables them to
easily navigate the layout at a
glance and quickly scan to find
the information they’re looking
for.

10. Scale
This poster design by Jessica Svendsen uses
a scaled-up image as the largest element,
which helps it attract the most attention and
focus.
This poster design by Scott Hansen uses a
scaled-down, small silhouette of two people to
help communicate the massive scene in front
of them. This instantly gives viewers a sense
of the grandeur and size of the scene.

11. Balance
Symmetrical & Asymmetrical

12. Symmetrical
Balance
A symmetrical composition by
reflecting the positioning of
type and graphic elements. By
using symmetry, this design is
made elegant, clean, and
beautifully balanced.

13. Asymmetrical
Balance
In the above design, the three
central circles are the largest
elements in the design, but
they are balanced out both by
the type, the fine line graphics,
and the small, heavily textured
circle in the bottom corner.

14. Complimentary
Elements

15. Complimentary
photos
Use photos from the same
photoshoot. This is an easy way
to ensure your photographs
look cohesive as they were
likely all under the same art
direction and photographic
style.

16. Photo Color
Color your photos
similarly. With the prevalence
of filters and image adjusting
tools, you are able to color and
adjust your photos to have
more cohesive and
complementary palettes.

17. Contrast

18. Boost Contrast

19. Low Contrast
This poster by Melanie Scott
Vincent uses a yellow paperclip
on a yellow background,
creating a low contrast
difference between the object
and backdrop. While this is
usually a thing to avoid, in this
case it reinforces the event
name ‘ignored everyday’.

20. Repetition

21. Multi-Paged
Layout
To maintain consistency and a
logical layout, try to take specific
elements from one section of your
design and apply it to other
sections. Maybe a style of type can
be applied to more than one section
of your design, or perhaps a graphic
motif can be used more than once.
So, try to tie your design together
with repeated elements.
Repetition is a key factor when it
comes to multi page layouts.
Repeating elements of your layout
and/or design helps each page flow
into the next, creating a cohesive
set of pages.

22. Repeat Styles
This poster repeats certain
type stylizations, graphics, and
line weights throughout to
maintain a cohesive and
effective design. If it were to
suddenly use a thick, bold,
pink line-based graphic
somewhere in the middle, the
cohesion would be lost. So, by
keeping the font palette and
color palette small and the
graphic styles simple and alike,
the design is kept beautiful
and strong.

23. White Space

24. Clarity
White space when used
strategically can help boost
your design’s clarity and
overall look by balancing out
the more complicated and busy
parts of your composition with
space that helps your design to
breathe.
For example, this design uses
white space to balance out the
image, texture and type to
keep the design clean and
sophisticated.

25. Create a Frame
Scale down your graphic
elements. By scaling down your
imagery, type, graphics etc. you
can create some luxurious
white space around your focal
points while staying within the
frame of your original graphic.

26. Alignment

27. Create Order
The strong degree of alignment
between its elements creates a sharp,
neat and effective layout that is easy
to navigate and is pleasing to the eye.

28. Text Alignment
Alignment is also very
important when dealing with
type. There are many ways to
align your type, but a good rule
of thumb for longer pieces of
copy is to stick with left
alignment as this is the easiest
for the eye to navigate and
make sense of.

29. Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds is a simple technique where designers divide their
designs up into three rows and three columns, and at the points where
the vertical and horizontal lines meet is where your focal points
should be.

30. Focal Points
By placing focal points at each
line intersection, his design is
made striking and effective.
Beachy also notes that “By
avoiding a centered design you
add some motion and interest.”

31. Rule of 3rds

32. Good Luck!

33. Resources
• https://designschool.canva.com/blog/visual-design-composition/