Design is a multi-faceted profession with several design elements that are equally important to its success. As you may or may not know, these design elements are what sets one design apart from another. When designing a website, it is often the case in which an element breaks the rules of good design, making the website stand out. With these types of designs, more often than not, they make sure their feature stands out and receives plenty of attention by going against the grain with less than favorable results.

Designers have also moved away from using a limited number of tried-and-tested options in order to be more creative and produce better results for their clients or audiences. This is because they see the freedom that comes with this technique and is not afraid to use it. In this column, I will concentrate on design elements, and I will look at various examples of what makes a design stand out.

№1: Lines

Our subconscious mind responds to different logo shapes in different ways. Lines do not necessarily mean straight lines only, it could be circles, curved lines, and jagged edges. All have various connotations, and a good designer may utilize the form to infer certain characteristics about the brand.

1) — Circles, Curved lines, and Jagged edges

For example, let’s look at the Nike symbol.

The mix of curves culminating in a sharp point gives the impression of movement. Particular logo shapes send out particular messages. So let’s understand this aspect of the design in big detail.

2) — Circles, ovals, and eclipses

The shapes of circles, ovals, and eclipses tend to provide a pleasant emotional impression.

If you look at the logos of Pepsi, BMW, Starbucks coffee, and Mozilla, you will see that they are all circular, and the use of a circle in a logo implies community, friendship, love, connections, and togetherness.

3) — Squares and triangles

Squares and triangles indicate stability and may also symbolize balance.

Mitsubishi Motors uses squares and triangles in their logos, which basically impart strength, professionalism, and efficiency. Triangles are also associated with power, science, religion, and law, according to some. These are often seen as masculine characteristics.

However, it is no surprise that triangles appear more frequently in the emblems of businesses whose goods have a male leaning, such as Adidas, Delta, Mercedes Benz, etc.

4) — Vertical lines

Companies like Cisco, Verizon, HP use vertical lines in their logo. Vertical lines are associated with masculinity, strength, and aggressiveness in our subconscious psyche.

5) — Horizontal Lines

On the other hand, companies like IBM, AT&T, DHL, Adidas use horizontal lines in their logo, which suggest community, tranquility, and calm nature of their product. The consequences of form apply to the font selected as well. Typefaces with jagged, angular edges may look aggressive or energetic.

Softly rounded letters, on the other hand, have a more youthful appearance. Curve fonts and cursive letters are more appealing to females. Strong, bold writing gives a more manly feel to it. Lines are versatile, simple, and effective graphic elements that you certainly should not take for granted. Experiment with them today and see what cool things they can add to your design.

№2: Negative space

In a picture, negative space surrounds an item that is equally as significant as the object itself. Negative space aids in the definition of positive space and adds balance to a design. These days, a majority of the artist are cleverly carving out the negative space to create some really stunning and amazing logos. When talking about negative space, it doesn’t have to be static at all.

Example №1

Nike wants to bring emphasis to the Air Max 2017’s lightweight support and optimum comfort. As a result, Man vs. Machine produced a campaign that depicted this via a series of visual metaphors inspired by situations experienced daily.

Rather than a real air max, a trainer-shaped chunk of negative space is used to simulate air. Clever, isn’t it?

Just look at the above image, how beautifully the negative space has been used cleverly. We are talking about Nike, right? So they are the leaders, and that is how they become the leader and people’s minds. Just look at the ad on YouTube and see it for yourself.

Example №2

If you look at their logo, it’s a unique logo for an adult-targeted booze and gourmet ice cream company. If you look at the logo, it used the negative space created by the word Mister Cooper so that the word-formation ice cream appears naturally in between the words. Just take a moment and look at the logo; I’m sure you will be able to read the word ice cream. This is a highly inventive use of negative space to precisely communicate what Mr. Cooper offered to prospective consumers. The eye-catching identity scheme was used in packaging, uniforms, and products.

№3: Hierarchy and Proportion

The scale may assist in making understanding designs and visuals. Think about if you were to draw a mouse next to an elephant, you would probably draw the mouse much smaller than the elephant, which would help viewers instantly understand your drawing. This is the way scale helps us make sense of things. But the scale doesn’t always have to be realistic. To generate spectacular effects and indicate which aspects of your design are more essential and less important, you may scale your components drastically, big or tiny.

So, let’s look at this example.

I am sure everybody would have seen this particular poster from the movie Beauty and the Beast. But have you noticed that the main figures in this billboard have been significantly scaled up, bringing attention to the first and the other faces second? However, the scale is not strictly based on reality since people’s faces are usually the same size in real life. The dramatic scaling up and down of faces allows viewers to determine each character’s significance in the film quickly.

Just by looking at the posture, one can easily learn about the most important character of this movie. This scaling of elements to signal importance is often called hierarchy, and with this example, you will have seen how you can use it even in more detail, how you can apply it for your postures, your logo, and your product.

Let’s look at an example that uses scale to signifies importance.

In this image, by altering the size of the leaves and then rotating them around, a sense of motion has been created. This is actually a nice variation from a linear composition and can help make the design more dramatic. If you look at this particular poster, why do you see the different leaves? They bring the total image to life as if they are falling. These are fall leaves that are falling from the tree. This gives the complete image of a rotation. This creates the image of a rotation.

So let’s look ahead in this example of how scale can be used to emphasize your message.

If you look at this image, for all of them, the logo itself is guiding your eyes on which you should look first and which you should be looking the next. Here the scale is used on purpose. Always remember to apply skill with purpose, make the most important words in your design larger and the supporting text smaller.

№4: Color

Let’s understand it by looking at these two branding examples.

First, we have Light Looks, a design for a woman’s skin rejuvenation service. The colors used in this design are light, delicate, and pastel; white light grays, gentle pink tones, and copper-gold foiling. These colors compliment each other very softly, resulting in a peaceful, beautiful, and feminine style.

On the other side, we have Juice Brand Fruity’s branding. In contrast to the previous example, where we selected a color palette that softly complimented itself, this branding has chosen a color palette that strongly contrasts, resulting in a much more colorful, dynamic, and fun design. On the other hand, color isn’t only for branding; it can be found in everything, even photos. With the help of filters and image adjusters, you can now easily adjust photographs, coloring, and tones.

If you talk to any photographer nowadays, they always will tell you that none of their photographs go to social media without editing. They every time edit their photos, adjust the color to bring the sharpness, and make them more beautiful and more appealing to the eyes. So these principles, these applications, these will apply to your product as simple as your photographs. Try it and play around with these aspects.

Why not use a crisp Noir-inspired monochrome filter to your picture if you’re creating a sleek and stylish poster? Or maybe you want to go for a more whimsical appearance. Consider lowering the contrast on your picture to make it softer and calmer.

№6: Repetition

Think about any big brand Coca-Cola, Audi, NBC, Olympic channel. I’m sure you can all recall their logo, overall tone of speech, and general color schemes. But have you considered why these things are so memorable at the drop of a hat? Yep, you guessed it right, that is because of repetition.

When it comes to branding design, repetition is essential, both in terms of keeping your identity constant and in terms of experimenting with your products together.

Check out this packaging design that uses repetition to create a beautiful pattern. The pattern doesn’t have to be dull; it can be fun and effective, as you can see in this brand design. This is a design of herbal tea, and the packaging is so beautiful green that it portrays the image that it is horrible, organic, and nice tea for everyone in the morning. Do this to your product and see how beautiful and subtle you can bring that subconscious attraction to your product.

№7: Symmetry

In logos, symmetry is often utilized to create a harmonic and balanced design.

For example, large brands with symmetrical logos are

Target, McDonald’s, and Starbucks. Of course, symmetry is not always an option for every design, and nor should it be. There is a fine line between a design looking balanced and symmetrical and looking like one side was copied to the other, flipped and pasted on the other side. Rather than attempting to attain perfect symmetry, consider incorporating minor symmetry components into your design.

We will understand it in detail with our next example.

For example, this wedding card invitation uses a high degree of symmetry. Just take a moment and look at it. But it’s not perfectly mirrored, right? Instead, the designer has chosen to adjust the illustrations to fit the type and the message in subtle ways that keep the design symmetrically balanced and ordered but not blatantly mirrored. This way, by wisely using symmetry, you can create a balanced design that can grab people’s attention.

See, I told you, you can use these design elements in straightforward day-to-day things. See the beautiful wedding card they have used, the design characteristic, which is symmetry. OK, now open up any magazine you have lying around, pause reading and do it.

Now, go to the page that has longer articles. The body content has been divided into columns of text, and these columns are often proportionately proportioned to make things readable, tidy, and aesthetically attractive. This is a prime example of invisible symmetry, which can be found in editorial designs and, more specifically, textbooks. Using a bit of symmetry in your layout can create a sense of balance and order. So next time you are designing a publication design or a design with many types, pay attention to how much or how little symmetry you are using. If your design doesn’t look quite right, play with your symmetry by increasing or decreasing it.

№8: Texture

Check out these business card designs that take texture to a whole new level by embracing the typography-inspired texture directly into the business card. So next time you make a business card for yourself, try playing around with the card's texture and give people an awesome reason to remember you.

Textures can also be used to design certain logos as well. So let’s look at them now.

Here is the example. If you look at the transformer TF logo, I am sure everybody knows that transformer logo, but how many of you will see the use of metal texture here?

This is a perfect example of visual texture. You may develop a distinctive component for your design that will stand out from the crowd by considering texture and how your design physically and tangibly feels.

№9: Balance and contrast

Let’s look at this logo.

Can you see how beautifully it has been balanced?

One method for mastering balance is to consider each piece as a weight. Consider each element’s size, shape, and relationship to the other components on the page, from text boxes to pictures to color blocks.

Contrast is often the magical essential element in making your design pop, which many design clients need. Contrast is defined as the degree of difference between two components of your design. Dark vs. bright, thick versus thin, big versus tiny, and so on are all examples of contrast.

For example, this technique is used a lot in website designing.

Let’s look at an example of a landing page here.

Contrast has a significant impact on reading and legibility. It’s a major reason why you’ll find black writing on a white backdrop in books and other publications. Assume they printed in light gray on a white backdrop.

What I would suggest is to go and take two prints. Just type on a white page with a gray letter and then on the other page, type it with black font and then print both of them and then just compare. The black and white one has a beautiful sense of contrast and will be more appealing to your eyes. On the other hand, the one with great fonts won’t appeal to your eyes because it has very little contrast. So that’s how it is. You can try and test this aspect in your day-to-day life with your day to day things that you do, and you will have a better understanding of when you will be working with your product.

If you are still not sure, then let me put it this way. Just think about something written in pencil. The latter is more appealing because it has a higher degree of contrast. So, if you choose this font, be sure to increase the contrast.

№10: Movement

One of the most important aspects of many designs is how the eye moves over the page and its direction. This is also referred to as low at times.

How do you shift your gaze across the page? Do your readers know what to look for next? Is their eye going in the right direction?

Research has shown that an E or F shape is a typical pattern for the eye to follow for Web sites. As a result, putting your most important information to the left or along the top of your page is your best option. We’re talking about the Z movement here.

So if you look at this Web page, the logo is on the top left, and then you are helping the movement of the eye to the other elements of the page that is the home, about you, and other stuff like testimonials, etc. Then the main image and then comes the information, and on the bottom right corner, you are asking them to subscribe to your webpage. This is another common pattern that the eye trace is over and this, as I told you, is a Z pattern. The basic concept is that the eye naturally moves in a sweeping manner from the top left corner to the bottom right corner.