Generally, as a graphic designer, to communicate your message, you need a medium in which your audience perceives it. This medium could be in printed materials or displayed on a screen. The layout is the interaction of your design elements with that medium and with each other in the said medium. If we take the famous example of a magazine, it is essential to consider how you arrange and position your graphic element on a page. Layout design answers the question of what the hell these elements are doing here. A good layout will facilitate communication, guide the eyes in a harmonious flow and help express your message in the best way possible.
These are the principles you should consider while constructing your design:
1- Focal point:
This is what you see first in a layout, what grabs your attention. You can achieve that by:
- Scale: Making an object relatively big compared to the other element will help you to establish a focal point.
- Placement: You can establish a focal point in your design by positioning an object at the center of the layout, at an intersection of lines, or the center of a radial or circular grid.
2- White space (negative space):
This makes the design feel more visually appealing and easier to understand. It does not have to be white; it could be a solid color or an empty section of an image.
3- Hierarchy:
Emphasizes the importance or lack of it in your elements.
Give order to your elements from the most important to the least important. You can establish a hierarchy by changing scale, color, and contrast.
4- Grouping:
Making sense of all data on your design. Where you separate or put together elements based on relatability.
5- Scale:
either to create contrast or to balance out elements.
6- Sequencing:
Present information in a clear and logical order that allows you to tell a coherent story, especially in web design. There is a term called scanning pattern: it is the default pattern in which your eyes scan information; in an F-pattern or Z-pattern, it helps to lay out your info under these two patterns.
- F-pattern layout: Is usually used on a page with a heavy copy (text) that requires scrolling.
- Z-pattern layout: Used on pages with a small amount of copy, you use it to call for action.
7- Alignment:
Is another way of grouping elements without counting on proximity; you can align according to horizontal or vertical guides.
Usually, we align elements from left to right (In the case of left-to-right (LTR) languages) and from top to bottom.
8- Grid:
Is a framework you use as a blueprint for your layout design, and it helps you use all the other principles in a structured and measured manner. There is a variety of styles of a grid:
- Column grids: One or multiple columns depending on your medium, for example, 1 column grids for books, 2 for newspapers, and 12 for web design on a desktop. And an effective way to use them is on a big amount of copy.
- Baseline grid: Series of horizontal lines usually to manage and create a consistent typographic alignment through the page.
- Modular grid: Vertical and horizontal guides creating blocks, typically used for poster design.
- Combined grid: Combines two or more different grids into a single layout, to add complexity to your design, especially if you are working with various elements ( type, image, shapes, text.)
- Hierarchical grid: Organizes elements in a layout according to their importance, allowing clear hierarchy.
- Diagonal grid: Atypical approach to layout that creates a sense of dynamism and movement in the design.
- Radial grid: It emphasizes the focal point and creates a sense of movement and dynamism.
- Axial grid: It creates stability, and balance, and it could be dramatic if it is well pronounced.
- Perspective grid: Used to create a sense of depth and dimension in the design, and can be particularly effective for creating realistic or lifelike visual effects, usually in posters.
- Mathematical grids: A systematic approach to layout than the organic grids, and can create a sense of harmony in the design. We will talk about it in length in a future subject.
With all that said, you need to know all these principles and rules to break them in an effective way that improves your work; and helps your creativity, without sacrificing the quality of your work.
Some Instagram pages and websites for layout inspirations:
