Week 4

Basic design and layout principles

This week in class we talked about the term C.R.A.P. which stands for contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity. These principles have been very important in our class and they make a huge difference on the way things are presented. It's important to have an appealing design and layout when creating any piece of work. The key point is to KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Treehouse does a great write up explaining in detail about C.R.A.P. They state:

"The C.R.A.P. principles (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity) are good ways to double-check your design work. Just like with a pre-shot routine in golf, if you constantly question and nitpick the details of your design work, good design habits will form and you’ll no longer have to think about if your padding is off or elements aren’t aligned, you’ll just do it correctly from the start."

Contrast
Contrast is important in helping us distinguish objects from each other.  It's important to make elements that are not the same clearly different. You can attain contrast by space, different colors, positioning and bold/narrowness.
*Make different things different
*Brings out dominant elements
*Mutes lesser elements
*Creates dynamism



Bad contrast

Better contrast

Repetition
In the textbook Graphic Communication, they state the importance of repetition and consistency. Being consistent with the same fonts, colors and style is key to keeping it pleasing on the eye.
*Repeat design throughout the interface
*Consistency
*Creates unity

Alignment
Alignment is important in that your site shouldn't look like you placed something there randomly.  It's about obtaining unity among elements.
*Creates a visual flow
*Visually connects elements

Better alignment 

Proximity
Proximity is about having objects closer or further apart. Related items should be grouped together so that they look as if they are a group. The audience shouldn't have to figure out what caption goes with what picture, etc.
*Groups related elements
*Separates unrelated ones

For more information on C.R.A.P here is a great video that gives more examples of each principle

These principles we learned in class will be very helpful for future projects and assignments we do.  I think it's very important to keep a simple and easy on the eye layout and design. C.R.A.P will help me make a more appealing personal website and group website.  These tips are very useful for anyone planning on building any site, newsletter, brochure, magazine cover, etc.  I hope these principles will be useful for you!