Visual design focuses on how a product looks. It includes choices about typography, space, images, and color. But it’s not just about aesthetics. Effective visual design makes interfaces appealing and improves usability By guiding users clearly and helping users to understand information easily which builds trust and improves brand image.
Attention to Visual design is crucial as users take only 50 milliseconds to form an opinion about a website’s design. This highlights how good visual design is important to improve engagement as it creates a positive first impression and builds trust. Whereas, poor visual design makes products hard to use as it can confuse users or information may be hard to find or read which reduces the usability.
However, In this article we will highlight some best principles that play a crucial role in creating visually appealing and user-friendly designs.
7 best principles of Visual Design
The principles of visual design helps to create an effective and engaging visual communication. These principles guide how people perceive and interact with images. Effective design conveys intended messages, solves users problems and meets their needs which improves user experience and strengthens brand identity.
For example, Studies show that visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text, and 90% of information sent to the brain is visual so businesses that use strong design like clear typography, color schemes boost brand recognition by 23%.
With this in mind, let’s explore some of the best principles of Visual design:
1. Hierarchy:
Visual hierarchy shows the order of importance of elements in a design. It helps and guides the audience to read through the flow of information. It makes choices about the order in which people see things like it directs your audience to view the most important of your design first before moving on to the less important information.
Poor hierarchy confuses users as it may miss key information thus, designers should use visual cues like size, space, color and contrast to guide attention effectively. For example, In an e-commerce app, the “Add to Cart” button should be bigger, bolder, and in a contrasting color compared to other buttons.
Additionally, headings and subheadings should be formatted in a way that shows their importance as users get confused as to which information to read first and where to focus more so headings should be clear as this will help users to identify the most information and navigate the content without confusion. For example, A study by the Nielsen Norman Group found that 79% of users scan web pages rather than reading word-for-word, emphasizing the need for well-structured headings to guide attention effectively.
2. Balance:
Balance is the equal distribution of visual weight in a design. Visual weight is the perceived heaviness of an element. Size, color, and texture affect visual weight and placement of elements also affects the balance. So balance creates stability and structure in a design which enhances readability and provides an aesthetically pleasing experience.
Balance tends to appear calm, stable and natural, while imbalanced designs make users feel uneasy which reduces business credibility and trust. A balanced visual design does not mean that all your elements have to be in the same size but rather that balance can be achieved through the strategic colors, size, and patterns of the elements as when the elements are distributed evenly users can navigate content effortlessly without feeling overwhelmed or lost. For example, 92.6% of users say visual factors influence their purchase decisions (Kissmetrics).
However, businesses can apply Symmetrical or Asymmetrical balance based on their design goals. Symmetrical balance is achieved when elements are mirrored on either side of a central axis which creates a formal and stable look. Whereas, asymmetrical balance is achieved when elements of different visual weight are arranged to create equilibrium which creates a dynamic and informal look. Both balances guide the viewer’s eye as they create a pleasing composition.
3. Contrast and Color:
Contrast helps to differentiate the elements in your design. The different sizes, colors, or line weights make the elements stand out to catch the audience’s attention and understand the underlying message of the design. It helps the users to view the elements of the design effortlessly.
Poor contrast can make text content in particular very difficult to read, especially for people with visual impairments also. It reduces accessibility as it can cause eye strain because the users face difficulty to read and understand. For example, According to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 is recommended for normal text to ensure readability. Research by the Nielsen Norman Group also found that poor contrast is one of the top usability issues, negatively impacting user engagement and comprehension.
Due to this, businesses can use contrast to make an element stand out by manipulating differences in colour, value, size and other factors. For example, Google’s logo uses bright (mostly primary) colours, and these mix well, forming a visually pleasing logo. The logo also has sufficient contrast against a white background, making it stand out on the page. Also, it is important to use light text on dark backgrounds and dark text on light background for high contrast like dark blue text on light pink background as Color contrast increases readability by 47% (UX Planet).
4. Space:
Space or white space refers to the areas around and between design elements. Have you ever felt overwhelmed looking at a cluttered web page? Just like a messy room, a crowded design can make it difficult to find what you’re looking for and you will get frustrated in finding it and you might leave. Just like we need space in our life and we need clear and easy to find things the same goes with the space in the design.
Space can be used to draw attention to specific elements as it prevents a design from appearing too cluttered and it provides visual relief guiding the viewer’s eye. Effective use of space can make a design look balanced which improves readability and creates a more aesthetically pleasing layout which improves user experience. A study by Crazy Egg revealed that well-spaced content leads to a 40% increase in user engagement, proving that space is crucial for usability and visual appeal.
There are two types of Space:
- Negative space: This is also known as white space, It is the breathing space as it is the empty area around and between the subjects which helps users to focus on relevant information and improves readability. For example, Google’s homepage is 90% white space, keeping the search bar the focal point.
- Positive space: It refers to the areas containing subjects and these subjects can be letters, shapes, or images. It defines shapes and forms, which makes them easy to see. It also creates focus, which draws attention to key elements.
A well-balanced combination of both ensures the logo is clear and visually appealing. A famous example is the FedEx logo, where the positive space forms the letters, and the negative space between “E” and “x” creates a hidden arrow, reinforcing the brand’s message of speed and precision.
5. Typography:
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type. It refers to font choice, size, spacing, and arrangement. Good typography conveys the tone and purpose of the writing and it also ensures that the design is clear and easy to read which enhances user experience.
Whereas, poor typography can make hard to read texts which can reduce engagement and bad font choices can make the content look unprofessional which can lower the trust as users won’t get satisfied which can drive them away from the design. To avoid this, businesses needs to understand that they should not use more then 2 fonts in a design and ensure a 14px minimum for body text because more then 14px can make harder to read especially on smaller screens like
However, typography is not just about readability and it also influences how people feel connected with content. Have you ever sent a text with a mistake that changed its meaning and made someone confused, laugh, or even upset? That shows how important typography is as it affects how people feel and understand messages. In design, typography is more than just choosing a font. It helps set the mood and show what a brand or product is about. For example, horror movie posters often use sharp, spooky fonts, while kids’ cartoons use fun and round letters. The way text looks can change how we feel about it which makes typography a powerful part of design.
6. Repetition:
Repetition in visual design means reusing the same elements. These elements could be shapes, colors, fonts, or spatial relationships. It is a great way to reinforce an idea and to unify a design that brings together a lot of different elements. Also, it helps users to navigate a design smoothly by using familiar elements.
For example, Google’s UX team revealed that consistent design across pages increases user engagement by 30%, proving that repetition plays a crucial role in effective design.
Have you ever visited a website where every page looked different, making it hard to tell if you were still on the same site? That’s what happens when repetition is not used effectively so it creates confusion instead of clarity. That’s why repetition is crucial as it reminds people of your design, makes people recognize your design, and gives a sense of identity to your design. However, too much repetition can make design boring so it’s important to balance so that users don’t get bored of just the same design and elements everywhere in the site.
7. Unity:
Unity is an overall harmony of a design. It ensures that all design components such as colors, fonts, images, and layouts work together to deliver a clear and consistent message. Study by Adobe revealed that companies with strong, cohesive branding are 3.5 times more likely to be recognized by consumers, highlighting the importance of unity in design.
Pages with elements that are visually or conceptually arranged together are likely to create a sense of unity. And unified design makes navigation and comprehension easier which enhances user experience and strengthens brand identity as consistency in design helps establish a recognizable brand. Unity helps ensure concepts are being communicated in a clear, and also appear to be more organized and of higher quality and authority than designs with poor unity.
Have you ever looked at a design that felt chaotic, where nothing seemed to belong together? That happens when unity is missing, making it hard for users to focus and understand the message. A lack of unity in designs can create a sense of unease and chaos as inconsistent layouts, colors, or fonts can frustrate users which can reduce user interaction and retention. As a result, designers should repeat fonts, shapes, and patterns to create a sense of harmony and should use a predefined color palette across all design elements.
The elements, or principles, of visual design including Contrast, Balance, Space, Hierarchy, Repetition and Unity. Every principle of design works together to create something that is aesthetically pleasing and optimizes the user experience and these principles together form the building blocks of visual design, and a firm understanding of them is crucial in creating a visual design of any product.
Now that you understand the key principles of visual design, take the next step. Evaluate your current design to check that Are they visually balanced? Is the typography readable? Does the layout feel unified? Now start with small changes like improving contrast or refining hierarchy and observe how it impacts user engagement.
