The graphic elements in design projects are, quite literally, the building blocks of exceptional user experiences. With effective elements and a little design knowledge, you can create designs that engage viewers and communicate information successfully.
For that reason, we’ll explore the most important graphic design elements that you should use in your design projects. Once you’ve read this guide, you’ll know how a professional graphic designer creates eye-catching visual designs.
What Is Graphic Design?
Before we discuss the elements of graphic design, you should know what graphic design actually entails. Through this, you’ll have a clear goal in mind when you start to manipulate your own design elements.
With that in mind, graphic design is simply visual communication. In other words, it’s the process of creating and arranging the elements of design to relay a message to viewers.
You may think this sounds similar to UI design, and it’s easy to see why. UI designers also focus on the aesthetic components of a digital product’s user interface to appeal to viewers.
Graphic and UI designers will also rely on UI design principles to govern their designs. But that’s where the similarities end. Instead of hyper-focusing on usability and interactivity, graphic designers strive to deliver messages in the most impactful way possible.
What you should take away from this is that you must first understand the message you’ll convey to your audience. After all, effective designs always have a purpose, and the visual elements you choose should help you achieve that purpose.
Use your design elements, graphic design principles, and creativity to make your audience feel, and feel strongly at that. Since you don’t have interactivity on your side, you must rely on your ability to elicit emotional responses from viewers.
What Are the Basic Elements of Graphic Design?
Naturally, your next step is to start with the basics when it comes to visual design. So, that said, what are the basic elements of graphic design?
The basic graphic design elements are line, shape, color, visual texture, space, typography, and scale.
Don’t worry; we’ll discuss these elements in more detail shortly. First, we’d like to give you some helpful pointers that every designer should know before they experiment with the basics.
- Don’t use more than three fonts in a design, as this will distract your audience and compromise your design’s consistency.
- Don’t disregard the value of kerning (the space between letters); kerning will help you establish readability.
- Only combine colors that enhance readability and user engagement, and that display an appropriate amount of contrast.
- Create visual harmony by incorporating equal amounts of positive and negative space in your designs.
- Aim to create a visual hierarchy that your audience will find logical and intuitive.
- Always keep the message you want to communicate in the forefront of your mind during your creative process.
- Find inspiration in other designers’ works, but don’t plagiarize their designs, as this will damage your reputation.
- Avoid using too many icons; instead, aim to use only three icons per image to steer clear of visual “clutter.”
- Make sure you aren’t prioritizing design trends over your design’s purpose.
- Try not to use too many images from stock photo sites to maintain your design’s uniqueness.
Exploring Further: What Are the 7 Elements of Graphic Design?
It’s time to get into the nitty gritty of graphic design — the seven fundamental elements.
1. Line
Lines simply refer to the connection between any two points in a given space. When you use lines effectively, you can guide your audience’s attention, communicate a sense of motion, and evoke particular emotions.
For instance, an unpredictable spiky line would suggest energy and excitement, while a flat line conveys a sense of calm.
You can also use lines to divide your designs into digestible sections, which will help you create a cohesive architecture.
2. Shape
Everything you’ll use in your designs derives its shape from lines and colors, making every element a type of shape. For that reason, you must always consider how each shape interacts with one another to create visual intrigue.
Most designers use either geometric shapes, abstract shapes, or organic shapes. Geometric shapes have sharp, uniform proportions like squares and triangles.
Abstract shapes serve as simplified representations of recognizable forms but said forms don’t actually exist in the real world. Think of the silhouettes you see on the doors of public bathrooms, symbolizing men and women.
Lastly, organic shapes have imperfect forms that mirror the irregularities in the natural world.
When experimenting with your shapes, consider not only the shapes you use but the shapes you subsequently create around them. By doing so, you’ll ensure that the shapes and silhouettes you create don’t compromise your audience’s ability to navigate your designs.
3. Color
Color psychology can help you make color choices that build the mood of your designs. Every color will have a different impact on your audience, so we recommend looking into Sir Isaac Newton’s color wheel.
You should also research modern color theory, which explains the essential color types, characteristics, and schemes you can leverage.
When trying out different colors, we recommend using colors that sit next to/opposite each other on the color wheel. These combinations often make for the most visually satisfying pairings.
Above all, you should revisit the information you want to relay to your audience. Let’s say you want to excite your audience. Using a bright red color that represents passion would help you evoke that emotion. On the other hand, if your aim is to create a fantastical atmosphere, you may use purple hues that reflect magic.
4. Visual Texture
Visual texture refers to the imaginary tactile sensation that your audience perceives your designs to have. By manipulating the depth, light, and shadows, you can make your designs appear smooth, rough, patterned, or even grainy.
Your use of texture could add layers of engagement to your designs and even enhance their immersive qualities.
Think about how you’d want your designs to feel if your audience could touch them and design accordingly.
5. Space
Both white space (negative space) and positive space can help you create a sense of unity and symmetrical/asymmetrical balance.
White space simply refers to the empty space between your design elements. Positive space is the main focus of attention in your designs, often capturing its subject and areas of interest.
The way you use space can help you design compositions that either mirror order or disorder. Your use of space can also help your audience identify elements that relate to one another. Regardless of your intentions, remember that the space you don’t use is just as important as the space you do.
6. Typography
Like your colors and textures, your typography elements will help you communicate moods and atmospheres to your audience.
For instance, if you want your designs to appear professional and authoritative, you’d likely use serif fonts. In contrast, if your designs convey a more casual, familiar mood, you’d likely use sans-serif fonts.
Consider your fonts’ stroke widths, kernings, and baselines, as these will support your letterforms’ aesthetic.
7. Scale
Scale focuses on the relative size of a visual element in relation to other visual elements. Playing with different sizes and scales will help you establish a visual hierarchy through dominance and emphasis.
In other words, scale allows you to emphasize areas of particular interest and guide your audience’s navigation. Imagine you’re in space – you’ll notice the Sun before you notice the Earth because the Sun is bigger and brighter.
The same rules apply to visual design: the bigger, bolder elements capture our attention first. Consider the most important elements of your design and emphasize them with size and scale.
FAQs
Which visual elements are unique to graphic design?
Visual elements, like typography, color, and layouts, are prominent in graphic design, but none are unique to it. Instead, what is unique about graphic design’s visual elements is how designers can apply them to print and online content.
What are the five most basic elements of graphic design?
Many designers consider line, color, shape, texture, and space to be the most fundamental elements of graphic design.
What is the most important function of graphic design?
The fundamental purpose behind every type of graphic designer’s work is to create visually engaging designs that communicate messages effectively.
Graphic Design Elements: Use Page Flows To Enhance Your Designs
“What are the seven elements of graphic design?” They are the tools you’ll use to enhance your visual communication skills. Speaking of enhancing your skills, there is another aspect of the user experience you need to master: user navigation.
User navigation is especially important for graphic designers who work on digital products like websites and mobile apps. After all, your visual elements play a significant role in guiding the user toward their desired content. This is why you need Page Flows by your side.
With Page Flows, all of the user flow inspiration you could ever need is right at your fingertips. We document high-quality web and mobile user flows from successful brands like Google, Apple, and Figma to inspire your creativity. What’s more, our resources are as valuable as they are versatile, spanning dozens of thriving industries like productivity and podcasting.
Like fundamental graphic design elements, our flows are must-have additions to your toolbox. Get started today to learn how to guide your users through your products!
