The Four Elements of Good Design for Beginners

by Robin Williams and Scott Tollett          

When you place other items on the page, make sure each one has some visual alignment with another item on the page.  If lines of text are across from each other horizontally, align their baselines.  If there are several separate blocks of text, align their left or right edges.  If there are graphic elements, align their edges with other edges on the page.  Nothing should be placed on the page arbitrarily!

Even though it may be a boring chart, there is no reason not to make the page look as nice as possible and to present the information as clearly as possible.

Lack of alignment is probably the biggest cause of unpleasant-looking documents.  Our eyes like to see order; it creates a calm, secure feeling.  Plus it helps to communicate the information.

In any well-designed piece, you will be able to draw lines to the aligned objects, even if the overall presentation of material is a wild collection of odd things and has lots of energy.

Simply lining things up makes the difference.  Notice not one item is on the page arbitrarily - every item has some visual connection with another item on the page.

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