1. 7 Design
Components
Week 5, MM1B03, McMaster University
From A. White, Elements of Graphic Design

2. 7Design
Components
Hierarchy
Unity
Balance
Gestalt
Colour
Space
Dominance

3. Unity
• Unity in design exists when all elements
are in agreement.
• Unity requires that the whole design be
more important than any subgroup or
individual part.
• Unity is the most important aspect of
design.

4. Unity
Without unity a design becomes chaotic and
unreadable BUT without variety, a design
becomes inert and lifeless.
A BALANCE needs to be
found between the two.

5. Unity
Formal relationships must
be created so that unity
among the parts is
achieved. • Proximity
• Similarity
• Repetition
• Theme with Variations

6. Unity
Proximity
• Also called “Grouping or “Relative
Nearness.”
• This is the simplest way to achieve
unity.
• Elements that are physically close
together are seen as related.

7. YAY BRANDON!
Last Week’s Kickass Tip #13 “Be Decisive, Do it on purpose or not at all.”
(A great deal of the process of understanding visual material is the ability
to distinguish the dierence between things.)
This week it is an example of “Proxemics in Unity.”
“The further apart an element, the more is seems separated.”

8. Unity
Similarity
• Also called “Correspondence.”
• Elements that share a similarity of colour,
shape, position, or texture seem alike.
• Alignment is an especially significant aspect
-- elements that line up with one another
seem related.

9. YAY SAMANTHA!
Here is an example
of “Similarity in
Unity” in
photographic
choices/interior
design.
“ Elements that
are physically
close together
are seen as
related.”

10. Unity
Repetition
• Related to similarity.
• An idea that is repeated provides unity.
• Repeated idea may be positioning, size,
colour, or use of rules.
RHYTHM!!
• Repetition produces

11. Unity
Rhythm
• Rhythm is a pattern
created by repeating or
varying elements.
• Think music where
there is a sense of
movement from one
sound to another.

12. Unity
Theme with Variations
• Simple repetitions without
variety can become boring
in sameness.
• Alteration of a basic theme
retains connectedness
while providing interest.

13. Yeah
MIKE!
Last Week’s Kickass Tip
#13 “Symmetry is the
Ultimate Evil.”
This week it is an
example of
“Variations on a
Theme.”
“Alteration of a
basic theme retains
connectedness while
providing interest.”

14. Gestalt
• Coined at the Bauhaus, Weimar in 1920s.
• Describes a design’s “wholeness” or the
way each part of a design is aected by
what surrounds it.
• The observer receives the total images as
the result of the interactive among the
components.

15. Gestalt
“We see the various components,
the shapes and colours and the
relationship between them .... The
observer receives the total image
as the result of the interaction.”
Rudolf Arnheim, Visual Thinking

16. Gestalt
The techniques for facilitating a
complete perception include the
four Unity factors plus:
• Figure/ground
• Closure (completion)
• Continuation

17. Gestalt
Figure/Ground
• The relationship between the
subject and its surrounding space.
• Confusing the foreground and
background is a visually stimulating
technique.

18. YAY MEAGAN
Last Week’s Kickass Tip #8 “Negative Space is Magical.”
This week it is an example of “Figure/ground Gestalt.”
“ Confusing the foreground and background is a visually stimulating technique.”

19. YAY THOMAS
Also an example of
“Figure/ground
Gestalt.”
“ Confusing the foreground
and background is a visually
stimulating technique.”

20. Gestalt
Closure
• Also known as completion
• The viewer’s natural tendency is to
try to close gaps and complete
unfinished forms.
• Encourages active participation in
the creation of the message.

21. YAY ANDREW.
Last Week’s Kickass Tip #6 “Treat type as an image.”
This week it is an example of “Closure in Gestalt.”
“ The viewer’s natural tendency is to try to close gaps and
complete unfinished forms.”

22. Gestalt
Closure
• Also known as completion
• The viewer’s natural tendency is to
try to close gaps and complete
unfinished forms.
• Encourages active participation in
the creation of the message.

23. Gestalt
Continuation
• Also known as completion
• The viewer’s natural tendency is to
try to close gaps and complete
unfinished forms.
• Encourages active participation in
the creation of the message.

24. YAY PAUL
Last Week’s Kickass Tip #19 “Look to History, don’t repeat.”
This week it is an example of “Continuation Gestalt.”
“ The eye follows a path, whether real or implied.”

25. Space
Consider negative (white) space in
relation to the other design
components.

26. Space
To avoid a stale approach, look at
a blank area and think of
displacing the emptiness with
graphic elements.

27. Space
Stay conscious of the remaining
empty areas and use it to guide
attract, and arouse the viewer to
become engaged.

28. Last Week’s Kickass Tip #1 “Have a Concept.”
This week it is an example of “Displacing Emptiness.”

29. YAY ROSANTH.
Last Week’s Kickass Tip #18 “MOVE IT.”
This week it is an example of “Displacing Emptiness.”

30. Dominance
• Created by contrasting size (scale),
positioning, colour, style, or shape.
• Every design should have a single primary
visual element called a focal point.
• Scale can be used to attract attention by
making the focal point life size or even
more dramatically, larger than lifesize.

31. Last Week’s Kickass Tip #18 “Use a 1-2 Punch.”
This week it is an example of “Dominance.”
Focus the viewer’s attention on one important thing first and then
lead them through the rest.

32. Last Week’s Kickass Tip #19 “Look to History, Don’t Repeat.”
This week it is an example of “Dominance.”
Scale can be used to attract attention

33. Balance
• Balance or equilibrium is the state of
equalized tension.
• Three types of Balance are.
• Symmetrical
• Asymetrical
• Overall or Mosaic Balance

34. Balance
Symmetrical
• Also known as “formal” balance
• Vertically centred and visually equivalent
on both sides.
• Symmetrical designs are static and evoke
feelings of classicism, formality.

35. YAY MEAGAN
Last Week’s Kickass Tip #8 “Negative Space is Magical.”
This week it is an example of “Symmetrical Balance.”
“ Formality, classicism, constancy.”

36. Balance
Asymetrical
• Also known as “informal” balance
• Requires a variety of element sizes and
careful distribution of negative (white) space.
• Attracts attention and is more dynamic.
• Evoke feelings of modernism, forcefulness,
vitality.

37. Here we go
again
MIKE!
Last Week’s Kickass Tip
#13 “Symmetry is the
Ultimate Evil.”
This week it is an
example of the
same thing!
“Asymmetry evokes
feelings of
modernism,
forcefulness, vitality.”

38. Balance
Mosaic Balance
• Often used by retailers who want to
pack maximum information into their
advertising space.
• It is easy for this type of organization
to look “noisy.”

39. YAY SAMANTHA!
Here is an example
of “Overall or
Mosaic Balance” in
retail advertising.
Many things being
focussed on the
same page.

40. Here is another
example of “Overall
or Mosaic Balance”
in magazine cover
art.
Many things being
focussed on the
same page.

41. Colour
• Partly artistry but mostly science and
common sense.
• Good colour is a raw material to be used
strategically for a clear purpose.
• Colour contrast has the same potential for
communicating heirarchy as typeface, type
weight and size or placement contrasts.

42. Colour
Helps organize
• Establishes character through consistency.
• Plan colour use from the start.
• Use colour consistently. A unique colour
scheme can be an identifying
characteristic.

43. Last Week’s Kickass Tip #6 “Pick Colours on Purpose.”
This week it is an example of “Organizing through Colour.”
“ A unique colour scheme can be an identifying characteristic.”

44. Colour
Gives emphasis
• Ranks elements in order of importance.
• Every element has a perceptual emphasis
that must be considered.
• People gravitate to whatever looks
dierent on a page.

46. Colour
Ink Holdout
• Printed colour is aected by ink holdout
or “dot gain” which is the absorbancy
factor of paper stocks.
• Coated papers have ink holdout,
newsprint has extreme dot gain.
• Software provides colour specifications to
adjust dot gain depending on the paper
stock chosen for a print job.

47. Using the 7 design
components
Unity, gestalt, space, dominance,
hierarchy, balance, and colour are
sliding switches that help achieve
visible, eective design.

48. Using the 7 design components
Think of shapes
Subconscious operatives
We read from left to right.
•
We start at the top and work down the page.
•
Pages in a publication are related to each other.
•
Closeness connects, distance separates.
•
Big/dark is important, small/light not.
•
Fullness should be balanced with emptiness.
•
Everything has a shape, including emptiness.
•