Complete Course On Layout Design (MASTER LAYOUT)
Summary
TLDRThis video script offers a comprehensive guide to mastering layout design. It emphasizes establishing a grid system, selecting a focal point, and utilizing white space effectively. The script introduces lesser-known theories like visual tension and Rudolph Arnheim's structural net, while highlighting the importance of understanding the design's message, intended audience, and medium. Practical examples illustrate how to apply these concepts for creating visually appealing and effective designs.
Takeaways
- 📏 **Establish a Grid**: Use grids to organize elements and create a sense of order in layout design.
- 📄 **Understand Document Dimensions**: Knowing the size of your document is crucial for effective layout planning.
- 🔲 **Column Grids**: Typically used in magazines and websites, they create areas that run down the page.
- 🔷 **Modular Grids**: Include both rows and columns, often with square modules, and are versatile for various designs.
- 🎨 **Create Hierarchy**: Use square modules, rule of thirds, or the golden ratio to establish visual importance.
- 🖼️ **Focal Point**: A single dominant element like a large image or typography draws the viewer's attention.
- 👀 **Direct Viewer's Eye**: Use design techniques to guide the viewer's gaze through the layout.
- 📄 **White Space**: Proper use of white or empty space provides clarity, structure, and enhances design elements.
- 🔄 **Repetition**: Reusing design elements or motifs creates a cohesive look and feel.
- 📈 **Advanced Techniques**: Explore lesser-known theories and approaches for more dynamic layouts.
- 📐 **Consider Margins and Bleeds**: Especially in print projects, account for these to ensure design integrity.
- 🌐 **Design for Context**: Tailor layouts to the medium (print, web, etc.) and the way the audience will interact with it.
- 🎯 **Purpose Driven Design**: The design's goal (inform, sell, etc.) influences layout decisions.
- 🕵️♂️ **Visual Movement**: Understand how to guide the viewer's eyes through your design using shape, subject matter, and movement.
- 🔄 **Visual Tension**: Be mindful of how elements interact to create a harmonious or intentional disruptive experience.
- 📏 **Structural Net**: Apply Arnheim's theory to understand how viewers naturally navigate a design's structure.
- 📈 **Direction in Composition**: Use horizontal, vertical, or diagonal layouts to set the emotional tone of your design.
Q & A
What is the primary purpose of establishing a grid in layout design?
-Establishing a grid in layout design helps to inform the position of different elements on a page, create a connection between elements, and provide a sense of order to the layout, which increases the success of the design.
What are the differences between column grids and modular grids?
-Column grids utilize columns that run down the page, typically used in magazines or websites. Modular grids, apart from columns, also have rows, often with square modules, and don't require filling up all squares.
Why is it important to have a single focal point in a design?
-A single focal point is crucial as it pulls in the viewer and grabs their attention, making the design memorable. Without a focal point, a design can fall flat and be easily missed.
How can white space be effectively used in layout design?
-White space is crucial for a good layout as it gives the design room to breathe, helps establish which groups of design assets belong together, and aids in establishing hierarchy.
What is the significance of understanding the message and vibe of a design?
-Understanding the message and vibe helps in making specific design decisions regarding layout. It ensures the design effectively communicates the intended emotion or information to the audience.
How does the context in which a design will be shown influence the layout decisions?
-The context, such as whether it's for a business card or a website, influences layout decisions by affecting the available space, how the audience views and interacts with the design, and the overall composition structure.
What is the role of repetition in layout design?
-Repetition provides a strong sense of connected design balance by identifying and reusing a motif or design element throughout the layout, making separate areas feel connected and part of the same composition.
Why is it important to consider the target audience when designing with space?
-Considering the target audience helps find the right balance of micro and macro white space, ensuring the design is legible and appealing to the intended viewers.
What are the benefits of mastering space in layout design?
-Mastering space enhances visual hierarchy, prevents designs from being cluttered, adds style and elegance, and emphasizes bonds between visual elements.
How does visual tension in design affect the viewer's experience?
-Visual tension can create anxiety or discomfort when design elements are positioned in a way that disrupts the viewer's experience, going against the natural paths of visual movement.
What is the theory of overall design composition direction and how does it influence design?
-The theory of overall design composition direction suggests that compositions can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, influencing the design's emotional impact, suggesting calmness, balance, or movement and action respectively.
Outlines
📐 Layout Design Fundamentals
This paragraph introduces the basics of layout design, emphasizing the importance of establishing a grid for structuring content. It discusses different types of grids, such as column grids and modular grids, and their applications in various media like magazines, brochures, and websites. The paragraph also touches on creating hierarchy and the significance of considering bleeds and margins in print design. The concept of a focal point in design is introduced as a means to capture attention and guide the viewer's journey through the layout.
🌟 Creating Impact with Focal Points and Space
The second paragraph delves into the concept of creating a focal point to provide immediate balance and draw the viewer's attention. It stresses the necessity of directing the viewer's eye through the design to maintain engagement and guide them to essential information. The importance of white space is highlighted, explaining how it can enhance the layout by preventing clutter and establishing a clear visual hierarchy. The paragraph also introduces the idea of using repetition to create a cohesive design and balance.
🎨 Advanced Layout Techniques
This section explores advanced layout design techniques, moving beyond basic grids and guides. It discusses how to create impactful designs by understanding the message or vibe intended for the audience. The paragraph provides examples of how different layouts can convey various messages, such as chaos or calmness, and how the design's purpose, like informing or selling, influences layout decisions. It also touches on the importance of considering the design's context, like where it will be displayed and its target audience.
📝 The Art of Utilizing Space in Design
Paragraph four focuses on the effective use of space in design, distinguishing between macro and micro white space and their roles in enhancing visual hierarchy and preventing clutter. It discusses how to balance these spaces based on the design's message, content, target audience, and context. The paragraph introduces the concepts of passive and active white space, explaining how they contribute to legibility and guide the viewer through the design.
🚀 Theories of Visual Movement and Tension
The final paragraph introduces lesser-known theories in graphic design, such as visual tension and Rudolph Arnheim's structural net, which deal with directing the viewer's eye and creating a sense of movement within the design. It explains how these theories can be applied to create harmony or disruption in the viewer's experience. The paragraph also covers the theory of overall design composition direction, discussing how horizontal, vertical, and diagonal compositions can evoke different emotions and responses.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Grid
💡Layout Design
💡Focal Point
💡White Space
💡Hierarchy
💡Module
💡Repetition
💡Flow
💡Bleed
💡Visual Journey
💡Context
Highlights
Establishing a grid is essential for layout design, providing order and structure.
Column grids are commonly used in magazines, brochures, and websites.
Modular grids incorporate both rows and columns, often with square modules.
Creating a hierarchy in design can be achieved through the use of square modules.
The rule of thirds and the golden ratio are advanced grid techniques.
Balancing a design can be achieved by choosing a single focal point.
A focal point is crucial for grabbing attention and guiding the viewer's journey.
Good white space is essential for a successful layout, providing clarity and structure.
Repetition in design helps create a connected and balanced composition.
Understanding the message and vibe of a design is crucial before starting the layout.
The context in which a design will be shown influences the layout decisions.
The purpose of the design dictates the layout strategy, such as informing or selling.
Space in design should be used to enhance visual hierarchy and prevent clutter.
Macro and micro white space have different impacts on design readability and aesthetics.
Passive and active white space play roles in legibility and guiding the viewer's path.
Visual movement in design is influenced by the shape of elements and subject matter.
Rudolph Arnheim's structural net theory suggests a natural path for the viewer's eye.
Visual tension can be created by disrupting the natural flow of the viewer's eye.
The theory of overall design composition direction can set a base emotion or feeling.
Transcripts
from thinking outside of the box when it comes to layout design to learning lesser
known theories about layout today's compilation video is surely going to help you master layout
design in your designs so the first thing I'm going to do is establish a grid for the layout
now of course you should know the dimensions of your document so maybe it's A3 as an example
using a grid can inform the position of different elements on your page and you're
going to create a connection between the different elements that make up your design
this can provide a sense of order to your page layout providing the reader or the viewer with
a clear structural reference to fall back on and this also increases the success of your design
now the grid you use is entirely up to you but here are some popular choices
now column grids utilize well pretty much columns and they do this by creating areas that
run down the page or your design column grids are typically used in magazines or brochures but also
a lot of websites incorporate them as well now in layout design the areas that are in between the
horizontal flow lines or vertical lines are also known as modules and these areas will be set up
for your content or your negative space more about that later now modular grids are similar to column
grids apart from they have rows as well as the columns that go down each module is often a square
in modular grids and you don't need to fill up all of the squares in your modules again we're going
to see more about that later now modular grids are very easy to apply to pretty much any design
so these are the two main grid systems but there are many more and you can create
hierarchy by just using Square modules but of course there are things like rule of thirds
or even the golden ratio but yeah you can use any grid that fits your design but when you're
working on a print project you have to be mindful of the bleeds and the margins as well
so once you have your grid let's move on to the next stage you should have a good idea of
what your Design's message is or what you want the design style to evoke that's all concluded in the
research phases that you should be doing today's video is about laying those ideas out efficiently
so one of the most effective ways to provide a sense of balance right out of the gates is
to choose a single focal point for your design now a good example of a solid focal point is
the use of a large image as the biggest single element or a large source of simple typography
the focal point is going to be that thing that pulls in the viewer to your design and that grabs
attention with a hook without a focal point A Design Falls flat and is easily missed or
forgettable the focal point is where the viewer starts the journey on your design but where did
you go after that initial attention grab so we want to direct the viewer's eye around our
designs and that's because we want them to stay with our work and then we want to lead them to
information that they should consume this can be achieved by creating little pockets of interest on
your designs or you can use the principle of flow good white space is crucial for a good layout and
white or empty space is actually a friend not to enemy now it gives your design a room to Breeze
and it helps establish which groups of design assets actually belong together not to mention
helping establish hierarchy and on this crude downloadable template here we can use grids
to establish white space and I'm actually using a modular grid system here which seems logical more
about space and layout later in today's video a repetition can also provide a strong sense
of connected design balance to a composition the idea is that by identifying and reusing a
motif or a design element throughout your design layout can provide a reference for the reader so
that separate areas feel connected and are part of the same overall composition so you can do
this by repeating shapes or symbols and areas of your design or the method I really like to apply
is to use colors to connect different aspects of my design together now we're going to learn
a few things about layout design that aren't just the basics we're going to take things to
the next level with lesser known techniques and approaches to layout design in graphic design
to start a design from scratch in regard to layout we need to first ask what what is the
message allow me to explain with this design right here this is a magazine cover designed for Wired
Magazine but what would you say is a message on this design or the vibe well to me the message or
Vibe is about danger chaos and importantly a shock Factor aimed at the audience now ask yourself this
question will a minimal and clean design Express this message the answer is probably no a minimal
layout here wouldn't help give the impression of chaos or destruction so instead a very radical
composition that is busy and chaotic has been used on this magazine design now let's compare that to
this second design here the answer to the question of what is the vibe or the message on this design
is of Health Simplicity and calmness the previous layouts that was chaotic and disordered would not
be able to express the same sort of message on this design right here so already in today's
video you can see that layout design is more than just grids and guides but hey let's keep going
the next thing you want to do before designing anything is ask yourself where is a design going
to be shown if your design is for a business card then you need to be aware that the limited space
on the business card is what you have to work with but if you are designing something for a
website things change again in terms of how you will structure the composition because of the
size of your workspace how the audience views and interacts with the design depends on the shape and
the size of the thing your design is going to be put onto now that's very very important to keep
in mind the third question I can determine your layout on a design is what is the purpose of the
design is it to inform somebody of an event or something else or maybe is your design trying to
sell something like this design is right here you see when you ask what is a design trying to do you
you can then make a very specific design decisions in terms of your layouts this design wants to make
a sale so it first tries to grab the attention of the viewer and it does this with a bold colorful
background and a focal point of the guy at the very top then the designer wants to take the view
on a visual Journey down to the bottom of the design where they click the shop now button and
a sale is clinched so the path to the button is straightforward and is cleanly laid out however
if we take a look at this design we see things are very different in terms of layouts this design is
trying to shock people into quitting smoking and so the message needs to be very striking and very
stuck as a result the layout is very minimal so the viewer gets the idea very easily and the
main focal point is highlighted really really immensely the visual Journey or the direction
isn't as important here as the design is just about shocking and some information the message
and reason behind the design are intertwined as you can actually probably see so here are
a pair of meme sunglasses and we want to make a design that advertises and showcases these in
a magazine so the first question is what is the message or what is the vibe of this design well
I want to show off the sunglasses to the viewer and the viewers are actually going to be younger
people considering the kind of product this is so the vibe is going to be bold and pretty trendy
second question where is the design going to be shown this design is going onto a single page of
a magazine and so with that in mind I'm thinking of a downward Journey from top to bottom because
A4 is quite narrow lastly what do we want the design to achieve well that's appreciation for
the sunglasses and a potential sale so I'm gonna try and attract the viewers with the product at
the very top and so I've split the layout into two halves a bright and bold color will play into the
current 2022 meme sector audience and then we can lay the product into the section at quite a large
scale again this is the hero of the design it's the focal point so I want people to be attracted
to this area and this is also where people are going to start their Journey at the very top
of the page we also can take into consideration the bleed or padding of our composition but these
are more technical layout matters that have been discussed in previous videos here at photographics
but next to continue the bright color scheme that's going to appeal to the younger Generations
who are into this kind of product I have three shapes here that continue the downward
moving layouts and within those squares the text content I give some selling points to the product
and then lastly at the bottom with a viewer finishes their Journey the trigger or call to
action that's going to encourage people to want a product even more and below that it's the traffic
destination information that will actually drive the people away from the magazine to the website
because this design is selling something I wanted to keep it minimal and open to
make sure the product is obvious and then also the call to action is just as obvious
as you can see knowing the viable the message where the design is going to be used and what the
intention of the design is really can dictate Your Design layouts like I said before space
is insanely important when it comes to layout design and so we're going to learn some really
cool techniques and a few tips when it comes to using that space on your designs I'm sure most
of us know about white space and negative space in graphic design but do you get confused or lost
when it comes to actually applying these things to your designs in real time and we're going to
be looking at design principle of space so we can end up with beautiful designs that wow clients
so before we look at some real life examples it's important to understand the benefits of
mastering space in your designs firstly if you utilize a space properly it's going to enhance a
visual hierarchy which is another very important principle in the communication of your design
secondly space prevents your designs from being cluttered and cramped that's
not something you want in your designs space Also simply adds style and elegance to your
designs if done correctly and that's what we're going to talk about soon
but also when used correctly space Also emphasizes bonds between visual elements
essentially it just enhances proximity this is useful for allowing your designers to make sense
when designing something in regard to the use of space firstly ask yourself what is the content
you're working with what has the clients given you it's important to distinguish between macro
web space and micro white space at this point macro web space is the large expanse areas of
nothingness that exists on your design whereas the micro white space are the areas of smaller
sections of nothingness between lines of text paragraphs of text and closely packed together
design objects for example if you're working on a design where a client is giving you Reams
and rooms of text to work with you're not going to be focusing much on macro white
space simply because you don't have much of it to work with your whole vision and
approach for that design should then shift to focusing on using more micro white space
effectively however you will still have elements of macro white space to consider albeit a lot less
now if you find yourself in a situation on a project where you're able to work with both
micro and macro white space it's important to consider the message of the design and
also the target audience you want to find the right balance of micro and macro wet
space for targeted people who'll be viewing it if the design is a poster targeting mainly
young business professionals who will view the design whilst briskly walking
along the subway to work you want to tip the balance towards using more macro white space
this is so your design remains easy to digest and recognizable at a first glance
having lots of macro white space will just create emphasis and hierarchy on the focal point making
the design more noticeable one rule of thumb that you can use is that more macro wet space can
suggest minimalism modernity and luxury while if the balance is shifted more to microwave space the
design can be seen as more informative and serious things do go deeper than just macro and micro wet
space however we can enhance our designs with the use of passive white space and active white space
passive white space refers to the microwave space that helps legibility and the Aesthetics of our
layouts that is without guiding the view in terms of structure and viewing order active web space
on the other hand relates to helping the viewer move through your designs in order and structure
if we take a look at this example of a paragraph this design has poor use of microwave space it's
essentially just not even that legible if we add in some passive white space we can
now read it properly and the viewer has more of a pleasant experience but we can go further and
apply active white space to control the order and the movement of the reading experience
things are now broken down into digestible chunks which helps the viewer move between each part
of the design easily and this ensures they will remain on your design for a longer periods of time
to summarize when considering the use of space on your designs it should always be
legible whatever you're designing also unless they're brief specifically calls for it you
don't want the viewer to feel cramped and have a tough time navigating Your Design
you then need to consider the balance of micro and also macro white space that you're going
to use things that determine this are the message of your design the content given
by the clients the target audience and the context of the design in real life situations
use space to enhance other principles such as hierarchy and proximity and then lastly consider
passive and active white spaces if you didn't actually fully understand all of today's video
go back and watch it again so you can fully digest the content also look for white space in existing
designs and how they're being used is the white space there to guide a viewer around the design
is it used to help things be more legible so let's dive into some theories that are actually attached
to layer design and these are really important for you to build constructive and effective
layouts in your projects I bet you've heard the graphic design principles of contrast hierarchy
and so on what about visual tension or Rudolph arnheim's structural net and today you can learn
all about some lesser known theories and you will see just how hugely powerful they can be to you as
a graphic designer one thing that took me a long time to understand the importance of was the four
main aspects of visual movement after all people do engage with our designs using their eyes being
able to set up a design where you actively take the audience on a journey is a master skill and
it does go deeper than you think the four aspects of this are movement shape of element structure
and subject matter yes this might seem a tiny bit confusing or technical but trust me we're going to
look at some real life examples in today's video let's look at shape of element first this is where
a designer purposely uses a specific shape one design that has an Axis or Line running through
it and is carried through the entire shape this causes the viewer to actually follow it along the
design on this website here you can see that the beige peachy rectangle is actually carrying the
viewer's eye along it and then to the information on the left this isn't a mistake it's actually a
carefully planned out then we have this poster here the design has added red slanted rectangles
that mirror the viewer's eye as it goes from the top left across and down the design to the right
basically the designer has laid out a path for the viewer to go along visually speaking and they
will do that subconsciously because going against it will just feel uncomfortable the second point
is subject matter which is pretty similar to shape of elements but it's more about visual
cues think of fingers pointing or fists punching or eyes looking in One Direction as seen here on
this poster the arm is directing the attention up towards the bird and on this website here
this woman's hand is literally directing attention to the main bit of information
but what about the third Point movement so on a design you can have design elements that
work together to create a sense of movement an example is this poster where various different
shapes create a sense of movement upward and then the fourth one we mentioned structure this
is where Rudolph arnheim's structural net comes into play it sounds pretty weird I know but the
theory suggests that every canvas has a structure even before Design Elements and assets go onto it
crazy maybe but let's take a look at this in more depth the structure starts with a point of focus
centrally so however the theory suggests that it's a tiny bit higher than the exact center and this
is where most eyes will just naturally land then we have the axes that run from corner to corner
and the points along these axes that are actually midway between the center and the corners also
attract attention these Midway points can then be connected with a vertical and horizontal line
lines which create additional axes of visual Force so according to Rudolph and his theory the eyes
will actually follow these paths and they will actually land on the points of interest or Focus
you may very well be able to see this in action in real life and when you do start thinking about
this you begin to see designs very differently indeed the next theory that is lesser known among
graphic designers is visual tension like with a lot of theories in today's video you won't
see them on every single design and sometimes designers do them without even realizing however
they are very easy to get wrong and we're soon going to see just that in action but yeah visual
tension can be thought of as anxiety or just visual anxiety it can be achieved when design
elements are positioned alongside each other that disrupt The viewer's Experience now you can think
of this as creating this harmony to Rudolph's structural Nets and that's where Design Elements
totally go against the channels or paths so that you theorizes looking on this website design here
we can see multiple elements that come together and point to random places on a design it just
looks simply unorganized and uncomfortable to look at simply because it's disregarding those
paths that we just saw instead we can remove a random movement and direction from shapes
pointing in all directions and create one solid point of focus like on the second design here
now here's a very simple and effective but forgotten about Theory the theory of overall
design composition Direction these three main directions for a composition can be horizontal
vertical or diagonal horizontal compositions are more calming and stable now I don't mean kind of
landscape designs I just mean the directional movement of the design layout then vertical
designs are good to show balance and boldness and alertness then finally the diagonal compositions
will help to suggest the movement and action we can see here on this first design how everything
just feels calm and still the directional movement of the design as a whole is horizontal and then
for the second compositional layout we have vertical here we see more vertical direction
of the form with some slight diagonals with the red strike marks on the left the design seems
more bold more striking and impacting then finally the diagonal design notice also how this brochure
has used the Satori color of yellowy orange and that's a typical color for action and movement
it's no coincidence that the diagonal layout is matched to this it's kind of like a double whammy
of psychological traits on this design as you should be aware of now movement is a powerful
tool not only to direct a viewer around your design but also to make them feel comfortable or
uncomfortable depending on what you want them to feel but as we've just seen it's possible also to
set a base feeling or emotion simply by looking at the layout and directional movement of your
composition never ever underestimate the power of this stuff now layer design is really important
but it's pretty useless if you don't Master these five principles in graphic design to learn
more just click that video on screen and until next time guys design your future today peace
foreign
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