Designers use many organizing principles to create and compose their design work. Using these principles as guidelines, designers are able to create designs that look right, convey the intended message, stylish and aesthetically pleasing. The most common principles used by designers include:
1. Proportion: Proportion describes how one part of a design relates or fits to the size and scale of the other parts of a design. A design that shows good proportion usually always fit well together.
Arrangement of parts can affect how people feel about a design. It can enhance or distract from the feeling about a design.
2. Balance: Balance describes how design elements are arranged to create a visual sense of stability or equilibrium. Balance can be achieved in design in many ways by use of colours, lines, shapes, forms etc. The most common arrangements of balance are symmetrical, asymmetrical and radial. Balance can be arranged in a horizontally, radial or vertically format.
3. Rhythm: Rhythm in design tends to create an appearance of movement forming a sense of pattern. It is easy to create rhythm or pattern by repeating shapes and forms. Rhythm can also be created by repeating lines, texture, colours and other visual design elements.
4. Emphasis: This is used in design to create a centre of interest in design – calling for attention, focal point, to emphasize or to show differences. This is also referred to as contrast. Emphasis can be achieved by colour contrast, shape, texture etc.
5. Unity: In unity, all parts tend to fit together nicely and they look as if they belong together. Line, colour, shape, texture all appeared to suit each other and are complementary.
