Graphic design basics: contrast, alignment and hierarchy

Most people judge a design in a second: it looks clear and professional, or it looks crowded and amateur. The difference rarely comes from expensive software or artistic talent. It comes from a small set of principles that designers apply consistently. Robin Williams summarised four of them, contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity, in a book that has introduced generations of beginners to design. This article explains them with examples relevant to flyers, social media posts and slides.

Contrast

If two elements are not the same, make them clearly different. A heading that is only slightly larger than the body text looks like a mistake; a heading that is much larger and bolder looks intentional. Contrast can come from size, weight, colour or space. It is also essential for readability: text needs enough contrast with its background to be read easily, especially on phone screens.

Repetition

Repeat colours, fonts, shapes and spacing throughout a design or a set of designs. Repetition creates unity and makes a brand recognisable: when every post uses the same two typefaces and the same colour palette, followers recognise the source before reading the name. Beginners often use too many fonts and colours; two typefaces and a limited palette are usually enough.

Alignment

Every element should have a visual connection with something else on the page. Placing items randomly, or centring everything by default, produces a weak layout. Choosing a strong edge, for example aligning all text to the left margin, creates order immediately. Grids help: designers divide the space into columns and place elements along them.

Proximity

Items that belong together should be close together; unrelated items should be separated. On a flyer, the date, time and venue form one group, and the contact details form another. Grouping reduces the number of separate things the eye must process and makes the information easier to scan.

Visual hierarchy

Hierarchy is the order in which the eye reads a design. Decide what the viewer must see first, second and third, and use size, weight, colour and position to enforce that order. For an event flyer this is usually the event name, then the date and place, then the details and the call to action. If everything is emphasised, nothing is.

Typography and colour

Typography carries much of a design. Choose readable typefaces, keep body text large enough for phone screens, and use line spacing generous enough that lines do not crowd each other. Ellen Lupton's guidance is a good starting point: pair typefaces that contrast clearly, for example a strong heading face with a simple body face, rather than two similar ones.

For colour, start with one main colour, one accent and neutrals such as white, grey or a dark tone. Check that text contrasts strongly with its background. Accessibility guidelines recommend a minimum contrast ratio for body text so that people with low vision can read it, and free online checkers make this easy to test.

A quick checklist

• Is the most important message the most prominent?
• Are there no more than two typefaces?
• Does every element align to something?
• Are related items grouped, with clear space between groups?
• Can the text be read easily on a phone?