Basic Elements of Graphic Design

If you’re considering buying a premium theme, you must already be aware of the importance of a good design in attracting vistors to your site. Of course it’s true that content is always the most important factor in the success of a website, but an attractive site design will encourage a visitor to stay, explore, and hopefully return.

A premium theme (or indeed a high quality free theme) will give you an excellent starting point for your site design. The theme designer will have already provided you with a well-proportioned layout, but what about those finishing touches, those personalised features to help your site to stand out from the rest?

It’s not necessary to become a graphic designer to enhance your site design, but it is helpful to know some basic elements of graphic design to keep in mind when customising your theme.

Lines

Lines can be long or short, thick or thin, straight or curved, and may travel in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal direction. In CSS, a border may be solid, dashed, dotted or doubled.

Lines may be used as borders to divide areas of the site layout, or to lead the eye in a particular direction.

Shapes

You may wish to use a shape as part of your site logo, or as an element in a content header. Don’t limit yourself to only thinking of two-dimensional circles, squares or triangles; stars, spheres, and polygons can also be excellent motifs in a site design.

Texture

Many websites use a solid coloured background, but a textured image which evokes a particular feeling can create added visual interest when used well.

Colour

Colour can be used to attract attention, to convey information (e.g. traffic lights) and to evoke an emotional response.

When selecting colours for your site design, you could choose:

• Harmonizing/Adjacent Colours, which are very close in shade, but can lose impact when placed next to each other in a design
• Complementary/Contrasting Colours, which have a few shades between them, and can work well if not used directly next to each other
• Clashing Colours, which are opposites on the Colour Wheel, but can work well together if used in moderation

Each colour used will affect our perception of all the other colours in the theme. A lighter colour will look even lighter if placed next to a darker colour, and vice versa.

Further Reading:

• Introduction to the Elements of Design
• Perception of Colour
• Graphic Design 101
• Colour Scheme Generator

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As well as being the first in a series on Pimping your Premium Theme, this post is part of a Graphic Design Group Writing Project organised by Just Creative Design.

The project is currently offering a great selection of prizes, including an Electric Guitar from Mohdrafie.co.uk (WP-Premiums is providing 55 iStockPhoto credits for the Second Prize Winner). Other prize sponsors include Graphic Designer David Airey, Daily Blog Tips and InspirationBit.

10 Responses to “Basic Elements of Graphic Design”

1. Jacob Cass says:

   February 24, 2008 at 12:36 am

   Thanks for the entry. You have some very valid points here, and some nice photos to match. I look forward to the rest of your posts in this series. PS. Writing in your comment box is a bit hard as it is black text on a black background.
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   February 24, 2008 at 12:45 am

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3. PJ says:

   February 24, 2008 at 12:55 am

   Thanks, Jacob! And thanks for drawing that comment text problem to my attention, I’ve fixed it now.
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   February 26, 2008 at 4:17 am

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5. Ronald @ RA Project says:

   March 1, 2008 at 1:14 am

   For someone about to purchase a premium theme, this article is a lot of help.

   Part of my dilemma is what to place where within the theme without making it look too crowded or overdone.
6. PJ says:

   March 3, 2008 at 12:49 am

   Hi Ronald,
   Thanks for your comment. I think I’ll try to tackle your issue in my next Pimp Your Premium Theme article in the next few days.
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10. Graphic Design Melbourne says:

    September 4, 2009 at 12:21 am

    I’m a designer myself and I always try to keep in mind about the use of elements and principles of design. It’s a crucial part of design.