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You can’t just flip a switch and create beautiful designs on a whim. Like learning to walk before you run, there are certain fundamentals you’ve got to learn first.
The problem is that if you don’t have the time or inclination to take a design course, resources are pretty scarce. Sure you can rely on Canva templates, but even then you need to know how to use them properly.
This is why we've put together this post. It’s for you if you’ve ever wondered what goes into good design. You'll find it handy whether you're a complete amateur or a budding designer—so let's get stuck in.
What are design principles?
Design principles are guidelines to follow if you want to create effective visuals, from oil paintings and blog graphics to eye-catching social media posts.
Think of design as carpentry and these principles as your toolbox. You can use them to help you during the design process, and unlike hammers, nails and screwdrivers, they can exist entirely inside your head.
These tools give you a better understanding—and appreciation—of what goes into the designs we see every day. As you become acquainted with them, you’ll start to see what does and doesn’t work (and why), as well as how you can apply these principles to your own creative work.
What is "good design"?
We’re told that piece of art is subjective. For the most part, that’s true. But if you’ve ever seen an unintelligible parking sign or a website from the early days of the web, you’ll know there’s definitely such a thing as bad design.
As Jared Spool, an expert on design and usability, says, “good design, when it’s done well, becomes invisible. It’s only when it’s done poorly that we notice it.” This is why good design is tricky to define.
Luckily for us, in the late 1970s, an influential designer named Dieter Rams saw this problem. In response, he asked himself what constituted good design and came up with his own list of ten principles.
Little did he know, they would go on to inspire generations of designers, including Johnny Ive, the mastermind behind Apple’s most famous products.
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Source
The information found on this page is from an article written by Ian Loew called “The 12 Principles of Design & How to Apply Them”. The author has been contacted for permission to use the article in this resource.