Hierarchy in design is a lot like hierarchy in culture, as both are built on very similar ideas. At the top of a hierarchical scale, we have the most important things, the kings. These elements are to be ‘dressed’ the most extravagantly and command the most attention.
Check out these examples from A2 Magazine that showcase three different ways to signal your title/heading’s importance, from the more subtle examples right through to the big and bold examples. Whatever your choice of avenue, be sure that consumers can instantly point to the title without thinking.
The next tier of hierarchy we have the noblemen, the elements that are still important, but that don’t command quite as much attention as the kings. These are things like subheadings, pull quotes, additional information. Make sure to keep these eye-catching and noticeable, but not anywhere near as noticeable as your headings.
Check out this save the date card by Southern Fried Paper. Notice how the date (a very important part of a save the date card) is made larger, bolder and more noticeable than the type below it. And yet it doesn’t outshine the obvious “Audrey and Grant” title.
And on the final rung of the hierarchical scale are the peasants, the humble elements of your design that are given the least amount of visual pizazz, usually things like body copy, less important information, links, etc.
Have a look at this poster for The Night Market by Mary Galloway. You can easily point out the title, the subheading/date, and then down the bottom, the smallest type of additional information that isn’t as crucial to the communication.
Of course, hierarchy isn’t just limited to type. Images also have hierarchy, think back a little to when we talked about scale. The larger, more colourful, or more central elements of your image are going to have a higher hierarchy than those smaller, duller, less detailed elements.