OUGD404: Study Task 5 - Canons

Balance
Visual balance comes from arranging elements on the page so that no one section is heavier than the other.

Proximity / Unity
In design, proximity or closeness creates a bond between elements on a page. 
How close together or far apart elements are placed suggests a relationship (or lack of) between what are otherwise disparate parts. 
Unity is also achieved by using a third element to connect distant parts.

Alignment
Alignment brings order to chaos. How you align type and graphics on a page and in relation to each other can make your layout easier or more difficult to read, foster familiarity, and/or bring excitement to a stale design.

Repetition / Consistency
Repeating design elements and consistent use of type and graphics styles within a document shows a reader where to go and helps them navigate your designs and layouts safely. Ensure that your document utilises the principles of repetition, consistency, and unity in page design.

Fibonacci & Golden Ratio
Fibonacci sequence ratio 8:13 links to Golden section. This sequence is not only evident within design but also nature.

Canons

These are essentially principles of page layout design that are used to measure and describe proportions, margins and print area as shown within the examples below.

Van De Graaf

Tschichold Golden Canon

Tschichold Octavo

Rules of Graphic Design

One rule that should never be overlooked is kerning, which is the adjustment of space between characters, and is absolutely key when it comes to creating legible type design pieces.

Readability or legibility shouldn't be disregarded for the sake of aesthetics within design work, such as text and background colour not contrasting enough to a point of where the text is barely legible either on screen or print.

Hierarchy is essential for any editorial work or even design work in general and by this I mean making the more important parts of a block of text larger, a different colour or a different font etc. This helps to highlight the importance of particular words or sentences.

Having white space within work isn't always a bad thing and should be used to the designers advantage, simply because of how it can give the text and pictures space to breath and avoids having an overcrowded piece. It can also be used to isolate more important aspects of a design.

Using grids within work, especially editorial design, allows for consistency and structure within the piece and ensures that every page has a set layout as opposed to it being randomly organised onto the page.

Correct alignment of text within any piece of design work is something that should always be considered as it will create consistency throughout the work but also allows the text to flow smoothly rather than it feeling too varied and uneven.