One negative result of progress in computing power in the last 25 years or more is the idea that all you need to be a designer today is to own a computer! yeah right! That’s why I’m going to buy a stethoscope tomorrow and become a doctor!

In the mid-1980s many people were zealously heralding the “new desktop publishing” technology and how it would lead to fantastic new print and innovative new ideas. (This was before the Internet boom of course).

What has actually happened is that unskilled, untrained and often talentless people armed with a Mac and a printer and some of this “magic” software have done more for landfill sites with their rubbish than they have for the world of great design!

A little harsh? Judgemental maybe? Well … yeah .. maybe it is but then the world of the “artist” has historically always been harsh … It has fallen to those who know what they’re doing to speak up and expose the “Emperor’s Clothing”

A clever ad that used “DTP” for a graphic design company used the slogan, “Using Picasso’s paintbrush doesn’t make you Picasso”. Really what they were saying was that there are common and consistent principles that are true now and will be for the foreseeable future …. It’s not just a “value judgement”; it’s just an acknowledgement that great design has components that need to be there and these “components” are consistent regardless of the medium! So although I started this article looking at the DTP software of the print industry of the 80′s, the argument stands as designs transcends the mediums.

Classic Components:

Think of the design elements as building blocks. These elements will be part of everything we design, furniture and consumer products, magazine and billboards, websites, mobile phones apps, games and so on …

In Design there are many elements but here are 5 basic ones:

1. Colour

Colour is perhaps the element that designers are least aware of, if not educated in. One school of thought is that it shouldn’t be considered until all “designed” and then only added to enhance what already exists. This approach encourages minimalism and de-clutters the message, keeping in clear & simple. As you might expect another school of thought that the colour should be one of the first considerations and there is an entire psychology behind what colour means when it is used to convey a message. People pay BIG money to get this right! But my point? Only experience, education and experimentation will help any artist to develop a sense of strategy and good colour. Your friends next door neighbours nephew who’s a wizard on the computer and had Dreamweaver isn’t necessarily going to know dick about the importance of colour!

2. Direction

Great design layouts, whether in magazines or on the computer screen, usually imbues a sense of movement. Design should take the reader by the hand and guide them across the page/screen using all the element we’re discussing here. The designer should realise that he/she is empowered to lead the viewer to whatever he/she wants them to see and those buying the services of designers should be aware of this too! After all, this kind of design is commercial in birth and is used to generate sales … or more bluntly … to make money!

3. Texture

Provides a textured “surface” feel, touch and in printed matter, so that the selection rate paper, tissue, covered – is a design decision too. Textured Design for broadcast on television or the Internet are only visually, but still key and don’t be fooled .. visual tricks can be used to give a real sense of texture! Why do you think that all those awful adverts selling fabric conditioner have women hugging and rubbing their clothes on their faces!

4. Lines and Line Work

These conditions do not mean “pen and ink or pencil”, but the borders, frames and rules. Horizontal or vertical, thick or thin, regular or irregular, this all helps define and establish the space around the various elements in your pages. So, good linework increases readability and “Directionality” (see # 2) for the project as a whole.

5. Shape

Any contoured, formed or enclosed area is a shape. The most readily used forms are square or rectangular designs, but said there are no hard rules here! Just because it’s familiar doesn’t make it right for your design! I’ll always remember my DTP teacher Jayne who would often say; “Know all the rules so that when you break them you do so for the sake of great design and not just because you haven’t the faintest idea what you’re doing!”

Balancing & Interest

Other considerations in the process of making good design decisions, such as the feeling of space, balance, and emotion and action. There’s also contrast, repetition and the list just goes on! What is important for the inexperienced designers to remember that “less is more.” You can often spot an amateur a mile away as he/she crams every little space available with noisy info or design! Instead of pulling every trick and tool in the bag, a designer must remember the ultimate goal of the designed piece, the ultimate reason of the entire design … I’m not talking about demographics or anything complicated here just the basics .. and the basic point of any good design is this; draw in your viewer/reader so that you can deliver your message.

So the next time you think that you’ll just “slap something together” like some internet marketers would have you believe you can do, just stop for a moment and think about it. Does standing in your garage with a spanner make you a mechanic? Of course it doesn’t! So what makes you think that by having a computer and a design programme that somehow you’re a web designer or graphic designer? Come on- really?

And yes .. in case you’re wondering … even though I’m embarking on this new adventure of Internet Marketing, my background is in graphic, digital and web design as well as video and indie film production so yeah .. you could say I know what I’m talking about. If you have any questions, comments or if you’d be interested in any securing my services then either comment below or contact me using the contact form above.