Graphic Design & The Brain

Question: Why do you think the human brain prefers unified visuals and designs rather than random? Your answer should be two to three paragraphs.

The main objective of a designer is to effectively communicate information through visual elements, color, texture, shape, type, and design. The best way is to quickly and effectively communicate information is to establish unity and consistency within the design. The unity and consistency in the design causes a familiarity and allows for the quicker assimilation of information. If there is a structure to the design and the pieces fit well together and there is actually less information process and retain as the message will be received as a whole or complete thought. Unity can be established in many different ways. The most significant methods to establish unity are using correspondence, alignment and flow.

One of the best ways to ensure unity is to use a grid as a framework to establish structure, margins, columns, and proportion. Grids are key for showing consistency in placement on one or multiple pages and are most helpful in keeping text, graphics and photos aligned. Books and websites have been known to use a grid to achieve a fundamental structure and design consistency.

There is many times when designers may look at a piece and make the statement “There is too much going on in this piece…”. This would indicate the design might lack unity or visual flow. The elements in the piece may not be working together to present factual, emotional, psychological, or persuasive information to the viewer. The information is not organizes efficiently or effectively to for the viewer to quickly assimilate and understand what is being communicated. The elements lack visual connection and do not correspond well with one another, leading the viewer from one element to the next. For effective visual communication a designer must present visual elements in a cohesive format that does not detract from the fundamental message with mixed messages, noise tangents, or even distraction.

Resources:
AIO Lecture
Textbook: Graphic Design Solutions: Pg. 107-108
http://www.online.tusc.k12.al.us/tutorials/grdesign/grdesign.htm
http://plaztikjezuz.com/arts%20102%20ebook/Unity.pdf