9 Essential Elements of Design

Design plays a key role in any web design project. There are some essential elements of design like space, line, shape, form, texture, and color that every designer must know. These elements of design are very important for successful web design project. Here's the following:

1. Lines and line-work

These terms do not refer to pen-and-ink or pencil sketches, but to borders, frames and rules. Horizontal or vertical, thick or thin, regular or irregular, they help define and delimit spaces around various elements on your pages. Good line-work increases both the readability and "directionality" of the design as a whole.

2. Shape

Any enclosed area, form or contour in your design is a shape. Shapes in most layouts are square or rectangular, but nothing says they must be, and circles are useful, too. Importantly, a shape automatically creates a negative space around it. You can also use images to create other, regular or irregular shapes.

3. Texture

There are two types of texture; Tactile, or visual texture, and texture which you can detect with your five senses. Texture like grass sheets on a wall, or white pebbles embedded in a concrete wall gives a three dimensional look to the wall and a few of shades of its colors. Texture is the roughness of the surface of a material. Textures on layouts meant for broadcast or the Internet are visual only, but still key.

4. Color

Color is probably the element that most designers are at least acutely aware of, if not schooled in. However, color is not required in many designs, and some art educators suggest creating designs without any color first. The artist, in this view, should then add only as much color as needed to enhance or complete the design. Another school of thought holds that color should be one of the first elements determined. Experience and experimentation will help every artist develop a good color sense and strategy.

5. Direction

Effectively designed layouts, in magazines or on your computer screen, usually have a sense of motion. A good design will lead the reader's eyes through the design deliberately, using color changes, shapes, line work and copy placement direct viewers' attention to what the designer wants them to see.

6. Space

Space is the area provided for a particular purpose. It may have two dimensions (length and width).

7. Form

Form may be created by the forming of two or more shapes. It may be enhanced by tone, texture and color. Form is considered three-dimensional showing height, width and depth. It can be illustrated or constructed.

8. Value

Value helps with Form. It gives objects depth and perception. Value is also referred to as tone. Basically shading.

9. Type

Type is the use of letterform to add a message that would be otherwise challenging to create through the other elements.

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