Principles of Design
📋 What it is
The principles — balance, contrast, rhythm, emphasis, unity — are the RULES for arranging the elements into a strong composition.
🗣️ Coach says
If elements are the ingredients, the principles are the recipe. Balance keeps a piece steady, contrast makes things pop, emphasis points the eye, rhythm creates flow. Use them and your work feels designed, not random.
🧠 Memory hook
Elements = ingredients, principles = recipe. Balance, contrast, emphasis, rhythm.
😂 Giggle
Why did the color wheel feel dizzy?
It kept going around in circles!
😲 Whoa!
Designers use “contrast” on purpose to make the most important thing on a page the first thing your eye finds.
🖼️ Curate a “Design Rules” gallery — choose 4 principles.
You're the curator. Choose 4 pieces, write a placard for each, then open your hall. There’s no single right set — curate with a reason.
0 / 4 chosen
Visual weight spread so nothing feels like it’s tipping over.
Big vs small, light vs dark — makes things stand out.
One clear star the eye finds first — the focal point.
Repeated elements create flow and movement.
Everything feels like it belongs to one piece.
The size relationship between parts feels right.
A repeated motif that ties a design together.
Before you open your hall, check your own work — no grade, just a curator’s eye:
🎉 Your hall is open! Every piece has a placard and a reason. Curate another →
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Look at a poster or app screen and name one principle it uses (contrast? balance?).