Emphasis, Movement and Unity

[Mat Helme] You're almost ready to critique your own design, 0:00 but first, we need to cover 3 more key components to proper aesthetics. 0:03 First up, we have emphasis. 0:08 Emphasis means applying intentional focus on one or more objects. 0:11 There are a few ways to do this— 0:15 we have already talked about contrast being a way to achieve emphasis within a composition. 0:18 Some of the other ways to portray emphasis are through size, color, and shape. 0:23 What this does is it creates a main focal point or center of interest with the composition. 0:30 This causes the eye to immediately go there. 0:37 Think of the main focal point as a magnet and your eye is attracted to it. 0:41 So, if we emphasize that focal point, we simply will draw the eye to it. 0:45 We can also emphasize an element or elements through isolation. 0:51 This is when the eye is diverted to the white space of the composition, 0:56 so by leaving an area blank, our eye is automatically attracted to it. 1:00 We could also emphasize through animation or movement, 1:06 which is our next principle—movement. 1:10 Movement is simply changing the place of an object's position. 1:13 Visual movement is achieved through eye movement throughout a composition. 1:18 Visual movement might also be referred to as rhythm— 1:23 how the eye is moved throughout the piece. 1:27 If it consistent? Is it choppy? 1:29 Think of it like music—so if the eye moves smoothly throughout the composition, 1:33 as we've strategically done throug our design and placement of our elements, this causes rhythm. 1:39 Now, how the eye moves through the composition, 1:45 whether it be consistent of choppy, all has to do with rhythm of the visual elements. 1:48 We can also use a technique called implied movement. 1:55 This is when we use sequential, repeating images, blurring, or motion indicators to apply movement. 1:58 So, essentially, we're creating movement within a still object 2:06 through repeating images, blurring, or motion indicators, 2:10 such as wind or, say, if someone was running and we were to put dashed lines behind them. 2:14 Or another good example is a smoke trail behind a plane. 2:21 We already have an understanding that a plane moves, but by adding the smoke, we're implying the movement. 2:25 We can also see this through shape, as well. 2:31 Again, using the plane as the example, if we were to squish the plane down, 2:34 this indicates that it's moving at a fast speed, thus making it more aerodynamic, thus implied movement. 2:39 Lastly, I would like to discuss unity. 2:47 Unity in design means 2 or more elements being joined as a whole. 2:50 This can be done with color, size, shape, texture, and space. 2:55 There is a reason why corporations use the same colors, graphics, fonts throughout their advertising— 2:59 it's used to unite the brand's identity throughout all of their mediums, 3:06 whether it be for print or digital. 3:11 Consistency is key to a design's success. 3:14 Take, for example, Coca Cola—you'll consistently see the same logo, 3:18 the same color palette, and the same usage of those logos and color palettes throughout all of their advertising, 3:22 whether it be on TV, whether it be on print, whether it be in a digital ad, or their website. 3:29 Now, this can be for any of the design principles, as well. 3:35 Say if Coca Cola, again, wanted to create movement within their digital ad— 3:38 now, they would keep that consistent throughout all of their ads. 3:44 Thus making it unified. 3:48 Again, consistency is key to a design's success. 3:51 We are now ready to critique a design, but first, let's take a quick quiz. 3:55