Melanie DuBose

The above professionally designed advertisement was designed by Merin Vincent who is the founder of MH Concevoir, a freelance advertising agency. She uses great design qualities throughout this advertisement. My analysis will show in what ways this designer used each of the four basic design principles in her advertisement which together helps make this advertisement successful. These principles are contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. However, color is another important principle I will include in this analysis.

Contrast

Contrast adds visual interest to a page and creates a visual hierarchy between elements. It’s important in any design to get your viewer’s attention and take them on your design journey. You don’t want them skipping their eyes around the page not sure what to read or when to read it. Contrast helps create a visual hierarchy to navigate your viewers appropriately.

Notice above, the contrast between the white and yellow colors of the font against the bright blue background. There is a strong visual contrast you clearly notice. The designer also used the contrast between font weights. The word TRAVEL is much bolder than any other type as well as set in a strong yellow color. The description of the company is in a much smaller lighter font. Using contrast again, the designer placed a design element with “Save up to 25% OFF” in bolder colors that clearly stand out.

Repetition

Repetition unifies and adds visual interest to a design. It can be understood as consistency. The designer uses repetition in an effort to organize, strengthen, and unify all parts of the design. This attracts the viewer and helps them understand a unified message.

You can see above the text is a bold yellow, but the same color is used where it says “Book Now”. You can see a pattern in this design with the text using white, yellow, white, yellow, and white as you go down the advertisement. This repetition provides a sense of unity with its message as well as visual interest in this advertisement.

Alignment

Text or items that are aligned on a page will form a stronger more cohesive unit. It’s important for your design to be clean and easy to read or follow. Nothing should be placed arbitrarily. Visual connection is important for the viewer to understand your design and overall message. Alignment helps create that visual connection that keeps your viewer engaged longer with your design.

You’ll notice the main text is all aligned right which gives this ad a clean and sophisticated look. By aligning the text to the right and giving them one alignment, the information is more organized, has a common boundary connecting elements, and makes it easier for the reader to follow where you want to lead them.

Proximity

The purpose of proximity is to group related items together which helps related items together as a cohesive group rather than bits and pieces scattered in an unorganized way. When you group similar elements or texts into one unit the page becomes more organized, more easily understood, and helps the viewer know where and when to read and finish.

You’ll notice above how the title is one message, the main body another, and the contact information is grouped at the bottom. All group-related texts are separated with negative space. Each group in its proximity is strategically placed to help organize the text making it much easier for the viewer to find and understand the information given.

Color

Color is an important part of any design because it helps get the attention of viewers, unifies the design, and can help deliver a stronger message. Generally, it will enhance the aesthetics of your design. A strategic use of color will create a visual hierarchy that can give emphasis to something you want to give emphasis on in order to convey a stronger message.

The designer used Tertiary colors from the color wheel implementing blue, yellow, and green. However, these colors are mixed with their neighboring colors. For example, the yellow used is not a bright yellow. It’s a combination of yellow and orange which makes it more of a darker yellow. White is not on the color wheel but was used effectively in this design harmonizing between the type and clouds. All colors complement each other very nicely.

Conclusion

Overall, this designed advertisement uses great design qualities by ensuring the four basic principles of design were used effectively.

• Contrast was used through color and font weight to add visual interest to the page and created a visual hierarchy between elements.
• Repetition with the use of colors provided a sense of unity with its message as well as visual interest in this advertisement.
• Alignment was used to make the information more organized, giving the text a common connected boundary, and making it much easier for the reader to follow where the designer wanted to lead them.
• Proximity in this design grouped related texts into one unit which organized the design and message to make it more easily understood and helped the viewer know where and when to read and finish.
• Color was used strategically in this design to capture the viewer’s attention with the bright contrasting colors as well as unify the design delivering a clearer and stronger message.

All of these principles have come together nicely in this design to attract the viewer and convey a clear message which all makes the design more successful.