What are your 10 rules of graphic design?

I believe that there are no rules in art. Many will disagree with me and may be outraged by such a statement, but as for me, the main thing in art is the message that the author conveys and it does not matter that the created copy does not compare with any canons and rules.

The peculiarity of graphic design and the creation of design, in general, is that it is not always worth following the rules and sometimes you need to close your eyes to them and follow your creative vein. But, this does not always give a positive effect, especially if you create a design for a specific project for a specific order or based on someone’s (customer's) vision and desires. In this case, it would really be advisable to follow some rules that are not binding, they are rather recommendations, following which you are likely to achieve the desired effect.

I have identified 10 rules that, in my humble opinion, are “golden” in the process of creating graphic design, following which you will not leave room for doubts about your competence or abilities.

Recommendation #1: Follow the sequence and remember that more is not always better. Repeat after me: "The main thing is not to overdo it. Less is more." In no case do I urge you to immerse yourself in the world of minimalism as much as possible, but it is important to understand that the basis of a successful final design solution is understanding your ideas for an ordinary contemplator. Try to simplify the idea, leaving the main elements, stick to one color palette (no more than 5 colors, preferably 2-3 colors), use one font family, make sure everything looks harmonious.

Recommendation #2: What did I say about color there? Oh yes, no more than 5 colors, a uniform color palette... This is all good, but an experienced graphic designer should not ignore colors, given that it is the colors that make us experience certain emotions from contemplating them, even if you do not notice it. There is even a whole science studying colors, their properties and the effect of color on a person, but more about that some other time. I agree that the basis of each graphic design is a black and white visual, but if you want to draw a healthy tree, its leaves are green, you want the sun - yellow, ripe strawberries - red. You can play with shades by combining seemingly incompatible colors and choose colors that complement each other, but in no case do not ignore them.

Recommendation #3: Do not get carried away by abstraction. As in the recommendation with color, if something has a round shape, do not give it angularities. And only for the simple reason that in the end, the contemplator/user/client/buyer will wonder why the lamp is square on the website, but round one weighs over his head.

Recommendation #4: Provide a legible design. There is a huge mass of fonts for both web design and print design, but as a creator, you first need to think about what is written is clear and legible to read, and after that about the visual part. Not even all fonts in Word are suitable for understanding, let alone the abundance of obscure and difficult to read fonts that are available to designers. My advice to you is if you want to stand out with a font, use color, but the shape and size should be aimed at satisfying the target audience in obtaining information in an accessible format.

Recommendation #5: If you ask me, then for me one of the main criteria of quality is the quality... of images. I think I’m not the only one, and therefore I strongly, strongly recommend that you avoid raster-based images. Why? Because whenever you play with the size of raster graphics, it ends with pixelation, which makes all your work visually cheap.

Recommendation #6: Use space well. Too much text and lack of any graphic elements? Not at once. Solid graphic elements and lack of text? I do not think so. I visited hundreds of sites and more than the abundance of text/description/explanation and other things, their complete absence annoys me. I went to the site with teapots, but I can not choose a teapot, because the site does not have any teapots characteristics! Well, or at least the names of it, so I can google? No? Alright, just... just use the space properly.

Recommendation #7: Returning to the font and in continuation to the previous recommendation, I want to note that size matters. And this applies to a lot: image size, font size, logo size. Pay attention to size, for example, to convey what is important with the font size. Initially, you have to try hard to harmonize everything, but the experience is a great thing and over time you will have a “feeling” when a particular graphic element has to be bigger or smaller.

Recommendation #8: Do not let your own design be a mess and please maintain alignment. Otherwise, your design will look untidy and extremely unprofessional, and we are here to prevent this, right? And besides, for proper alignment, you practically do not need any skills, the main thing is to select a line somewhere on your page and try to align the graphics and text with it. Just like a cave drawing.

Recommendation #9: I almost forgot about another important recommendation - be careful with the effects. Most modern programs for creating graphic design have in their arsenal a lot of filters and effects that can be used in the process, but again, you need to know and understand where this is the middle ground. It’s good when an effect is emphasized by an element and it looks better, but you shouldn’t get carried away, otherwise, there is a chance to ruin everything. It’s simple, right? Do not get carried away or combine design with effects.

Recommendation #10: Forget everything that I advised you here and follow your ideas/heart/ inspiration, break the rules, create, play with colors, light, and shapes, but do not forget about harmony with yourself, the customer and your project.