Basic Visual Design Principles
Karen Ferneding
C&I 335
What is Visual Literacy?
Educational Purposes:
• Critical Thinking
- Heightened awareness of hypermediated visual culture (media literacy)
• Communication
- Support effective teaching and learning
Learning & Instruction
• Connection between visual imagery, sound,
memory & perception
• Theories about how memory works
– Information processing theory
– Dual-coding theory
Information Processing Theory
Sensory &
Working
Visual & Auditory
Short Term Memory
Selecting
Organizing
Visual & Language
Long Term Memory
Integration
Dual-Coding Theory
• Separate memory systems for different
types of information
– Verbal: language systems (auditory/speech)
– Imaginal: (picture, sound, taste, nonverbal
thoughts & imagination)
Concrete (cat) vs. Abstract ideas/emotions
(fickle) – which is easiest to remember?
Learning & Instruction
• Design visuals to support cognitive processes
of selection, organization & integration
• Choose colors, typefaces & visual symbols
• Use visual design principles of figure/ground,
hierarchy & gestalt
Three Principles
1. Hierarchy: Helping learners organize
information
2. Figure/Ground: Helping learners select
important information
3. Gestalt: Helping learners integrate
information
Principles
of
Visual
Design
Principles of Perception
& Visual Design
• Hierarchy: The perception principle that
communicates the relative importance of
elements in a display
– Chunking groups of related information using visual cues
– Imaginary vertical, horizontal & diagonal planes
– Visually stratify layers of information
Types of Symbols
Rule of Thirds
Graphs & Visualization of Data
Napoleon’s March on Moscow (1812-1813)
Charles Joseph Minard
Principles of Perception
&Visual Design
• Figure/Ground: The perception principle
that describes how the mind seeks figure and
ground distinctions
– Figure: Information that stands out
– Ground: Information that recedes or supports
Figure
Ground
Labyrinths
• Labyrinths, usually in the form
of a circle, have a meandering
but purposeful path, from the
edge to the center and back
out again, large enough to be
walked into.
• Each has only one path, and
once we make the choice to
enter it, the path becomes a
metaphor for our journey
through life.
Labyrinths
Labyrinths, usually in the form of a circle,
have a meandering but purposeful path, from
the edge to the center and back out again,
large enough to be walked into. Each has
only one path, and once we make the choice
to enter it, the path becomes a metaphor for
our journey through life.
Labyrinths
Labyrinths, usually in the form of a circle,
have a meandering but purposeful path, from
the edge to the center and back out again,
large enough to be walked into. Each has
only one path, and once we make the choice
to enter it, the path becomes a metaphor for
our journey through life.
Principles of Perception
& Visual Design
• Gestalt:The whole (a total learning
environment) is greater than the sum of its
parts (successful design and integration of
all visual/instructional elements)
– A/symmetry, balance, proximity, similarity,
contrast & contiguity
– Closure: mind’s tendency to seek completion
Contrast and Proximity
Hare
CONtrast
Hare
Three Types of Balance
Grey scale: Black, grey, white
Monochromatic: different tints (added white) or shades (added
black) of same color
Complementary: directly opposite on color wheel (e.g. redgreen, yellow,-violet, orange-blue)
Primary: red, blue, yellow
Secondary: purple, green, orange
• Be inspired by art and nature
• Explore color palettes of templates
• Use psychological associations (color and
mood/meaning)
– Red: passion, bloodshed, power, zeal
– Blue: serenity, tranquility
– Green: growth, hope, disease, terror
Color Contrast and Legibility
Example of a Color Schema
Typeface as an Expressive Form
Process of Visual Design
(Unique Thematic Visual Schema)
• Elements: selection and assemblage of
text/visual elements
• Pattern: determine underlying pattern
(harmony or gestalt) for consistency
• Arrangement: how individual elements
arranged within the underlying pattern
Eport Visual Schema
Theme -- idea/topic
Metaphor – symbol/simile
Icon – image/sign
Telling a Story
Imaging Technology
Professional Electronic Portfolio
Jenny Sweetwater
CV Transcripts Philosophy Teaching Standards Educational Links
Patterns
Professional
Electronic
portfolio
CV
Transcripts
Philosophy
Teaching
Standards
Educational Links
Jennifer Sweetwater
Jenny Sweetwater
Professional Electronic Portfolio
CV
Transcripts
Teaching Standards
Philosophy Statement
Educational Links
EPortfolio Examples
• http://students.ed.uiuc.edu/jlin/ePort/homepage.ht
ml
• http://students.ed.uiuc.edu/kariott/eport/index.htm
http://students.ed.uiuc.edu/blackstn/eport/index.htm
http://students.ed.uiuc.edu/jbruton/eport/eporthomep
age.htm
• http://students.ed.uiuc.edu/rklawson/eport
Bibliography
• Lohr, Linda (2003). Creating Graphics for Learning
and Performance. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill
Prentice Hall.
• Smaldino, S. E., Russell, J. D., Heinich, R. &
Molenda, M. (2005). Instructional Technology and
Media for Learning. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill
Prentice Hall.