Point is the most basic element of visual design. Points have position and size as well as focus weight... eg, a hard red point or a soft defocused point. Point is excellent to create visual emphasis or a focus point, and easily shows the Gestalt principle of Closure, where points can be combined with other points to indicate grouping, lines or shapes.

• A point is an element that has position, but no extension.
• It is a single mark in space with a precise, but limited, location.
• Alone it can provide a powerful relation between negative and positive space, but when grouped with other points the Gestalt grouping principal of closure tends to kick in and the brain compulsively connects the points together. The images to the right imply a line and a triangle for example.
• Line or form is a natural result of multiple points in space.

---------Point -----_----Multiple points in space ----3 point closure

Line is any mark connecting two points. Many different types of lines appear everywhere. Look around you and you'll see lines that are straight, curved, squiggly, thin, fat, and dotted. Much less basic than point, line is a major element of design. Line can be either static or dynamic, horz, vertical, diagonal/angled, straight or curved, short or long, thick or thin, soft or hard, explicit or implied, or any number of other things. Lines can be open or closed and serve different design functions like gesture, contour, direction, movement, perspective and when combined with other lines... value, texture, pattern, density, shape, form etc

Lines can be used to:

• Lines can be long or short, straight or curved.
• Lines can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal.
• Lines in graphic design can be solid, dashed, thick, thin, or of variable width.
• Lines can create patterns.
• Lines can create texture.
• Lines can create movement.
• Lines can create rhythm.
• Lines can convey an emotional effect.
  
• Lines can stand alone to divide or unite elements on a page.
• Lines can denote direction of movement (as in diagonal lines and arrows) or provide an anchor to hold elements on a page (such as lines at the top, bottom, or sides of a page).
• You can use lines in conjunction with other elements of your design. One well-known example, the AT&T logo, is a pattern of thick and thin lines arranged in a circular shape.

Anything that has height and width has shape. Unusual shapes can be used to attract attention.

There are basically three types of shapes:

1. Geometric shapes, such as triangles, squares, rectangles, and circles, are regular and structured. These shapes work very well as building blocks for graphic design.
2. Natural shapes, such as animals, plants, and humans, are irregular and fluid.
3. Abstracted shapes, such as icons, stylized figures, and graphic illustrations, are simplified versions of natural shapes.

Shapes can be used to:

• Crop a photo in an interesting way, such as in an oval.
  
• Symbolize an idea.
  
• Make a block of text more interesting by setting the text into a shape.
  
• Create a new format.
  
• Highlight information. You could add a screened or tinted shape to highlight important information.

Geometric Shapes

Natural Shapes

Abstracted Shapes

The Color Wheel

Warm and cool colors
The color circle can be divided into warm and cool colors.

Warm colors are vivid and energetic, and tend to advance in space.

Cool colors give an impression of calm, and create a soothing impression.

White, black and gray are considered to be neutral.

Color can be used to:

• Highlight important elements such as headlines and subheads.
  
• Attract the eye.
  
• Signal the reader where to look first.
  
• Create an image or a mood.
  
• Tie a layout together.
  
• Organize.
  
• Group elements together or isolate them.
  
• Provoke emotion.
  
• Colour has temperature – reds and oranges feel warm like the sun or desert. Cooler colors like blues and greens go more with water and ice.

The element of value or tone is, in its simplest form, defined as the intensity of lightness or darkness in anything that is visible. Think in terms of the spectrum from black to white and the many shades of gray in between. Each shade on this spectrum has a value, from the very lightest to the very darkest. Value separates, suggests mood, adds drama, and creates the illusion of depth.

• value/tone is light and dark. Light reveals, shows the world to us, and shadow gives meaning to the things we see.
  
• value/tone can give solidity, volume and weight to an image
  
• value/tone gives the impression of distance. Darker tones come forward and lighter tones go back into the image.
  
• value/tone can give emotion to an image. Highly contrasting tones give life and energy, softer tones give a gentle mood.
  
• value/tone can create rhythm, with the eyes jumping from one dark tone to another.
  
• value/tone is the property of colour. Yellow is light, blue is dark.
  
• value/tone in sculpture is the way it catches the light, so that sharp changes are made by deep corners, and gentle ones by smooth gradual changes.
• Lead the eye across a page, such as running a dark to light graded area in a background.
  
  • Create a pattern.
    
  • Give the illusion of volume and depth by adding shading to an area.
    
  • Create an image of lightness or darkness.
    
  • Make a layout dramatic with large areas of dark or light shading.
    
  • Emphasize an element.
    
  • Make objects appear to be in front of or behind each other.

Texture can be used to:

• TEXTURE is the part of the surface that can be felt or seen.
  
• TEXTURE is concerned with touch, how something feels.
  
• TEXTURE can be rough, smooth, spiky, soft, velvety, regular or irregular.
  
• TEXTURE can suggest emotions by linking with the memory of how things feel.
  
• TEXTURE can be real, the surface is actually rough or smooth or it can be suggested by the way the surface is treated.
• Give a printed publication, presentation, or web page a mood or personality.
  
• Create contrast for interest.
  
• Fool the eye.
  
• Provoke emotions.
  
• Create a feeling of richness and depth.

image source: http://www.cloaks.deviantart.com

• DIRECTION is about how our eyes move around the artwork.
  
• DIRECTION can be horizontal, vertical, curved, sloped or straight.
  
• DIRECTION can suggest movement by the speed at which it is changed.
  
• DIRECTION can be balanced to give stability or imbalanced to give tension
  
• DIRECTION can have an emotional impact. Using rapid changes in direction or use of diagonals, can cause anxiety while horizontals and verticals bring about calm.

Size or mass is how large or small something is. Size is very important in making a layout functional, attractive, and organized. It shows what is most important, attracts attention, and helps to fit the layout together. Mass equals size. Each piece you create has a physical mass. Additionally, each element within the design (graphics, photos, lines, text blocks) have their own mass relative to the whole piece.

Size or Mass can be used to:

• Show which element is the most important by making it the largest.
  
• Make all elements easy to see.
  
• Attract attention.
  
• Contrast two elements to create interest.
  
• Establish a consistent look throughout a printed publication or web page.

Space refers to the lack of mass or often referred to as whitespace. When we say whitespace we don't mean that the area actually has to be white, it can be any color, it is just void of stuff! Space is the distance or area between or around things. Space separates or unifies, highlights, and gives the eye a visual rest. Feel free to use space in your design to create simplicity. View the examples to the right. Notice that the third one is the most effective and uses the most space or white space in the overall design.

Space can be used to:

• Give the eye a visual rest.
  
• Create ties between elements.
  
• Highlight an element.
  
• Put a lot of white space around something important to call attention to it.
  
• Make a layout easy to follow.
  
• Make type as legible as possible.

full color bleed - no white space

white space used in the border

The third uses the creative and unpredictable edge build.
The asymmetry symbolizes daring and innovation.

Typography is the art of arranging typefaces, selecting style, line spacing, layout and design as a means of solidifying language. There are many facets to typography, and only a brief investigation will be started here based around some common terms.

• Baseline: The line on which all letters rest.
  
• Beardline: The line reached by the descenders of lowercase letters.
  
• Bowl: The round or elliptical parts of a letterform.
  
• Cap line: The line reached by the top of uppercase letters.
  
• Counter: The white space enclosed by a letterform, whether completely or partially.
  
• Extenders: Extenders are the parts of letters that extend either below the baseline (descenders) or above the midline (ascenders).
  
• Midline: The top of lowercase letters such as a, c, e and the top of the torso of lowercase letters such as b, d.
  
• Serif: A stroke added to either the beginning or end of one of the main strokes of a letter.
  
• Stem: The main stroke of a letter that is generally straight and not part of a bowl.
  
• Topline: The line reached by the ascenders of lowercase letters.
  
• X-height: The distance between the baseline and midline of an alphabet. The x-height is usually the height of the unextended lowercase letters.