Emphasis & contrast | Part I

Effective use of emphasis and contrast helps to establish a visual hierarchy, and draws the viewer's eye to what's important in your work. Watch this video for more information:

Emphasis & contrast | Part II

In the next video, Bob Price, an art and animation director with over 20 years of industry experience, will explain how he uses emphasis and contrast in his work.

Visual balance | Part I

Mastering visual balance helps to build a visual hierarchy with pleasing symmetrical and asymmetrical elements. This principle can influence how your audience absorbs the information you are presenting.

Visual balance | Part I

Mastering visual balance helps to build a visual hierarchy with pleasing symmetrical and asymmetrical elements. This principle can influence how your audience absorbs the information you are presenting.

Visual balance | Part II

In the next video, Tyrone Williams, an expert photographer and visual artist, will explain how he uses balance in his work.

Proportion | Part I

Proportion governs the relationship between elements in design, and helps to create an equilibrium that positively impacts the user experience. Once a design is proportional, you can play around with elements like scale and color to change how the viewer/user perceives your work.

Proportion | Part II

In the next video, Anita Mai-Goulding, an expert experience designer and content manager with a decade of experience, explains how she uses proportion in her work.

Aligning design | Part I

Effective use of alignment and proximity creates designs that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional. These concepts allow your audience to consume complex designs easily by visually grouping related elements together.

Aligning design | Part II

In the next video, Nikki Hayes, a graphic designer with over 14 years of professional experience, tells us how she uses alignment and proximity in her designs.

Color | Part I

Color is a powerful tool for conveying meaning and feeling in your work. Mastering color theory means being able to determine how the relationship between different colors affect your designs.

Color | Part II

In the next video, expert designer Andrea Caporale talks about how he uses the principles of color theory in his professional projects.

Rule of thirds | Part I

The rule of thirds is related to the composition of a design. Mastering the rule of thirds allows you to strategically place important elements at the natural focal points within an image, thus drawing the viewer's attention to them.

Rule of thirds | Part II

In the next video, David Pugh, a graphic designer with over 15 years of experience, explains how he uses the rule of thirds in his professional projects.

Repetition | Part I

Using repeated motifs and patterns helps to create a sense of cohesion throughout your design. You can also use repetition to establish themes in your work, and build visual associations for your viewer that keep them orientated.

Repetition | Part II

Now we will hear from Karishma Kusurkar, a multi-disciplinary designer with over 10 years of experience, about how she uses repetition to enhance her professional projects.

Consistent design | Part I

Creating consistency is a deliberate and complex process that puts the user experience at the heart of your design. By creating a consistent design, you help to build trust between your user and your product.

Consistent design | Part II

Now we will hear from Steven Shaw, an expert experience designer, about how he uses consistent design to enhance his professional projects.

“I love using Photoshop with my students and this project is an excellent way to experiment with a whole range of design principles, including contrast and emphasis.” - Ross Wallis

Here is a set of images you can assign and use with a team member.

This resource was created by Joe Dockery, an Adobe Education Leader (AEL) and digital arts teacher. The resource features a great lesson on methods for creating emphasis and contrast using Adobe Photoshop.

Project inspiration | Poster project

For some inspiration, here is a great project by multimedia teacher Andrew On Yi Lai. This video provides you with a very short overview, but you can explore the full resource for everything you need to create a similar lesson in your own classroom.

Visualizing Idioms project inspiration

Here is another great classroom project created by educator and educational technologist Fred Benitez.

“Ensuring my students understand the design principles of visual proportion and hierarchy are vital to creating good design. This project allows students to create graphics which have impact and convey clear messages.” - Fred Benitez

Project inspiration | Zoetrope animation project

Here is another great classroom project by Adobe Education Leader (AEL) and TAFE Queensland’s Training Liaison Officer Kev Lavery.

“Explaining the importance of proximity and alignment in this project is a great way to introduce these design principles. Zoetropes are always an engaging introduction to design and movement.“ - Kev Lavery

A Brief Lesson on Color Theory

This motion piece works as an educational video, taking the viewer

through the different layers of color theory from basic color temperature

to color relationships. The objective of this piece is to introduce, or refresh the

viewer's knowledge on color in a visual and exciting way.

Project inspiration | Social video project

Here is another great project by teacher and Adobe Education Leader (AEL) Matthijs Clasener.

“In this project I always ask my students to really think about their use of colour and the impact this will have on the audience. Color makes sure that the project stands out scrolling through all the videos on your social channels.” - Matthijs Clasener

Project inspiration | Public service announcement (PSA) video project

Here is another great classroom project created by digital multimedia and computer science teacher Jessica Campbell.

“In this project the key objective is to develop creativity and communication skills whilst thinking critically about an issue that is important to them. The Rule of Thirds is an important part of what I teach my students before we start creating any design work. It helps guide the viewer's attention to what we want the focal point of the video to be, allowing us to tell our story.” - Jessica Campbell

Project inspiration | Jazz animation project

Here is another great project by digital arts instructor and visual artist Ashley Stroud.

“Using design principles like color, movement, pattern and shapes is a great starting point for students to use in this project to reflect repeated rhythms and motifs in music.” - Ashley Stroud