Design is all around us, from websites we use to apps we engage with and packaging we touch on a daily basis. Each design decision impacts the manner in which we get a message, and two essentials at the heart of good design are color and typography.
These principles might be intimidating to learn for non-designers or something best left to the professionals. The truth is, however, that grasping the basics of typography and color theory can allow you to create more sophisticated, effective designs for your website, documents, presentations, or social media posts.
Whether you’re a business owner, content creator, or simply someone who wants their designs to be more visually appealing, this guide will break down the basics. By the time you’re done reading, you’ll be making smarter design choices and communicating your message more effectively with your visuals.
Typography Basics
Typography is more than just selecting a font. It’s about ensuring the way text looks enhances the message you’re trying to convey while guiding the viewer’s eye naturally.
Font Selection
The first rule of typography is readability. Your font should be easy to read across different devices and formats. Avoid overly decorative fonts or ones with complex designs for large chunks of text.
Why does the choice of font matter?
- Readability ensures that your readers don’t need to exert effort to read your message. Fonts like Arial, Helvetica, and Times New Roman are timeless classics since they’re readable and versatile.
- Personality enables you to convey the tone and feeling of your message. For example, sans-serif fonts like Montserrat are contemporary and stylish, while serif fonts like Garamond are classic and sophisticated.
Pro Tip: Don’t use more than 2–3 fonts in your design to maintain visual consistency.
Font Pairing
When using more than one font, ensure they work together, not against each other. A traditional pairing is using a serif font for headings and a sans-serif font for body text. This achieves balance and makes your text easy on the eyes.
Example Pairings:
- Playfair Display (Serif) + Lato (Sans-Serif)
- Merriweather (Serif) + Open Sans (Sans-Serif)
- Montserrat + Roboto
You can experiment with font pairing tools like Google Fonts or Fontjoy to find great combinations.
Hierarchy
Ever noticed how your eyes naturally go to a title first, then to smaller text in order of importance? That’s thanks to hierarchy, a principle that guides readers through content in a logical and structured way.
How to establish hierarchy in typography:
- Font size: Use larger fonts for titles and smaller fonts for body text.
- Font weight: Bold headings so they stand out.
- Spacing: Give important elements more white space to differentiate them from the rest of the content.
Color Theory Basics
The use of color has the power to completely transform a design. By understanding a few foundational principles of color theory, you’ll be able to create designs that are both aesthetically pleasing and emotionally engaging.
Understanding the Color Wheel
The color wheel is your best friend in color design. It consists of primary colors (red, yellow, blue), secondary colors (orange, green, purple), and tertiary colors (mixtures of primary and secondary).
Color Harmony:
- Complementary Colors: Colors across from each other on the wheel (e.g., blue and orange) that create an active and striking contrast for attention-grabbing designs.
- Analogous Colors: Colors next to each other (e.g., blue, teal, green) that provide a soothing feeling.
- Triadic Colors: Colors evenly spaced around the wheel (e.g., red, blue, yellow) that create a well-balanced but active palette.
Color Psychology
Colors evoke feelings, so they’re an important part of getting your message across. Here’s what some common colors mean in western culture:
- Red: Passion, energy, urgency (used a lot in sale advertisements).
- Blue: Professionalism, trust, calm (favorite in corporate and tech branding).
- Yellow: Optimism, warmth, attention-grabber (great for calls to action and call-outs).
- Green: Growth, health, calm (ideal for environmental or health-based projects).
- Black: Power, elegance, sophistication (luxury branding staple).
When choosing project colors, think of the emotion you want your audience to feel and build your palette from there.
Creating Harmonious Color Palettes
A color palette holds a design together. Use tools like Adobe Color, Coolors, or Canva’s palette generator to quickly generate harmonious schemes.
Here is a simple process for building a palette:
- Start with one dominant color for the general mood of your design.
- Add a secondary color for balance.
- Modify with one or two accent colors for highlights or distinctive elements.
Use a 60-30-10 rule in your design:
- 60% dominant color
- 30% secondary color
- 10% accent color
Practical Tips and Tools
Tips for Typography and Color Success
- Always test your designs on different devices to see if they are readable and aesthetically consistent.
- Make contrast work for you. Light text on a dark background or vice versa makes text easier to read.
- Don’t cram your designs. Space is your friend!
Helpful Tools for Non-Designers
- Canva: Simple to use for creating social media graphics, presentations, and more.
- Google Fonts: Offers a large variety of free fonts for any design project.
- Coolors: Practical color palette generator to gain inspiration for your designs.
- Adobe Color: For creating and experimenting with advanced palettes.
Examples of Good and Bad Design
Good Design Example:
Imagine a homepage for a modern fitness brand:
- Fonts Used: A clean sans-serif for headings (e.g., Montserrat) and an easy-to-read body font (e.g., Open Sans).
- Colors Used: A bold yet complementary navy blue, white, and lime green to evoke energy and trust.
Bad Design Example:
Look at a poster for a local event:
- Fonts Used: Four different styles, including a script font that’s hard to read.
- Colors Used: Tacky red lettering against a yellow background that clashes and offends the viewer’s eyes.
Less indeed is more in considerate design!
The Power of Typography and Color in Design
Studying typography and color theory is the secret ingredient that takes your visual content from “meh” to mesmerizing. Whether you’re creating a social media graphic, website, or business presentation, these basics will help your designs look polished, intentional, and professional.
Remember, good design doesn’t need to be complicated; it’s simply about communicating clearly. Start small, experiment with combinations, and build your style as you go.
Feeling creative or would you prefer some more help? View more design hints and tools to become a pro non-designer. The more you practice, the more incredible your designs will be!
