CRAP Design: Part 6 - Finale
We come to the end of 'CRAP design series'. It has been quite a long series that any other that I have authored before. (The only other series posted here was the 'SQL Basics Primer Series').
To state again what was stated in the first post of the series, there are 4 principles in designing that helps us design any document or web page to look aesthetically good. They are the Proximity, Alignment, Repetition and Contrast principles.
Now one may ask, can we just not use one of the principles and make the design look good? Or some may ask, which is the most important of these principles that one can focus on, in order to save from more work?
Well, there is no one important principle among the four, else there would have been only one principle and all else would have been just expressions of the one principle. That is not the case.
To create a good design, one must focus on all four aspects and design them according to these principles.
I usually start of with identifying what the different elements of the subject are. I find out which of them are closely related to each other, and apply the proximity principle to group them together.
Next, I align them with respect to each other and also depending on the mood or context of the piece that I am designing. If it is a invitation for a party, a center align or some tilted text would be fine, but that would not be the case in a technical document.
After that, I apply the repetition principle. I see that all the paragraphs are of same fonts. All the 'ding bats' of the different unordered lists are the same. I see that all the headings are of same font, same goes with sub heading or other elements of the piece.
Once I have all these in place, I start applying the contrast principle. Ones that need emphasis, ones that need attention are marked so with drastic changes in style.
Note that these principle are not etched on a stone. Feel free to use them as a guideline and not a rule. Be bold enough when you intend to create some think startling. Again, also remember that there needs to be a order - a semantic - a pattern - which, when you break will create a dramatic effect.
This post comes to an end, and so does the CRAP Design series.
Let me know your thoughts and ideas using the comment form.
Update: This blog post is a part of series.
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