Hello and welcome to this beginner's
guide series to graphic design.
From what graphic design is, skills to be a graphic designer, design theory, education you need, equipment you need to the graphic design portfolio and interview advice.
This series is for anyone at any level.
So if you're interested in graphic design and considering becoming a graphic designer
join me as I discuss a series of graphic design topics.
Now graphic design is not 
simply about making things look good
in graphic design there are rules that 
could be considered
these rules are called the principles of
design and these are typically separate
good design from bad design.
These principles all have a relationship
between each other and appear in every
well designed piece of work you see.
A good grasp of design theory will mean there 
is always substance behind your work.
The key principles of design are: Contrast,
hierarchy, alignment, balance, proximity, repetition simplicity and function.
Whatever work you produce be it for 
a magazine, a poster, a website or advertisement
the principles of design should be considered. A good designer keeps these principles as guidelines in
their toolkit and will consciously use
them to develop their ideas.
In this video I'm going to discuss the seventh key
design principle and discuss simplicity
as a design principle in graphic design.
So simplicity is the discipline of
minimising refining or editing back a design.
The ultimate goal of any piece of
graphic design is to make an impression,
hopefully a lasting impression. 
If a design achieves this goal
it will be fulfilling its purpose to
communicate and insist upon a particular message.
More often than not in graphic
design keeping it simple works really well.
In design there is a general consensus
 that less is more, less is more striking.
We consider simplicity to ensure that a piece of 
communication has maximum clarity.
We consider simplicity to 
create balance and impact.
Simple design is easier to understand that is more likely to make a lasting impression.
For beginners it is easily assumed that simplistic
design might not be good or interesting design.
However simplicity is recognised
as adding a level of function,
elegance, consideration, 
premium and luxury to a design.
In graphic design it's harder to 
take away than it is to add
This is what separates amateur 
designers from professionals
and takes experience 
confidence and discipline.
One of the hardest and most skillful
disciplines in design is knowing how to
edit a piece of design. When applying
simplicity in design we should avoid an
overwhelming amount of visual elements.
We should try and get across one strong idea
instead of incorporating many. 
When considering simplicity we should remove
or edit down information and details
that are not needed.
The more simplistic your design the more
striking and easy to understand it will be.
Too many things going on in a
composition will make for a very confusing
and bad experience. Now simplicity is not
about stripping a design down to the
point its soulless. It's also about harmony 
and balance between visual elements
In design you want to avoid visual competition 
and achieve visual harmony.
Complex visual elements can indeed 
work to communicate
a simple message. For example an 
image texture or a pattern texture
may be seen as complex but 
these work to suggest
a mood, a feeling, a notion. Coupled with a
simple logo placement or bold message
this can be striking. When you think of
some of the most prestigious brands
it's common to see simplicity set on a
backdrop of complex beauty.
It's a striking dynamic which can also
be seen in advertisements.
Often an add will only have a few seconds to
communicate a message
so must be as striking and as 
easy to understand as possible.
Advertisements typically seek to 
charm you with some sort of
dazzling visual art coupled with 
a simple bold tag line message.
What is seen to be simple 
can often be complex.
This clever achievement in design is
highly sought after and is regarded as
elegant, premium and luxurious. If this
visual harmony is not executed well it
may lead to be busy and confusing
message which will not fulfil its purpose.
Consideration of simplicity is
often seen in good brand logos.
Poor designed logos can be too 
complex and busy with too many colours.
Some of the best logos are 
some of the most simple.
So that is the seventh key design 
principle in graphic design.
When you look at design ask yourself how
has simplicity being considered?
Is their visual harmony 
or visual competition?
How clear is the design? 
and how clear is the message?
Could it be more striking? Is there
anything you could change to simplify the design?
and what impression 
does it make on you?
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So the next key design principle 
is function.
In the next video I'm going 
to talk about function
as a design principle 
and graphic design.
So I'll see you in the next video!
