When designing with a particular message in mind, you need to emphasize some information more than others. The way graphic designers create focal points and visual pathways is referred to as the hierarchy of a design. A hierarchy is a structured system that ranks things in order from most to least important.
You always want the most important aspect of the design to be the largest focal point. Whether it's an arresting image to grab attention, an event or headline you want to emphasize, or a company logo or motto, you should decide what the focal point of each design will be, and make sure it's the first thing your viewer sees. You can create this focal point by increasing the amount of space that the focal point takes up (including white space). The title of a movie will usually be larger in a poster, the word "Sale" will take up most of an advertisement, or the name of an event will be in large bold text. You can also make visual focal points by using colors that pop out compared to the rest of the design, like bright red text on a white background.
Once the main focal point is established, designers need to find ways to move the viewer's attention through the design to other important pieces of information. You should always assume that your audience has a short attention span and doesn't have unlimited time to look at your design, so your job is to serve up the most important information first, then the second most important information next, and so on. The order of the focal points should also form a continuous path, rather than being scattered around the design space. If the viewer has to jump around the page they may not want to keep paying attention long enough find the next focal point.
Click through the tab set below to see different examples of good and bad visual hierarchy in a basic design.
Design Concept
Bad Hierarchy
Okay Hierarchy
Good Hierarchy
Let's say you want to create an invitation for Johnny's birthday party. The information you have is the event, the time of the party, and a picture of the clown that will be there. How would you arrange these different content items?
The design above has an image of the clown as the main focal point, and the text isn't prominent in the design. A viewer's attention might be caught by the bold imagery; but it would not explain the meaning or purpose of the design quickly. The yellow color and size of the text also cause the text to visually recede, further putting the focal point on the clown image.
The second example helps balance out the visual hierarchy, but also doesn't create a prominent focal point. The text and the clown image both capture the viewer's attention equally. While you might catch the viewer's attention, you can't be sure that they'll look long enough to find out what the flyer is about.
This last example shows a proper visual hierarchy for the information. The most important information for the viewer is the purpose for the invitation. Now the viewer can instantly decide if they want to continue looking at the design. The next item the viewer would probably go to is the image of the clown, which shows the tone of the party and the type of entertainment to expect. The last bit of information is the time of the party. If the viewer is a friend of Johnny's and likes parties with clowns, then they would definitely want to keep reading through the design to see when the party is.
