Graphic design in eLearning for Newbies

Nic Brown, graphic designer and visual designer, underlines that "if your project is a eLearning course, a web banner, a catalogue or a poster" you can find below some useful suggestions.

Contrast

Contrast, the key principle of design, it is a very broad concept that can be obtained and understood in many different ways:

• text on coloured background
• different typefaces (Sherif vs. Sans Sherif)
• emphasis: for example, bold vs. italic
• shades of colour
• ladder
• forms
• images
• models / textures, other design elements

Regardless of the type of contrast used, the goal is always to create emphasis on concepts, establishing a hierarchy, and keeping the viewer visually activated. A monotonous design "in which everything is of the same size, shape or colour will be terribly boring". On the other hand, exaggerating with the contrast (as well as not emphasizing any concept) results in confusing and unpleasant graphics for the audience.

Repetition / consistency

Repetition offers a sense of coherence, cohesion and unity. The "repetition" referred to is the use of the same elements or similar elements throughout the project. For example, in the slides of a eLearning course there will be colours, typefaces, background textures that are consistent and then repeated.

Margins

It is very important to "give your contents enough space to" breathe": margins help to give your project a space where the eyes of the spectators can rest, maintaining a clean and balanced design and improving the readability of the contents.

Alignment

"Look at objects and items close to the margins ... Are they aligned at the edge? Well ... make sure there's a fair (and uniform) space between columns and rows of content and make sure to align all the content and visual elements in a column or row: if correctly done, the visual appearance will be very pleasing to the eye and the viewer will be facilitated in reading ".

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