Visual design tips for non-professionals

One of the fundamental elements of an online course is the visual one. In fact, designing an online training course also means making the platform understandable and pleasant to prevent students from losing motivation and making it difficult to understand the contents. Graphics are therefore fundamental to create a user-friendly course but also to improve learning and to make the platform and course a pleasant place to study.

All this is taken care of by the so-called "visual design", that discipline that deals with web graphic design. In the platform and course design sector, there are four main elements to watch out for:

1. Contrast: in order to distinguish the different elements, it is necessary to use a good contrast by choosing different colors, for example, that can highlight the text;
2. Repetition: the platform or course must be based on the recognizability of the elements contained in it. For this reason, it is preferable to "repeat" elements such as icons or fonts in order to distinguish the different types of content and sections;
3. Alignment: both for aesthetic reasons and for usability of the platform, the elements must be well aligned in order to create a feeling of harmony within the page;
4. Proximity: on a visual level, it is necessary that associated contents can be associated thanks also to distances: the elements that are closest, for example, are linked together.

Visual design also offers guidelines for graphically improving the platform or course. Here are the main ones:

• Attention to colors: it is necessary to know the theories of colors and all the consequences that their use has on a psychological level on users. In the past, we have already told you how colors can influence user perceptions, in articles like this. Blue, for example, is a shade that conveys calm and tranquility and can be used to explain a complex theme. Knowing the theory, it is possible to consciously use this fundamental visual element both for the aesthetics of the platform but also for the readability of the contents;
• Choose the font carefully: just as for the color, the font must also be an element that facilitates the study of the students, as we told you previously in this article; 
• Divide the contents: for greater readability, it is preferable to divide the contents through white spaces, paragraphs or lists;
• Do not use unnecessary elements: the course does not necessarily need to be filled with constant stimuli for the user. Each element, in fact, must have its own logical function in order to contribute to the learning of the student and not to his distraction;
• Create a user-friendly platform: some of the previous guidelines, but in general visual design, are used to create an easy-to-use online platform or course that does not represent an additional obstacle to students' learning and motivation.

Article taken from eLearningIndustry