Page 73 - Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals

Graphic Design 61
Alignment refers to lining up the top, bottom, sides, or middle of a text, composition, or grouping of
graphic elements on a page. Often a design composition includes a grid where the alignment of text
blocks is dictated by the design of the columns of the grid (see Figure 3.17).

Typographically, horizontal alignment includes flush left (also called left justified or ragged right),
flush right (also called right justified or ragged left), centred, and fully justified. Vertical alignment in
typography is usually linked to baseline alignment. A baseline grid exists in digital software that is meant
for layout of type and is the invisible line where font characters sit.

Contrast

Contrast is a visual device that increases the special character of both elements that have been paired.
Contrast assists composition by creating focal points, and adds energy and visual range to a composition.
Using contrast enables us to distinguish the qualities of one object by comparing differences with
another. Some ways of creating contrast among elements in the design include the use of contrasting
colours, sizes, and shapes. Johannes Itten, a design instructor and artist at the Bauhaus focused his
research on the concept of contrast in both composition and colour. Itten’s list of contrasts can be applied
to both the composition and the atmosphere of a design work. His list includes these pairings: large/
small, hard/soft, thick/thin, light/heavy, straight/curved, continuous/intermittent, much/little, sweet/sour,
pointed/blunt, light/dark, loud/soft, black/white, strong/weak, diagonal/circular. No design makes use of
only one kind of contrast, but usually one dominates the others.

Colour Contrast

Johannes Itten also worked with contrast in his seminal theory of colour and determined that there are
seven kinds of contrast.

1. Contrast of hue occurs when a hue or colour is separated by being outlined in black or white
lines. White lines weaken the ‘strength’ and appearance of the colour and the colours around
the white lines seem darker. In contrast, a black line around a colour strengthens the
appearance of the colour, while the colours around the black lines appear to be lighter.
2. Light-dark contrast is the contrast between light values and dark values.

3. Cold-warm contrast refers to the contrast between cool and warm colours. Warm colours are
the red, orange, and yellow colours of the colour wheel, while cool colours are blue, green,
and purple.

4. Complementary contrast is the contrast between colours directly opposite each other on the
colour wheel.
5. Simultaneous contrast occurs between two colours that are almost complementary. One
colour is one section to the left or right of the complementary colour of the other.

6. Contrast of saturation refers to the contrast between intense colours and tertiary or muted
colors. Muted colours appear duller when placed next to intense colours, and intense colours
appear more vivid when next to a muted colour.