and these two key points are the visual elements displayed and the relationship between their main features. If two elements are related in some way, they should show similar visual characteristics. If the contents are different, then they are different.
how to make elements show their differences and uniqueness lies in their basic characteristics. The basic feature is the intrinsic feature or attribute of an element. For example, what is an element? How big is it? What should it look like?
all elements convey some information from the basic features. If one title is bigger than the other, then we can think that the headline is more important, and we can also use serrated and sharp shapes as dangerous elements.
sometimes, it makes more sense for an element to have the same characteristics as another element. For example, the title of the previous paragraph will be more important only if it is bigger than another title, and it is in this way that we can compare it through similarity and contrast.
By giving visually similar features to multiple elements, we can get similar related content. If there are two circles with red elements on the web page, it is natural for the audience to wonder why. Why is it red? Why are they two circles? The possible conclusion is that the elements will go beyond the relevance of their appearance in some way, and the similarity of the elements indicates that they carry a similar message.
Similarly, by applying different visual characteristics of elements, we can see that different elements of other things carry different information compared with other elements.
The characteristics of any element can be transformed to make them look the same or different from each other. The following characteristics are most commonly used to show contrast and similarity, in no particular order. They are:
(1) size
(2) shape
(3) color
(4) value
(5. Red rectangles and shapes, and show similar contrasting colors of red circles. How to balance the similarity and contrast between elements through their visual characteristics will largely depend on what elements to convey to the audience.
note: although the original feature is to visually display contrast and similarity, it can be displayed in other ways, depending on the actual content conveyed by the elements. The words "stop" and "go out" are in contrast. And "stop" and "ban" are similar. There is also the contrast between images and words; The comparison between long paragraphs and short paragraphs and so on.
people will pay attention to the difference intentionally, which is a survival instinct mechanism, so as to quickly distinguish from the enemy who are their own. It can also return to the cave quickly and accurately, which is very important at night.
we also have the ability to predict differences quickly. Among them, contrast is so easy to attract attention and easy to find. By comparing the visual differences between elements from the elements directly around them, we can find the elements that we are interested in. In fact, the comparison with the surrounding elements can attract our attention more, and this method is also the most effective way to increase interest and excitement in design.
Contrast can not only attract people's attention, but also establish boundaries between elements. For example, the background color of the main content is contrasted, and the boundary is displayed in another color, from the beginning to the end.
differences that stand out can highlight important content information. The greater the difference, the stronger the contrast, and the more important elements are highlighted. For example, there are two ways to set off the bold and italics of the text, and the bold will form a stronger contrast to highlight it. It's very simple. Dropping a few drops of blood on bold text is easier to identify from a distance than spotting italics.
if two elements are to eliminate this contrast, then remove the contrast. And make sure that the audience will not think that this is deliberately false, because this contrast is obviously intentional and will lead to some unnecessary misunderstandings. The difference between the sizes of fonts 15px and 16px is usually not so easy to find. If the audience is aware of it, they will make more misunderstandings.
use contrast carefully, not excessively. If you use contrast, you need to pay attention to some places, so as not to highlight what you want to highlight in the end, which will eventually lead to confusion caused by visual noise.
If the contrast is too large, it will break the harmony and unity in design, resulting in confusion and confusion, which will also lead to what we want to design, but it will not be like that in the end, which requires us to carefully judge which elements should be highlighted by contrast.
each gestalt principle will be suitable for showing the similarity and contrast about a certain aspect. I think there are two points. Contrast is to determine the relationship between the background and the graphics, and display the highlighted and nodes.
(1) graphics and background: to determine the main composition of a thing, the main elements and background will be determined at the first time. This relationship is helpful to understand in context, and it is necessary to determine what is difficult to recognize and what is certain between graphics and background.
(2) Nodes: These places are prominent areas, which make the designed elements somewhat different from the surrounding environment. Contrast can help them distinguish well and attract attention. Outstanding elements will occupy the main factor in the combined elements, and these outstanding elements will be nodes relative to the inconspicuous elements.
Similarly, forced by the survival mechanism, we can see the differences quickly, and we can also see the similarities quickly. This can tell what is trustworthy and what is dangerous. Humans have a natural advantage to find those similarities. This model can help us understand and know the surrounding environment, make learning faster and more efficient, and finally become an intuition or instinct.
when we design two or more elements that look very similar, it shows what a true equivalence relationship is. If one element is important, then another similar element is also important. If this element is clickable visually, then another similar element is clickable, so that you can quickly identify which are text links. From the visual point of view, the difference between the text on the link and others is that there is a connection between them, which tells us that we can click. Once we find one like this, others will have similar effects.
Similarity means that the displayed elements and displayed connections are related to some extent in multiple projects, which will bring us familiarity and consistent design.
similarity complement our ability to deal with natural information. When we try to understand and perceive in the visual environment, we will classify the natural information and store its detailed information. This will form part of our long-term memory.
More and more elements look similar, which will make users think that they are more similar or even the same. And with a deeper understanding, it will be grouped according to a certain way, and which beat has only one characteristic in common. In addition, the more the same characteristics, the more they are considered to be the same.
We will use similar patterns to construct the structure, and distinguish the similarity between the combined elements and the equivalent structure. Add some information to fill in the structural model, such as pattern, texture and density relationship.
Of course, not all similar displays are equal. In the picture below, will you divide them by shape or color? Do you distinguish between a circle and a square or a group of red and blue?
first of all, you may notice the colors. The elements are grouped into red and blue. This shows that the difference between colors is easier to identify than the difference between shapes, but this is not absolute. For example, some people who use red and green blindness are unlikely to notice the difference between colors in the first division, but give priority to the difference in shape.
similarly, each gestalt principle is also about how we perceive similarities or differences between objects. Many of them can read as hints to show similarities.
(1) closure: different elements can be similar to a part of the whole;
(2) symmetry: whether the reaction elements are together;
(3) unified coherence: visually similar through connection;
(4) Common areas: similar elements are together;
(5) proximity: feeling similar through appearance;
(6) Continuity: keeping similarity through a rhythm;
(7)*** Same trend: the movement trend is consistent;
(8) Parallelism: similarity of parallel orientation;
applications of contrast and similarity can be found on every website, and both must exist. Imagine a website without contrast. If its background is the same color, it will be difficult for us to read the text. Just as it is difficult to distinguish words or phrases with different styles.
I will point out more differences and * * * with each example in the following website. I hope I can provide enough examples to make you think and then use them flexibly. And look at and learn different designs in order to really improve your skills in balancing contrast and similarity.
David Simon
The first thing we noticed about David Simon's website was the contrast between the background colors, which made it easy to distinguish different pages. Signs are also eye-catching, because light-colored elements are used in the space with a black background.
the contrast between images is fundamental to attracting attention. In this article, the date is on a black background, and the date number is in uppercase. In the current page, the vision and coherence are drawn by contrast.
The link styles of the recent posts in the menu are all the same, and the posts are divided by light horizontal lines, which is weak from other menus. Fonts are always consistent. The fonts of the title and the text are compared, but the overall consistency of the website is maintained.
The internal link style is more prominent to clarify the relationship between them, although the designer may intentionally make the number of views less obvious. In addition, the titles are extra parts, so that they are not part of the text.
Mike Kus
Mike Kus's work focuses on different projects. Most of the pages are blank, but we should pay attention to how to make each element stand out and contrast with the text in the background, so we use the texture of the wall to show it.
Only the middle part of the screen shot uses different colors, and the other blank areas are the same light gray. In addition, pay attention to the same frame, which also shows their similarities. In this case, they each represent a project. In addition, please note that the backgrounds behind are similar, and they are distinguished from each other by the pattern of bricks, as well as the shadow of the frame, so it is easy to distinguish what is the background.
the following is Mike Kus's "about" page, which is the only contrast of Mike's lonely image. The blue button "Get in touch" is the only color element. You may not touch Mike and don't know how to use it. In fact, the button that jumps between pages is also blue.
Mike's name is repeatedly displayed on the main title as a trademark, and the contrast between the title and the background is also the background of various parts of other web pages. The buttons of the sharing menu all use the same circular shape. At the top of the navigation bar, thick lines are used as the bottom and switch back and forth between menus. The fonts are also consistent, and the serif sans serif fonts are used as well as the text, and they are in contrast with each other.
electric pulp
the logo of electric pulp uses a medium-sized red circle. It can form a good contrast in the whole page, and it is worth noting that the color of the top navigation bar is similar when indicating the current page.
the title of the whole website is the largest, bold and all capitalized. The title is in contrast to the body part, the former uses non-serif fonts and the latter is serif fonts.
Click to enter the "Notes" page, and you will see that the background color and main background color of the page are compared with the links of the previous page and the next page, and the background color is used to distinguish different pages.
most of the buttons on this website use contrasting red, which is blue when hovering. However, on the "Work" page, the first button turns from blue to red when hovering. It is not clear whether this is intentional by the designer, but this contrast is well maintained.
Lowdi
The last website to consider is Lowdi. Here is a screenshot of the home page. Please pay attention to the color change that uses both contrast and consistency.
colors can clearly indicate the starting and ending positions. And the repetition of colors and colors creates a sense of rhythm throughout the page. Please pay attention to how to highlight the elements through the yellow background, and at the same time, downward visitors can concentrate on seeing the pictures of the products.
Contrast and similarity have different functions, and they are used in different degrees of combination. There will always be something else that doesn't exist, so changing one means changing the other.
Some things are displayed the same, while others are different. The first sight in visual communication is the basic way for the audience to get the main meaning.
The differences between contrast and similar clue design elements will attract our attention, and similarly similar elements will convey similar functions on other elements.
the ultimate goal is to identify contrast and similar hierarchical relationships: to make elements in one group look similar to each other, but different from another similar element. Contrast and similar elements will enable us to create a balance between hierarchy, scale and combination, which we will mention in the next article.
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