Establishing Hierarchy - What I Learned

I always figured hierarchy is very simple and basic and is just common sense. Through this reading I realized that through hierarchy the eye is led through a meaningful journey and given a message, whereas if there was no hierarchy, the eye is left wandering around the page searching for meaning and purpose. No matter what the design type or message being revealed, hierarchy plays a very important role in leading the eye in the right direction to give the viewer the message. Hierarchy is more than just typeface and font size. The visual elements that surround and lead the eye to the text play very important roles in creating proper hierarchy, even the page number and headers play a role in creating effective hierarchy design. Grouping like elements is a tactic that can be very effective in creating hierarchy that flows well. By grouping elements, the designer is able to keep consistency throughout the layout as well as applying the same treatment to all elements in the group. Contrast, scale, space, quantity, orientation, position, depth, dimension, perspective, typography, color, graphic shapes and linear elements are all the factors a designer must take into consideration. Each one has a key role in establishing proper hierarchy. If any of the mentioned elements is not applied correctly, it could have a dramatic effect on the message being delivered through the design. Through the cohesiveness of all these elements, we are able to design and also able to create proper hierarchy to lead to the eye to message we are trying to portray.