TIP: Repetition in Graphic Design
February 11, 2010
Using repetitive elements in graphic design can be a very instrumental in tying a page (screen) together and helping to convey your message to the intended audience.
There are many ways you can achieve this. Here are some:
- Use common graphic objects such as a unique bullet for text
- Colour. Being consistent and repeating a colour can be effective
- Type faces that match throughout. For example, you could choose common headers for a newsletter and although some may be in different sizes, the face itself is the same.
- Placement of common elements over many pages to let the reader know this is the same unified piece they are viewing/reading. This could be a page footer in a longer document.
In the following example of two spreads from a publication I did, there are many repetitive features including a common colour to the headers, common fonts used, drop capitals at the beginnings of sections, footers at the bottom of each page, identical margins on all pages, and more.
Look carefully at the elements you have to work with and you will start to find ways to play up on repetitive elements. Just don’t over-do it.
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