Shapes, Colors, Fonts and how they are Important
Knowing how the human brain sees is extremely important to understanding how to make competent designs. Firstly, Susan M. Weinschenk Ph.D. states in her book “100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People” that your brain is interpreting everything that you see, and that these interpretations are exactly what they are: Interpretations. Your brain is constantly looking for different shapes to understand what is going on around us; because of this our brains try to look for shapes even when shapes aren’t actually there. Proof of this can be seen in the illusion called the Kanizsa Triangle, which is referenced in Susan’s book. Because the brain searches for shortcuts when we look at the empty space in the Kanizsa Triangle we interpret the empty space as another triangle. These shortcuts can be used to “influence what people see, or think they see.” (Susan M. Weinschenk, Pg. 3)
Additionally, Color can also be used to draw in someone’s attention and influence what they see. On page 3 of Susan Weinschenk’s book, she shows an example of how color can be used to influence the order in which someone reads. Understanding how to use color is important for expressing an idea and for redirecting the attention of your desired audience. On page 14 of “100 Things” Susan explains that breaking consistency is what makes things stand out. On this page, figure 5.1/5.2 shows an example of how this is true; when a differently colored circle is place in a sea of pure black circle that one colored object is what stand out, while a sea of all completely differently colored circles has no specific circle that stands out. Also, just as important, every single color has a different universal meaning and feeling that is associated with a specific mood, feeling, or subject. An example of this is the color red which commonly represents feelings of anger or love; this may have different meanings within different cultures, though. Understanding how to use this information in your designs can be very useful for drawing in attention and engagement.
The Usage of Fonts
Furthermore, the usage of fonts is important to a design, its intended message, and its readability. Simplicity in fonts like Helvetica can allow for a it to be applied in almost any situation and “allows a total freedom expression unpolluted by the personality of script or serif fonts” (HYPEBEAST); fonts can be used to define a specific brand or a vibe. Depending on the compactness of a font it can change its readability on different screen sizes, and some fonts can be very helpful for people with Dyslexia. Color mixed with the usage of fonts allows for complex variation and can be used to give meaning and draw attention to writing.