It is the aim of every UX designer to provide a pleasing experience to users. To achieve that, they develop engaging interfaces with the use of visually-appealing designs. Yes, visual designs are an essential factor influencing user experience. But why?
Well, a product’s look is the first selling factor. That applies to physical and digital products (including websites and applications). Your product’s look is the first thing that affects your audience’s impression, even before efficiency. It decides whether they’ll take an interest in your services or not.
As a result, Visual Design has become crucial in the online community. Without it, branding becomes an almost impossible task for designers. But what does it mean? As a beginner, this article aims to provide you with the relationship between visual and UX Design. So, to kick off, what is Visual design?
What Visual Design is
Visual design is a field that centers around the aesthetics of a product. A Visual designer aims to make websites more appealing and attractive through the creative use of several elements. Some of these includes:
- Colors
- Shapes
- Size
- Lines
- Fonts
- Layout
- Images
Every one of these elements is carefully implemented to offer a design that is sure to increase traffic. But how are these elements used? To answer that, below are some of the principles or concepts behind the visual design:
Concepts of Visual Design
As previously seen, designers make use of several elements in their work. However, when doing so, the following are kept in mind:
1. Use of space
Space is an essential part of the design. Your use of it can tremendously impact the success of your work. Every element should be given an appropriate amount of space. Doing so will create a balanced and orderly look. That said, not every space should be used.
There is a need to preserve blank spaces (known as “white space”) in-between design elements. Otherwise, your design will appear rowdy and cramped.
2. Focal element
The idea behind this is simple: Emphasizing one design element while the rest remains subordinates. With this, you can easily create a design unique from others – one guaranteed to catch your audience’s eye. There are various ways of doing this. One of which is through your use of contrast.
3. Contrast
If you are familiar with the design world, you no doubt know how versatile contrasts can be. It is a way of making a design element stand out amongst others by using color and sizes.
4. Order
When deciding how to arrange your items, it is best to do so in a particular order. You can organize them by importance. That is, placing the most important item first. This can further help you draw your user’s attention to your focal element.
Of course, there are more principles behind visual design. However, the above four are essential for making a more appealing and catchy interface. After all, what good is a Visual design that fails to attract?
Visual Design and User Experience
What is the relationship between visual design and UX Design? Well, as seen throughout this article, visuals are essential for a pleasing experience. With good Visual design, your users will be more comfortable and efficient in using your website.
Hence, visual design serves as a sub-field of User Experience along with project management and content strategy. However, unlike them, visual plays the first role in determining if your user will stay or bounce.
And that’s why we at Kraftle take the visual design of your website seriously. Using your brand’s images and colors, we help your users feel at home whenever they make use of your site. So, get started and give them (your users) a good visual experience.
