Principle 2: Direct Focus through Visual Hierarchy
Visual hierarchy is how we organize design elements to help guide people's attention through information in the order of importance. And the nice thing about graphic design (and teaching!) is that while brains are highly variable, we are more alike than we're different. By following a few principles of alignment, you can direct your students' attention to the content that matters most.
Take a look at the image below.
The image above shows visual hierarchy in action. The size of the text, color contrast, and positioning naturally guide our eyes through the content in a specific order. The text "you will read this first" is the largest and boldest on the page, appearing in the center of the image with high contrast black text on a white background. From there, the eye travels down, following a decreasing size of text until it goes to the top of the page to take in anything that it might have missed.
This isn't a fluke. By following a few deliberate design principles, you can direct a student's eye through the content and help them to focus on what matters most. To practice visual hierarchy, make the most important elements stand out through techniques like:
- Placing the most important ideas in a prominent position (like the top of a page)
- Making importing ideas larger or bolder than surrounding text or images
- Using contrasting colors to catch the eye
- Creating white space around ideas to give them breathing room
