What is Visual Hierarchy?

Visual hierarchy is a way of arranging elements in a visual composition so that the human eye naturally follows a path through the design. The result is a clear focal point and an experience that leads the user’s eyes where you want them to go. This is achieved through the use of things like size, color, position, contrast and similarities.

Your eyes are naturally attracted to certain elements in a design first. The website design should focus on highlighting these important points in the right way so that it guides your users’ eyes where you want them to go. This can be either to your call-to-action (CTA) or simply the most important element in your design.

The elements that you use in a design to create a visual hierarchy are called signifiers. These signifiers can be colors, size, placement, shape and texture. They all have different characteristics in guiding your eyes around the design.

How to Create the Best Visual Hierarchy

By using the following signifiers in a careful balance, you can create an engaging experience through your website design.

1. Size to Express Importance

The size of elements plays a big part in how they are perceived. Objects that are larger will be seen as more important than objects that are smaller.

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As you can see in the above example, the size of the text is much larger than that of any other element on the page. This creates a natural focal point for users to start reading from.

2. Placement Also Plays A Role

The way elements are placed on the page also plays a big role in how they are perceived. Elements that are placed higher up on the page create a feeling of importance, while elements that are placed lower down create a feeling of being less important.

This means you should place your most important content or call-to-action above the fold, where the visitor will see it as soon as they enter your website.

3. Color Also Matters

Certain colors are naturally seen as more important than others. For example, red is a color that has been shown to grab attention much faster than other colors because it draws your eyes first. So if you are looking for something to get someone’s attention, try using the power of red!

4. Shape & Texture Also Have An Effect

You can also use the power of shape and texture to help guide your eyes around a design. For example, if you are trying to highlight something in your website design, try using circular shapes or even arrows to let the user’s eyes naturally follow that path.

Gestalt Principles

Gestalt principles are generally used to describe how humans perceive objects. This is why it is often referred to in terms of figure-ground relationships.

There are a number of Gestalt principles that web designers in NJ often use in their designs to create visual hierarchies. They include:

Proximity – Elements that are close together tend to be perceived as a group, while elements that are spread out tend to be seen as individual units. This is a really useful principle for when you wish to highlight a series of elements as a collection, or separate them from a different group using white space.

Similarity – Elements that look the same tend to be seen as part of a group. This is very useful for when you want to highlight some elements as being similar in nature.

Continuity – When objects are arranged to look like they are going in the same direction, or form a line, people will tend to group those objects as one unit. This is another principle that web design companies use to highlight a collection of similar elements as being part of something bigger.

Closure – When you have an object that is not complete but still looks like it should be completed, people will tend to see the object as being that way. This can be a useful principle for when you want to indicate what something is without having to label it with text.

Hire a Web Design Company to Create the Best Visual Hierarchy in Your Website Design

Creating a visual hierarchy and using these characteristics will help your website stand out. However, if you’re not familiar with design or aren’t too confident in doing it yourself there’s no need to worry. A web design company will be more than happy to create the best visual hierarchy for your business and give your business the online exposure it deserves.

The web design agency in Woodbridge, NJ will conduct research to determine what content your target audience is interested in. They will then create the best website design for you to convey the message of your business effectively.