Read a few Ghanaian adverts for designers and the same words keep coming back: typography, colour, layout, images. These are the four building blocks of visual design. Every flyer, post, logo and report is made from them, and a weakness in any one of them shows immediately.
The four building blocks
- Typography is how text looks: which fonts you choose, how big they are, and how much space sits between letters and lines. Most of what clients want to say is words, so typography often carries the whole design.
- Colour sets the mood, ties a design to a brand and decides whether text is easy or hard to read. It also behaves differently on a phone screen and on paper, which matters when work goes to a printer.
- Layout is where things sit on the page and how the eye moves from one item to the next. Good layout uses margins, columns and alignment so even a busy programme feels calm.
- Images include photos, illustrations and icons. Designers crop, straighten and adjust photos, make sure they are sharp enough for the job and check that they are allowed to use them.
How they work together
These building blocks are not separate tricks. A strong heading needs good typography, enough contrast in colour and the right place in the layout. A product photo only works if it is sharp, well cropped and given enough space. As you work through this section, keep applying the principles from the previous one: hierarchy, contrast, alignment, proximity, repetition and space.