This is how you recognize bad designs

What makes a design “bad”? What characteristics does it have if the viewer or consumer thinks that they don't like the design at all? How can you learn to recognize these triggers and thus be able to avoid them yourself?

Identifying disruptive factors in a design helps on the way to creating good designs yourself!You should pay attention to the following points if a design does not appeal to you at all:

1. no structure visible

Creating designs goes hand in hand with the art of “less is more”. Of course, there are always exceptions or artists who deliberately ignore this rule, but the general rule is: if you can't find your way around a design, it is usually overloaded. In particular,the lack of enough white space makes a design appear restless and unstructured.This effect is transmitted to the person who is looking at it. A design should be coherent so that all information has its place and it is easy to orient yourself.

Are you having problems finding your way around a design? Another factor could be the lack of typographic hierarchy!
Font sizes and types guide us through the design, direct our attention to the important points and thus structure our perception of the design.If this is omitted, we are overwhelmed.Headings and subheadings give us orientation and support. To ensure as little disturbance as possible,two different fontsare usually used, which make the different elements distinguishable to the eye through different styles, weights and sizes. White spaces are created in texts using paragraphs and sufficient line heights.

2. inappropriate (graphical) elements

Pictures, symbols, icons, etc. serve to underline words or to be able to do without them entirely.
It is essential that these also fit the corresponding content and are easy to understand.
You have probably already seen a poster, a sign or something similar and asked yourself. what one of the symbols on it is supposed to tell you. Unfortunately, this is a clear sign of an inappropriate element and indicates an unsuccessful design.Using symbols that the majority of viewers already know makes much more sense than getting lost in a design that no one understands.

Images should also be used carefully and consciously in order to avoid misunderstandings or ambiguities. They should support the idea or concept and not cause confusion. Make sure to use imagesthat really represent what they are supposed toand are not a compromise just for the sake of illustration!

3. Failure to adhere to design principles

Sufficient contrast and correct alignment are among the design principles that should be followed for a good design.

If a design lacks the necessary contrast, it appears visually unattractiveand blurs in front of the eyes because there are no clear contours and thus boundaries. This makes the design more difficult to access. When making your own design, be sure to create sufficient contrast between the most important elements (this also includes text or text fields). Contrasts are also important so that people can focus on the highlighted parts of the design and process it better and therefore understand it.

When you look at a design, do you have the feeling that something bothers you about it, but you just can't figure out what it is?Then you should pay close attention to the alignment, i.e. the arrangement, of the individual elements.If these exist without a connection to one another, we have the feeling that the components have no fixed structure place. The design appears chaotic. Use a grid to place elements correctly. The baseline grid also helps ensure that the alignment is correct and your design appears “tidy”.

Do you want to learn more about design principlesthat you can use to take your designs to the next level?Then clickhere!