Graphic Design Theory - Hierarchy

Name: Graphic Design Theory - Hierarchy
Rating: 4.8 (6 reviews)

Control how your viewers experience your designs!

Created byMartin Perhiniak

Last updated 6/2024

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

How to establish a solid structure for your designs utilising Visual Hierarchy
How to set up Focal and Entry Points in your compositions
How to use Emphasis and Dominance to make your designs more impactful
How to use Scale and Position for dramatic effect, contrast and general compositional direction
How to measure the Propositional Density of your designs

Course content

3 sections • 21 lectures • 1h 28m total length

Introduction1:16
Explore how visual hierarchy guides readers from the title to the pull quote and body text. Learn focal point, dominance, emphasis, scale, position, and proportion to create structured, easy-to-use designs.
About the course4:45
Navigate boards by double-clicking icons, pan with the mouse, use z for bird's-eye view, copy content (locked), and download images or PDFs to save work offline.
Why learn the theory of graphic design?3:22
Explore the theory behind graphic design to build a solid foundation of principles, rules, and terms that drive clear, engaging visual communication across print, web, and mobile.
References0:11
Glossary of Terms0:04
Useful Sites and Tools0:02

Hierarchy basics (Part 1)5:03
Understand how visual hierarchy communicates a clear message through emphasis, contrast, scale, balance, direction, and movement, and how non-linear layouts let viewers choose reading order with images and textures.
Hierarchy basics (Part 2)5:19
Explore how hierarchy, grouping, and gestalt principles shape attention and readability by using typography and contrast to make a prominent, cryptic title engage viewers in an event flyer.
Hierarchy techniques (Part 1)5:04
Hierarchy techniques (Part 2)6:25
Explore how alignment, grouping, and negative space establish visual hierarchy with left-aligned subgroups and connecting lines. Use the squint test to verify clear groups and similarity anchors across items.
Structure and order6:35
Master how to create structure and order in visual hierarchy by aligning typography, image, and lines to guide viewer flow.
Focal point6:57
Master focal points by using contrast to grab attention and guide the viewer's visual journey, via rule of thirds, visual center placement, and deliberate typographic rhythm.
Entry point4:04
Identify how entry points function as visual hooks to guide readers to key details, with multiple drop caps, headings, and highlighted text establishing a coherent hierarchy.
Dominance4:36
Discover how dominance shapes visual hierarchy by creating a focal point with size, color, contrast, and negative space, and by leveraging visual weight to guide viewer attention.
Scale6:42
Discover how scale is relative and defined by comparison to other elements to shape visual hierarchy. Use perspective, cropping, negative space, and typography to convey dominance and size.
Position (Part 1)7:00
Position is a powerful tool for establishing visual hierarchy, shaping perception by placing elements high, low, left, or near contrast, as examples show with prisoners and leaders.
Position (Part 2)5:22
Analyze how placement and posture drive visual flow, with left-to-right or right-to-left expectations, and how position, alignment, and numbering connect illustration to copy.
Proportion & exaggeration7:27
Explore how proportion and exaggeration shape visual hierarchy by adjusting element size, dominance, and color balance across imagery, typography, and negative space.
Propositional density6:46
Explore visual hierarchy in logo design through propositional density, comparing deep propositions (meanings) to surface propositions (elements) using the Obama campaign logo, Airbnb, Apple, and Target examples.

Requirements

You don't need any prerequisite skill in design software or any experience in graphic design
Access to Adobe Creative Cloud is an advantage but not a requirement

Description

How can you ensure that people will read the title of an article first, then the pull-quote with some juicy fragment of the story, and only then move on to the body copy?

As a graphic designer, you cannot give your viewers instructions on how to use your work, right? So there has to be another way to make people know what to do and where to find the information they are looking for.

The magical solution is visual hierarchy.

In this course we will cover:

Focal Point,
Entry Point
Dominance
Emphasis
Scale
Position
Proportion
Exaggeration
Propositional Density
and everything else that can help you to make your designs structured and easy to use.

We will also analyze hundreds of amazing designs from all areas of graphic design to help you easily visualize and understand all the terms and rules that are covered in the course.

Meeting your instructor

Hello, I’m Martin Perhiniak, Certified Adobe Instructor and Graphic Designer. Hierarchy is a key element of my new Graphic Design Series here on Udemy. This series is the essence of my 15+ years of teaching graphic design, and 20+ years of working as a freelance designer at the highest level.

I was fortunate to teach more than a 100.000 students worldwide and was voted as one of the 5 best Adobe instructors of the World. Here in Udemy, some of my courses are all time best sellers and are considered the best in their category.

The challenge of teaching Design Theory is that everything is related, and I have a very effective and unique approach to explore this amazing subject in an enjoyable, easy to understand manner, that will help you to build deep understanding in it fast.

I encourage you to collect all chapters, but you can watch them in any order. This part, Hierarchy is a very interesting subject with a lot for you to discover.

Come, join me in this course, and let us together learn how to make your designs better structured and easier to navigate.

Martin

Who this course is for:

Anyone planning to get into the creative industry
Creative professionals aiming to improve their compositions
Marketing managers working with agencies & printing services

Graphic Design Theory - Hierarchy

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction6 lectures • 10min

Lessons13 lectures • 1hr 17min

Exercises2 lectures • 2min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: