You don't need to be an artist to be effective at design. You can go from BORING to BOLD by learning how to excite audiences through visuals. These 10 tips are drawn from my book, Visual Design Solutions: Principles and Creative Inspiration for Learning Professionals.

1. 10 Visual Design Tips
by Connie Malamed
@elearningcoach

2. INTRO
YOU DON’T NEED TO BE AN ARTIST TO BE EFFECTIVE
AT VISUAL DESIGN.
©Connie Malamed, 2015

3. INTRO
VISUAL DESIGN AND ART ARE TWO DIFFERENT CRAFTS.
Design has a utilitarian purpose and art is an end in itself. So, learn the basic
principles of design, pay attention to design in the world around you and keep
practicing. You will improve!

4. LAYOUT
Two ways to organize the elements of a slide are in a symmetrical layout and an
asymmetrical one. A symmetrical design is stable and static. An asymmetrical
design is dynamic. Choose the one that fits the tone you want to project.
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Cut out people courtesy of eLearning Art.Graphics from Visual Design Solutions.

5. IMAGES—TRY SILHOUETTES
Consider using silhouettes for some of your imagery needs. Silhouettes are
subtle and suggestive. They add a gentle visual element without being too
distracting from the instructional message. And they can be any color.
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Do all that you can to make new hires
feel welcome on their first day.
Onboarding
Example of using a silhouette in an Onboarding course to express “Welcome.”

6. WORKING WITH ONE TYPEFACE
If you’re not sure how to combine fonts then just use one. Find a legible font
family with a personality that matches your content and audience. Then make
sure it has the styles and symbols you need.
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Roboto Roman
Roboto Italic
Roboto Medium
Roboto Bold
Roboto Black
Roboto Light
Roboto Condensed
Roboto Condensed Light
See Visual Design Solutions for more
on Typography for Learning
Professionals.

7. 4
Palette generated from the photo using Adobe Kuler.
Use a consistent color
palette throughout a course.
You can generate one from a
sample photograph that has
a pleasing set of colors. One
of several palette generators
is Adobe Kuler. You upload
the image and it will generate
a palette.
COLOR PALETTE
Graphic from Visual Design
Solutions.

8. CREATE A VISUAL HIERARCHY
The visual hierarchy establishes the order in which a person views the elements of
a slide. The most important element(s) should be the dominant ones. Use size or
brightness or a position at the top to create dominance over the other elements.
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Sample learning portal menu shows how bright colors dominate the other elements.
Graphic from
Visual Design
Solutions.

9. UNIFY WITH REPETITION
A unified design supports learning. A certain level of similarity can reduce
cognitive effort because learners know what to expect. You can create unity by
re-using layouts and by repeating elements, such as shapes, as shown below.
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The repetition of shapes and colors creates a unified design.
Graphics from Visual Design Solutions.

10. 7
You can use the visual language
of contrast to create meaning.
By contrasting the size, color or
shape of elements, you create
emphasis. This shows what is
most important and helps to
create a visual hierarchy.
USE CONTRAST
FOR EMPHASIS
Contrast in size and color emphasizes the main character.
Graphic from Visual Design
Solutions.

11. Group related elements
together to help learners
perceive relationships
quickly and efficiently. For
example, in this drag-and-
drop exercise, the drag
objects are in one group
(bottom right) and the
target objects are in
another group (upper
right).
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GROUP FOR
MEANING
Grouping similar elements makes it easier
to understand the exercise.
Graphic from Visual Design
Solutions.

12. Provide your audience with
visual cues to control where
they look. For example, people
typically follow someone else’s
eye gaze. Therefore, you can
use a photo of a person looking
up, to direct the eyes to
something important, like a
definition.
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EYE GAZE DIRECTS
THE EYES
Eye gaze works like an arrow, pointing to the important text.

13. 10
GO BEYOND THE BOX
Learners get bored with the same old look. To add flair to your designs, position
elements so they break through the borders of a box or other shape. The result is
more dynamic.
Cut out person courtesy of eLearning Art.

14. Don’t suffer with graphics.