Packaging design: How to give visual weight to graphical elements.

What is a graphical element?

The elements inside your graphic design is called graphical elements. It’s often a set of information.

What is visual weight?

Visual weight is the dominance exerted by an element visually inside the graphic design.

Giving visual weight to your graphical elements is one of the crucial marketing strategy which helps you to sell the product. To execute this very effectively the product design should carry a specific objective.

It’s better to know what exactly the company stresses in the design.

1.       Are they trying to introduce a new brand?

2.       Are they trying to sell the product on an existing brand?

3.       Are they trying to sell a standalone product?

By knowing these variables one can start giving visual weight to the elements.

Let’s see how it is done and with what all properties of an element.

Color

Different colors add different visual weights to the graphical elements. . The visual weight is determined by the wave length of colors in the visible spectrum.  We have trichromatic vision and red beats out all other colors with longer wavelength of 700 nm. All the other colors are having lesser wavelength and possess less visual weight compared to red. When we have two objects in the design which is red and blue, red is more dominant and possess more visual weight than the blue object.

Shape

Presenting graphical elements in various shapes may increase or decrease the visual weight of that element. Words which are written inside a block / square will be read first than the one which is written in circular form.  Most complex shapes can be broken down into simple ones to add visual weight and understanding.

Size

Bigger elements have a higher visual impact and visual weight. Letters which is written in big bold font captures the attention than the ones written in small font.

Texture

Textures can directly converse with a person on an emotional level.  They are of:

·         Organic

·         Materialistic

·         Computer generated patterns.

How it can increase the visual weight depends on the context of the design. See the  design by Naoto fukasawa

see the difference in the visual weight with and without the texture.

Effects

The simple process of adding a shadow to an element will increase its visual appeal. One recommendation is to use it only when other properties of the element are done or complete. Because it can bump up the visual weight to a great degree and could over shadow all other properties of an element.

Contrast/ brightness/ saturation

These variables can increase the visual weight especially in a photograph. This can be done in the product photography. Very subtle adjustments can give you the distinction that you want from the other elements in the design.

Depth

The thing which is on the foreground is having much more visual weight than the thing which is on the background. See the example:

Perspective

Our eyes used to see everything in  3d space. It will try to see the same on a 2d plane too. Often a perspective field is created by visible or invisible lines which our brain takes no time to figure out. Placing elements in different places of the perspective field will affect the visual weight of that element.

Space

Our eyes are adaptive to recognize patterns. When we are putting too many graphical elements in different places it will assume it as one and loses its relevancy. Defining clear space between these elements, what we often call as white space or negative space is very important to increase the visual weight of that element.

Hope this has been a very helpful article and thanks for spending your time.