In visual communication, we don’t get a lot of time to convey a message. In addition, our vocabulary of design elements is highly subjective and open to viewer interpretation.
Understanding visual hierarchy is crucial when learning graphic design, layout design, UI design, motion design, or any other visual communication medium.
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1. What Is Visual Hierarchy?
Before we address the visual hierarchy definition, what is hierarchy? Hierarchy refers to a system of levels or ranks. The higher the level in the hierarchy, the more importance it warrants and the more elements it governs.
The hierarchy of this article, for instance, can be represented as a tree where each branch is a section of content. We finished the intro, and now we’re defining our terms like hierarchy, before we get into the section connecting hierarchy and the principles of design. Applying visual hierarchy isn’t just for the viewer.
2. Applying Visual Hierarchy in Design Theory
One of my favorite visual hierarchy examples is the 1968 photo of the Earth rising over the Moon’s horizon.
If we break the image down to design elements, we have just a couple of shapes, some texture, and a little bit of color. Graphic design principles of scale and proportion set the moon up to dominate the composition, while the Earth appears tiny and distant.
We expect larger elements to be the most important. In this case, there is a conceptual dissonance between what we believe and what we see. Earth contrasts with the featureless mass of the moon looming in the foreground to make us and our home seem small.
Just under a decade later, the opening scene of Star Wars used the principles of graphic design to set up another of the best visual hierarchy examples. You can see the entire hierarchy of the Empire and the Rebels in a single still image. The gray mass of the star destroyer in the foreground dominates the frame just as the Empire dominates the galaxy.
3. Hierarchy and Graphic Design Fundamentals
Typographic hierarchy is one of the most common things you'll encounter when learning how to do graphic design. This menu template from Envato Elements employs the hierarchy principle in its paragraph styles to structure content for the viewer. Headers grab the viewer's attention and explain what content to expect underneath. The paragraph styles can now employ a smaller font and have more space to provide detail about the entrees.
When you learn design hierarchy, it’s important to remember that negative space is just as important as positive space. Even without changing any other graphic design principles, negative space groups elements.
4. What Is Visual Hierarchy in Illustration?
Wondering what can be used to improve visual hierarchy when typography isn’t available? Visual hierarchy theory in graphic design isn’t just about organizing text. This poster from Envato Elements makes skillful use of graphic design principles.
Notice how the eye in the poster grabs attention. Eyes tend to do this anyway, but here value contrast, color contrast, and emphasis immediately grab the viewer's attention. Simpler lines and shapes lead from the eye to the text, while also giving a sense of what the poster offers (summer, tropics, travel, warmth), and the text quickly and efficiently delivers the call to action.
5. Advanced Hierarchy Principles in Design
Barbara Kruger is a master of visual hierarchy design. Kruger’s signature style of bold Futura in a red rectangle heavily emphasizes typography over the visuals.
Let's take a look at this achromatic piece, “Money Can Buy You Love.” Scale and contrast instantly drive the words “money” and “love” to the top of the hierarchy, while the tiny “can” “buy” and “you” almost go unnoticed.
The placement of the type and the separation of each word into its own box force us to read it in multiple ways. Since English assumes we’re reading left to right, "Money" grabs our attention first, then "Love". The comparatively tiny “can”, “buy”, and “you” force us to re-evaluate the relationship between money and love, leaving us with more questions than answers. Do we need to give up money in order to have love? Is it really love if money was able to buy it? What if we read it as “Money can buy you, love”?
Meanwhile, the visual we almost don’t notice is a print of a girl blowing a raspberry, kind of making fun of the viewer. In Kruger’s work, visual strong visual hierarchy gives way to conceptual ambiguity.
Speaking of ambiguity, let’s have a look at the subject of one of Kruger’s other works, “Cruel Enough?”: Andy Warhol. Warhol’s work explored consumerism and the conversion of Norma Jeane Mortenson into a marketable product, Marilyn Monroe.
Here, the visual hierarchy design is intentionally vague. The lack of visual hierarchy is the important bit. Warhol's series of portraits of Marilyn Monroe eschew any clear visual hierarchy with repeated shapes. Unlike Kruger’s bold red rectangles, the vibrant colors in each of the portraits keep any one portrait from standing out among the rest.
Conclusion: What Can Be Used to Improve Visual Hierarchy?
Identifying a hierarchical structure for the elements in a design can be helpful not only for the viewer but for the designer as well. Once identified, it's easier to know what to keep, what to discard, and what to emphasize. We also know where to add visual interest that reinforces the goal of the design rather than distracting from it. Knowing how to apply design principles and color theory to achieve the result you want can be a bit tricky, but we've got you covered! Check out some of these other Envato Tuts+ tutorials on design.
- Rebellious Design: Brutalism Meets 90s Graphic Design
The Principles of Design
These Movie Posters Are the Best, and Here’s Why
What Is Illustration? (And What Are the Different Types of Illustration?)
Design Styles Across 10 Decades
Rules of Composition
The Basic Elements of Design
Color Theory for Beginners
