Design tips for Developers

I found a set of really nice, short videos by Arturo Toledo on the Silverlight blog that I thought were worth sharing.

He goes through some of the design principles using the Microsoft Expression tools and talks about what you should think about when designing a web page, logo or whatever it is you are designing.

EDIT 2021: None of these links work anymore - but I am keeping this post just for the principles as many others have written about the principles so content is just a search away. If you are still curious about these specific videos you can find them on the wayback machine - or watch the channel9 video with Arturo talking about the principles.

Principles of design

• Balance - how you can achieve a sense of balance, and avoid the feeling of being pulled too much to any part of the design.
• Rhythm – using repeating visual patterns to create appealing visual effects.
• Symmetry and asymmetry – how to achieve balance both in symmetrical and asymmetrical designs.
• Emphasis – using different factors like form, color, shape etc. to make some elements stand out
• Unity – how to make the viewer feel like everything in design belongs there
• Points, Lines and Form – using points, lines and forms as markers for other visual elements
• Colors – how to choose a color palette where the colors jive well together

Hands-on videos

• Experimenting with User Interface Colors with Expression Design
• Creating Mosaic and Tiled Patterns using Expression Design
• Learning to create Icons using Expression Design
• Creating a Sample Icon using Expression Design

I’m hoping there is more to come because so far these have been very interesting for someone like me who has always been intrigued by design but has no sense of what works and what doesn’t.

Tess