Academy / Graphic design basics
Lesson 5 of 6 · 5 min
Space and alignment
Quick recallYou have a serif headline. Which body font gives the clearest pair?Think of your answer, then open.
A clean sans serif. A pair works when the two are clearly different and one leads.
Beginners fill the page. Designers leave room. Empty space shows the eye what matters.
Room and groups
- Keep a margin all round. Text close to the edge looks like it might fall off.
- Keep things that belong together close, like a date under its event. Keep the address away from the headline.
- When a design feels busy, take something away before you add anything.
One edge
Pick an edge and use it. If the headline starts at the left, the details do too. A few pixels off is enough to make a post look messy. Try it:
Try it: line the words up along one edge.
Do it
- Drag a text on your design. Pink lines show when it snaps to the edges and to other layers.
- Hold Shift and click three texts. In Position you can line them up and give them the same space between them.
- Pick the things that belong together and press Cmd+G (Ctrl+G on Windows) to group them.
Quick check · 3 questions
Check what stuck
Your design feels crowded. What should you try first?
Show the answer
Remove something or make it smaller. Take away before you add. Space lets the eye rest.
You keep a date right under its event name. What does that tell the eye?
Show the answer
They belong together. Close things look like a group. That is proximity.
How do you make three texts the same distance apart in Design?
Show the answer
Pick all three and use the equal space choice in Position. With three or more picked, Position can give the same space between them.
In this course
- 1What your design must sayEvery design has one job. How to name it before you open the editor, and how the Goal filter finds a template for it. · 4 min
- 2What people see firstHierarchy is a clear order of big, medium and small. Test it with a blur, then set it in Design. · 5 min
- 3Colors that work togetherContrast comes first, then few colors. Test your eye on eight pairs, then put your brand colors on a design in one click. · 5 min
- 4Fonts and how to pair themTwo fonts are enough. Judge six pairs with your own headline, then set yours in Design. · 5 min
- 5Space and alignmentEmpty space is part of the design, things that belong together stay close, and one clean edge makes a post look planned. · 5 min
- 6Pictures that earn their placeChoose a photo that supports the job, crop it so the right part shows, and give several photos one look. · 5 min