CRAP Principles (Week 2)

This week we learned about CRAP, that is the CRAP principles of visual design established by Robin Williams, not the actor, the author.

Contrast
The first principle is the contrast principle, which refers to how items should differentiate from each other. The two elements present in a picture or object must be completely different from each other. My example shows contrast through the complementary colour wheel. In the photo the blue clouds contrast to the orange and yellowish sand. This effect is known as contrast. Blue and yellowish orange are on the opposite sides of the complementary colour wheel and as a result complement each other. Contrast can be found in almost every photo and picture.

http://ea-brc.netfirms.com/tutors/colour/bin/m3x_contrast.jpg



Repetition
The second principle is repetition. Repetition refers to using the same features throughout the design more than once. My photo clearly shows repetition throughout the building texture, design and layout. The buildings all have the exact same texture and size. Secondly all three buildings have the exact same doors found at the same location. The doors are also the exact same colour. Finally the blue sky along with the white clouds portrays repetition.
http://flyingdogstudios.net/images/repetition_earth_sky.jpg




Alignment
The third principle is the alignment principle which refers to how objects and text should be arranged in a way to attract readers. A correlation is established through the alignment of the picture since something neatly aligned attracts a reader rather than complicated and messy objects scattered all over the place. Alignment allows images to be neat, polished and to the point. An example of the alignment principle is the “Eskom” website. The website shows a neatly and polished website with information aligned in a way that allows quick and easy scanning. The information is aligned in a way that allows information to be viewed in a quick and easy manner. The title fonts are larger and all
text are unified as one.
http://www.thoughtcorp.co.za/content/eskom~1.jpg

Proximity
The fourth and final principle is the proximity principle which refers to a "group of related items jointed together"( Beckstead, Lori) . The whole purpose of the proximity principle is to keep everything organized. An example is a photo I found on the internet. The photo expresses the closeness between the trees and the desert ground. All the trees are closely unified together. The great quantity of trees and the proximity makes separate items appear as a interrelated group.

http://web.syr.edu/~bchoi06/powis-paul-the-proximity-of-fading-time-i-2304009.jpg