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Foundations: Revisiting “Contrast and Meaning”

Peyton Crump
Peyton Crump, ON THE TOPIC OF General
Apr03 3

It’s been about a year now since Andy Rutledge shared this simple yet fundamental article on leveraging contrast within our designs. In the article, he says:

Design is largely an exercise in creating or suggesting contrasts, which are used to define hierarchy, manipulate certain widely understood relationships, and exploit context to enhance or redefine those relationships … all in an effort to convey meaning. Contrast is important because the meaningful essence of any thing is defined by its value, properties, or quality relative to something else. That’s right: nothing has much meaning by itself, which is one reason why design is important. The function of contrast in defining meaning can be explained by comparing fundamental opposites: dark/light, soft/hard, fast/slow. Examples like these are useful because everyone understands the extremes they imply, but while there are extremes, there are no absolutes. The values are merely relative.

Just a simple reminder that, in many cases, the effectiveness of a good design can often be traced back to a recognition and understanding of the basics.

TyG-rrific said on 04/03 at 06:43 AM

Thanks for pointing out that A. Rutledge article, I may of read it, but didn’t make much of a study of it.
Certainly worth revisiting.

Peyton Crump said on 04/03 at 08:16 AM

Yeah, I like circling back to as many articles as I can. I often find more value in revisiting an article than I do in the original read, especially when it’s foundational/not easily outdated.

Katrine said on 04/15 at 03:02 PM

A brilliant and simple way to describe what design is all about. And you are right, the fundamentals need refreshing now and then. Thanks for sharing:-)

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