C
O
N
C
E
P
T

Unity

Balance

Relevance

Emphasis

Contrast

Appropriateness

Repetition

Consistency

Simplicity

White Space

  Click image to see a larger version  

C
O
N
T
E
N
T

Focused

Alignment

Hierarchy

Readability

Information Rich

C
O
M
P
O
N
E
N
T

Type

Color

Images

Graphic Elements

Details

hierarchy: Hierarchy is the organization of information. It's partners with relevance and emphasis. You need to rank the content of your design by order of importance. Then use this as a scale for highlighting the text. It's purpose is to clearly guide your reader through your copy.

Hierarchy in action:
This was a legal-sized brochure for direct mail (scroll over the picture to see the back). I've taken hierarchy one step further by not only highlighting the text but also placing each in it's own panel.