Key principles of effective graphic design
Part 3: Conscious consistency
by Jamie Kiley

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If you take a look at the marketing materials of most Fortune 500 companies, you'll notice that they all have one thing in common: within each one, all of the company's marketing materials are similar in their appearance.

There are elements of consistency that carry over between the company's brochures, business cards, letterhead, and website. The logo is the same on each, the tagline is the same, many of the fonts are the same, the colors are often the same, and the general image in each piece is consistent with the rest. They have a carefully established visual identity.

What these companies have done is employ the principle of repetition. They repeat certain elements in all the materials they put out. In this way, they are able to present a unified, cohesive image to the public.

The principle of repetition can be applied within your website as well. It's a powerful tool that strengthens your pages' organization and helps your company establish a strong identity. The principle of repetition goes like this:

Repeat some elements of your design within each page, as well as throughout the entire site.

Repetition can be defined as conscious consistency. It goes further than having the same header on each page, or the same links in your menu, although those are important. It's tying your site's visual appearance together in a deeper sense by using some threads that run through the entire site. It doesn't happen by accident; you must be purposeful.

Here are some items you can repeat:

1. Headings and subheadings - Most people naturally use the same style of heading for each page (or at least they should!), which is a form of repetition. However, this repetitive element can usually be made stronger. For example, you can use a bolder color, a stronger font (if your headings are images), a larger size, or boldface. By doing this, you make the element stand out more, which makes the repetition more obvious.
   
2. Colors - Pick a few key colors for your site and use that color scheme throughout. Instead of using multiple accent colors, stick with one or two. If you think that looks too bland, use several different shades of the same color.
   
3. Rules - Rules are thin lines used to separate different sections of a page. These are a great thing to use as a repetitve element.
   
4. Images - Use the same style of graphics throughout your site. For example, use all black and white photos, or crop all your photos in the same shape, or put the same border around each of them.
   
5. Graphical elements - Aside from photos, you can use a simple graphical element throughout your site for the purpose of repetition. For example, your design might be based on circles. In this case, the concept of a circle would be repeated in various places on each page.
   
6. Logo - Sometimes, you can draw repetitive elements from a logo. This usually works best if you can pick out a simple shape or a particular font or color from the logo to be repeated elsewhere in the site.

If you don't have any repetitive elements, create some. It doesn't have to be complicated, but you should have some repeated items or concepts. Repetition is very important in establishing the identity of your company and organization. By creating a distinctive style, you give your site and your company a concrete, recognizable image.

In addition, repetitive elements create a sense of organization. The effect is the same as using a consistent unit of measurement--it helps interpret the meaning of the object under consideration, and it helps to identify all elements as part of the same site.

Just remember to make the repetition obvious. If a repeated element isn't very noticeable, the effect can be lost. It takes only a little bit of punch to transform a particular element from weak to distinctive. Then when you repeat it, it stands out as a unifying element.

Finally, don't repeat a particular item to the point that it becomes annoying. Although repetition is a good thing, it shouldn't be carried to extremes. Some variation is necessary to add spice to your site.

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