Design tips for Developers

I found a set of really nice, short videos by Arturo Toledo on the Silverlight blog that I thought were worth sharing.

He goes through some of the design principles using the Microsoft Expression tools and talks about what you should think about when designing a web page, logo or whatever it is you are designing.

Principles of design:

Balance  - how you can achieve a sense of balance, and avoid the feeling of being pulled too much to any part of the design.
Rhythm – using repeating visual patterns to create appealing visual effects.
Symmetry and asymmetry – how to achieve balance both in symmetrical and asymmetrical designs.
Emphasis – using different factors like form, color, shape etc. to make some elements stand out
Unity – how to make the viewer feel like everything in design belongs there
Points, Lines and Form – using points, lines and forms as markers for other visual elements
Colors – how to choose a color palette where the colors jive well together

Hands-on videos:

Experimenting with User Interface Colors with Expression Design
Creating Mosaic and Tiled Patterns using Expression Design
Learning to create Icons using Expression Design  
Creating a Sample Icon using Expression Design

I’m hoping there is more to come because so far these have been very interesting for someone like me who has always been intrigued by design but has no sense of what works and what doesn’t.

Tess