This week we are talking about what hierarchy is and how you can use it to be an active, effective designer.

Brandi’s week:

Brandi is in the process of doing a much needed revamp of her website. She is switching from a WordPress site to a Squarespace site, so hopefully no more weird update issues. If there is anything you would be interested in seeing on Brandi’s new website please let us know. She’s thinking about adding special subscriber content and possibly downloadable content as well. IN addition to that Brandi’s son is playing tee ball this year and she is assistant coaching with her husband. Though they have to make a banner by hand. Not much has been inspiring her this week, except for children’s books. This is because she is starting to write a children’s book! And she is also beginning the process of planning her family’s summer vacation so stay tuned to hear what that trip will be. 

Michelle’s week:

It is officially and legally spring in New Mexico with short sleeves and allergies on high. Sadly Michelle couldn’t get Brandi to sing the Bambi spring song this year. We’ll try again next year. And with spring comes Easter. Since Michelle works at a church it is full on prepare mode. If you don’t know, Easter is like the super bowl when it comes to churches. This means Michelle has been very busy with work and hasn’t had much downtime. In other news though she is going to see Death Cab for Cutie in concert which it super exciting. And that is her week in a pistachio nutshell. 

What is hierarchy?

Hierarchy is basically arranging elements to bring emphasis to certain elements over others.

Hierarchy is looking at the most important thing first and going down the line to the lesser important thing.

• Controlling designer versus passive designer. The passive designer has no confidence in their work so they can’t decide what goes where. They don’t think about what people will look at first. 
• Have a hierarchy strategy. When you are at the sketching stage of your process take notice if things are bigger than others. Maybe you could be using the pencil weight to make things lighter or darker. This will hint at what you want people to see first. 
• When you create the hierarchy yourself, you have the control to tell the people where to look when.  
• First, ask yourself what the order things need to be in, then ask yourself how do I go about making that hierarchy. How do you make something bigger.
• To help yourself figure out the hierarchy, start looking at things book covers, posters, billboards and ask yourself “what did I look at first and why?” 
• Depending on what you are designing (CD cover, book cover, business card) ask yourself what needs to be on there. Ex. book cover must have the author’s name on it.

What to do when you need a different perspective for hierarchy:

1. Take your design into photoshop and turn it grayscale 
2. Print it out, hand it to a few people, and have them write numbers by what did they see first. Or just have someone come, look at your design, and tell you what they saw first
3. Make your design as big as you can on you computer, step back about 5 feet or so, and squint your eyes. This will give you a clear delineation of the lights and darks in your design. It will bring out things that you may not notice otherwise. 

Brandi references blog post #39, Take control of your design (use hierarchy)

Brandi’s Song:

“slow motion” – flor

QUOTES:

“Hierarchy is basically arranging elements to bring emphasis to certain elements over others” -Brandi Sea

“Really great designers probably don’t want to admit it, but we’re control freaks.” -Brandi Sea

“Having a strategy for hierarchy is one way you can be the boss of your little world.” -Brandi Sea

“You have to create the hierarchy.” -Brandi Sea

“Try planning your hierarchy, you order, and incorporate people.” -Brandi Sea

“Try to notice hierarchy wherever you go.” -Michelle

This Quarter’s Book:

We are doing book reviews on the podcast every quarter!

If you would like to read along, THIS QUARTER, we’ve been reading, Called to Create, by Jordan Raynor.

Want to support us?

Go to Patreon and help support our podcast!

Find us on all forms of social media via @BrandiSea on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and you can email us any burning questions you want Brandi to answer on an episode at brandi@brandisea.com.

THANK YOU to the ultra-talented  Vesperteen (Colin Rigsby) for letting us use his (“Shatter in The Night”) track in every episode of Design Speaks.

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