16 min read

Contrast and Repetition

Make different things clearly different, and repeat styles to make the whole design feel like one piece.

Contrast

Contrast does two jobs: it creates interest and it makes text readable . Weak contrast (grey text on a slightly lighter grey background) is hard to read, especially from a distance or in a bright corridor. Ways to create contrast: Colour and tone: light on dark, or dark on light. Size: a very large title with small details. Weight: bold heading, regular body text. Typeface: a strong display font for the title, a plain font for details.

Contrast

$Weak$	$Strong$
$Pale yellow text on white$	$Navy text on white$
$Title 40 pt, details 32 pt$	$Title 120 pt, details 24 pt$
$Two similar fonts$	$One bold display font + one plain body font$

Repetition makes a design feel planned . Repeat the brand colours, the same two fonts, the same icon style and the same spacing . Across a campaign — poster, flyer, social media post — repetition makes every piece instantly recognisable.

Practice

Which text colour is most readable on a dark navy background?

Contrast

Contrast does two jobs: it creates interest and it makes text readable . Weak contrast (grey text on a slightly lighter grey background) is hard to read, especially from a distance or in a bright corridor. Ways to create contrast: Colour and tone: light on dark, or dark on light. Size: a very large title with small details. Weight: bold heading, regular body text. Typeface: a strong display font for the title, a plain font for details.

Contrast

$Weak$	$Strong$
$Pale yellow text on white$	$Navy text on white$
$Title 40 pt, details 32 pt$	$Title 120 pt, details 24 pt$
$Two similar fonts$	$One bold display font + one plain body font$

Repetition

Repetition makes a design feel planned . Repeat the brand colours, the same two fonts, the same icon style and the same spacing . Across a campaign — poster, flyer, social media post — repetition makes every piece instantly recognisable.

Practice

Which text colour is most readable on a dark navy background?