Welcome to the second installment of Elements of Design! Following up on my first post about “Elements of Design – Proportion” we come to the next addition, which is “Orientation.”

Orientation refers to direction and aspect of elements of an on-screen page. In designing the layout, the interface designer will consider all elements that are to be included on the screen, taking into account the visual hierarchy or prominence of various items.

Orientation

It’s the technique of arranging objects on the screen and decide the direction that each screen element will face. An important consideration is the aspect of each screen element in relation to other objects on the screen, and to the screen overall. To put it in simple words; Orientation refers to the direction and aspect of the elements on a screen, for example, the positioning of frames at left or right.

The orientation and juxtaposition on screen elements become extremely important, as the user naturally will not be satisfied with the product if the file cannot be easily viewed and understood.

Types of orientation range from the direction that a logo face to whether an image should be rotated to the justification of text and the direction they are facing. The size of an on-screen page needs to be considered in the design for orientation of various screen elements. Some pop-up notifications, such as newsletter sign-ups, are not always viewed full-screen, but as a smaller floating box, with another page usually loading behind.

You as the designer must consider the size and shape that the pop-up will default to when first viewed. For instance, if the newsletter sign-up  is to be viewed as a short, squared box floating on the screen, the screen elements of the pop-up need to fit into that shape, yet still be clearly legible to the user.