For teachers

Emphasis handout

Three pages for US Letter paper. Pages 1 and 2 are for students. Page 3 is the answer key, so print it separately or leave it out.

Read the lesson online

Free to print and share with your students. Please don't sell it.

ux360.design Principles of design

Name Date

Emphasis

Emphasis makes one part of a design stand out, so people look there first. That part is called the focal point.

Four ways to create it

A pink circle on a plain green background
Contrast. Make it different from what is around it, like a pink circle on a green page.
A large circle labeled more important beside a small circle labeled less important
Scale. Make it bigger. The large circle looks more important than the small one.
A large circle with a few small circles and stars spread out around it, with plenty of empty space
White space. Leave empty space around it, so nothing else competes with it.
A large circle with a dotted arrow curving from it to a small circle
Movement. Use a line or an arrow that leads the eye to it.

Try it

Draw a poster for a school bake sale. Pick one thing to be the focal point, and use one of the four ways to make it stand out.

My poster

What is your focal point? Which way did you use to make it stand out?

Read the full lesson: ux360.design/emphasis-design/

ux360.design Emphasis

Name

Check yourself

Circle one answer for each question.

  1. 1What is a focal point?

    • The part of a design people look at first
    • The smallest thing in a design
    • The background of a page

  2. 2A page is all green, with one pink circle. Why do you look at the circle first?

    • It is in the middle
    • Its color is different from everything around it
    • People always look at circles first

  3. 3A designer leaves lots of empty space around a product photo. What does that do?

    • It wastes space on the page
    • It makes the photo stand out, because nothing competes with it
    • It makes the photo look less important

  4. 4An arrow on a poster points from the headline to a button. Which way of creating emphasis is that?

    • Movement
    • Contrast
    • Scale

  5. 5A poster makes every word big, bold and red. What happens?

    • Every word stands out equally well
    • Nothing stands out, because there is no focal point
    • Only the first word stands out

Want to check online? The same questions are at the end of ux360.design/emphasis-design/

ux360.design Emphasis

For the teacher

Answer key

  1. 1A. The part of a design people look at first. The focal point is where you want eyes to land first. Emphasis is how you get them there.
  2. 2B. Its color is different from everything around it. That is emphasis by contrast. The one thing that is different stands out.
  3. 3B. It makes the photo stand out, because nothing competes with it. That is emphasis by white space. With nothing nearby, the photo gets all the attention.
  4. 4A. Movement. Movement guides the eye along a path, so the arrow carries you from the headline to the button.
  5. 5B. Nothing stands out, because there is no focal point. If everything has emphasis, nothing does. Pick one focal point and keep the rest quieter.

In class, about 20 minutes: read the lesson, do page 1, then page 2.

More free handouts: ux360.design/teachers/