Design Principles

Here are some great links to help understand design concepts:
John Lovett has a nice explanation with simple illustrations dealing with some key concepts here.
Wikipedia is a great place to start here.
*Digital web Magazine has some nice explanations here. really good examples here.

Design Principles: We want our compositions to have these qualities.

• Balance
• Proportion
• Rhythm
• Unity
• Dominance

Elements of design: We achieve the above principles using these elements.

• Line
• Shape
• Direction
• Texture
• Size
• Color
• Value