In the field of graphic design, designers have a wide range of choices. Making an appealing design, whether for a company, an advertising campaign or a business venture, is a difficult thing to manage for any designer, and getting one that is a winner is as much art than science. Among Australian design, brand promotion and public communications firms, Krums.com.au is a one stop website for all an Australian company's graphic design and brand promotion needs. But these matters are rarely easy or cut and dried and a lot of complicated work goes into making the perfect design for any product.

An engaging graphic design, whether it is for a online store front, packaging display or billboard advertisement, tends to follow the rule of threes. The rule of thirds is a rule of art and design in equal turn and is somewhat hard to describe in text. Essentially, one should mentally divide their image into a three by three grid, leading to nine roughly equal proportions. The square or rectangle in the middle may seem like the obvious place to put the most important image, but the rule of thirds holds that the most important element of a design should not be put in the very center. Instead, it should ideally overlap with another proportion of the grid. For instance, an advertisement for a smart phone would not put the device being advertised in the very center. Instead, it would be placed partially in the center and partially in another direction on the invisible grid.

Another element of graphic design is the matter of shape. An unusual shape gets far more attention than a more common shape and while boxes may be where an advertisement is displayed, the shapes within the box should be eye catching and unusual. A border seemingly made of thorns can send a distinctly intense message, while a series of bizarre, expressive shapes tends to make people look twice. An excess of bizarre shapes while neglecting the actual product being advertised is of course a bad thing, but overall, unusual shapes are a proven way to get people to pay attention to your design.

Lines are another valuable tool in the designer's tool box and the proper use of lines can lead the viewer's eyes exactly where the designer wants them to go. Lines that are diagonal get more attention than lines that are vertical or horizontal, and lines that change in thickness along the line are a proven way to get attention for a design. A good example is the stereotypical comic book design, where in intense scenes for characters are expressed with vivid and dynamic lines.

There has been much written about the effects of colors on people's minds and likely more will continue to be written as research continues. As a general rule though, one should pick colors that make for easy reading of the design. A dark grey on a lighter grey background is generally a pretty poor decision, while a yellow over a blue background is a better one.