clutter is your enemy

We should identify clutter and eliminate it from our visual communications. The presence of clutter can create excessive cognitive load because the processing of it takes up mental resources, but doesn't aid in understanding. Clutter makes our visuals appear more complicated than necessary. When our visuals feel complicated, we run the risk of our audience deciding they don't want to take the time to understand what we're showing—at which point we've lost our ability to communicate with them. The Gestalt Principles of Visual Perception help us to identify clutter and leverage how our audience sees. We also discuss alignment, strategic use of white space, and contrast as important components of thoughtful design. From this chapter, you will learn to identify and eliminate clutter from your visual communications.