Three Reasons for Three Elements

One thing that many experienced graphic designers and marketers have come to realize over the years is that good things come in sets of three. But why should you limit yourself to only three design elements in your logo and imagery, or your guides to only three steps?  Here are three good reasons:

1. People Tend toward Threes

It’s a matter of instinct for people all over the world: think of all the trilogies you can think of, or all of the folk or fairy tales about three sons or daughters. Look at religion (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) or national mottos (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) and you’ll see an overwhelming number of threes. People instantly connect with this number, often without thinking about it.

2. Contrast without Confusion

If there were only two children in all of those folktales, the success of the last wouldn’t seem so impressive: if the first fails, perhaps he was merely bad at what he tried. Two failures proves the difficulty of the challenge and raises tension. However, listen to three failures before the one success, and the story will becomes long and tedious. Likewise, two elements can be boring, but four can crowd an image and leave the eye uncertain; either could make someone say “Pass” and move on, but three makes for a perfect middle ground.

3. A Proven Track Record

Think about flags that use three colors. How many come immediately to your mind? The people who designed those flags were the graphic designers of their time, and they’ve passed their wisdom down to us. You’ll notice an immediate similarity in logos: the three-pointed Mercedes symbol, Mobil’s red, white and blue design, MasterCard’s red and orange circles behind white letters… there’s no doubt about it, three works!

At Visual Artistics, we believe in the power of three (just take a look at our logo for proof!), but we also recognize that no rule applies to everyone. You can count on us to provide the logo you need, using the power of three as long as it’s right for your brand.