Robin Williams, author of the excellent Non-Designers Design Book, first promoted the concept of CARP vs CRAP. Basically, the principals of design can be condensed down to contrast, alignment, repetition, and  proximity. If you follow CARP, your designs won’t look like . . .  well you get the idea.

So, what is CARP and how can you follow it to improve your designs. First, download the following documents. You don’t have to read every word, but look at the examples and the explanations and then read the chapter summaries. Right-click to save documents: Contrast | Alignment | Repetition | Proximity | Review.

Since we are working on logo design, lets look at Dissecting a Logo and how some of the elements above are used to design an effective logo.