CRAP Principles Teacher Guide
A three-day design boot camp before Adobe accounts are available. Students learn the four core principles through teacher demonstration, interactive examples, and short Canva redesign challenges.
Instructional Goal
Students should understand that Canva is a tool and template system, but design quality comes from intentional decisions. By the end of the mini-unit, students should be able to identify Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity and apply the principles when revising a layout.
Three-Day Flow
| Day | Focus | Teacher Demonstration | Canva Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canva + CRAP Overview | First Canva login, template system, quick examples of all four principles | Fix the Bad Template: diagnose one problem with each principle, then revise |
| 2 | Contrast + Repetition | Three-second hierarchy test, contrast methods, coordinated visual systems | Event Poster + Mini Campaign: strong focal point and a second coordinated graphic |
| 3 | Repetition + Proximity | Repetition across multi-page systems, grouping, spacing, and white space | Organize the Mess: regroup supplied information without deleting content |
| Week 2 | Portfolio | Connect CRAP to portfolio structure | Title / Hero & Interests, Photo Portfolio, Photoshop, Final Project pages |
Day 1 Notes
Canva: Show students how templates provide a prebuilt visual system. Ask them to identify hierarchy, repeated styles, alignment, and grouping before making edits.
Contrast: differences should be obvious. Use size, value, weight, shape, type, or spacing.
Repetition: repeated fonts, colors, shapes, spacing, or layout patterns create consistency.
Alignment: objects should have visual connections rather than arbitrary placement.
Proximity: related items belong together. White space separates groups.
Day 1 Activity
Provide a deliberately poor Canva template. Build in obvious problems such as:
- Four or five unrelated fonts
- Weak hierarchy
- Random colors
- Mixed alignments
- Equal spacing between unrelated information
- Too many boxes or divider lines
Require students to identify one problem for each principle before editing.
Day 2 Notes
Contrast: Emphasize hierarchy. Use the three-second test and ask, “What do you see first, and what caused that?”
Repetition: Shift from repeating one object to building a visual system. Show two or three coordinated pieces with repeated type, colors, shapes, and spacing.
Critique: Require vocabulary. Students should say “The larger type creates contrast” rather than “It looks better.”
Day 3 Notes
Repetition: Connect consistency to multi-page publications and next week's portfolio.
Proximity: Demonstrate how moving items closer or farther apart changes perceived relationships.
White space: Present it as active structure, not unused space. Small gaps connect items. Larger gaps separate groups.
Source Concepts Used
The original course materials define the four principles as Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity. They emphasize strong contrast, consistency through repetition, visual connection through alignment, and grouping related information through proximity. The expanded site keeps those concepts while converting them into interactive demonstrations and Canva practice.
Low-Stakes Assessment
| 1 | Identify the principle in an example. |
|---|---|
| 2 | Explain what visual choice creates the principle. |
| 3 | Apply the principle intentionally in Canva. |
| 4 | Revise after critique and explain why the revision improved communication. |