Visual hierarchy is the arrangement of elements by size, weight, color, and position so the eye naturally lands on the most important thing first — a large, bold headline reads as more important than small gray body text, even without words telling the user so. Typography best practice generally limits a design to two or three typefaces (often one for headings, one for body text), because too many competing fonts make a screen feel chaotic and slow to read, and body text needs sufficient size and contrast against its background to stay comfortable to read. Layout principles like consistent alignment, grid systems, and generous white space (empty space around elements) reduce visual clutter and help users scan a screen quickly instead of feeling overwhelmed by everything competing for attention at once.