Hello again... I'm hoping we can talk about principles for graphic design our own layouts...

The first question about layout design is this:

...I'm not educated in "graphic design" but I'm wanting to understand the principles behind a "Balanced" layout. How do you make sure that the photos and elements balance each other.... does anyone know what I mean? Can we talk?? Right now, I just keep moving the images around until they "look right"...sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't and I'm not sure why... can anyone explain "balance" in a grapic layout?

YAZO

Here is my layout...I like the images, I like the colors, but it looks too crowded and unbalanced to me.... Ducks

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Sheryl ~ Arcola, Texas
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Those are some beautiful pics! I think it's a lovely layout as is, but if you wanted to change something, maybe try this (and I am NO graphic expert, that's for sure - this is just my opinion as a scrapper):

I can't really explain balance either, other than it makes everything look "equal" on the page - there is a focal point on the page and everything else on the page compliments it, rather than takes away from it. One part of the layout doesn't look overly "heavy".

Maybe the square photos are competing for attention amongst themselves as they are all similar in size, as well as competing against the larger, b/w picture. Maybe try adjusting the sizes of the square pics so that they are all equally smaller, or maybe gradually smaller, and then aligning them against the lower left side so that the larger, b/w picture becomes the focal point of the layout, towards the left side.

Or ... just totally ignore me because really, I'm definitely "askew" challenged and need to have alignment in my layouts; simply tilting an element drives me insane. I am probably the last one who should be giving out any balance advice.

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Andy
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Andy, you have the right idea. Balance is achieved when all the elements appear to have an even impact....no one element stands out more than the others in regard to sizing, placement, shape, and color/contrast prominence. Also, the eye should flow on the page from left to right, top to bottom, just like we read.

Sheryl, your photos are wonderful, but the largest is cropped in a way that is a bit odd and different than the others. You also have the smallest picture to the right "on top". For the layout to have more balance , I would suggest a more similar cropping style for all of your photos and have the same effects. So if you want a shadow on the larger photo, it should also exist on the other photos and elements in the layout. The fontwork is a bit distracting...it breaks up the nice flow you have got going with the photo arrangement. All of the different words, esp the Patrick and Simon are so far apart that they are difficult to read and give the layout a disjointed feel. I would try putting them either along the bottom of the page or together and to the right, so that we read them as we scan from the largest photo down to the smaller. The leaves are a real nice addition, but you may want to try placing them in a different position. They are almost in a straight line going diagonal across your layout....try moving them in a more triangular pattern and see how that affects your layout. I hope you don't mind my honest critique! These are lovely photos and I love the vivid background that you chose.

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DianneRigdon.com

It may seem a bit off topic but I find the Rule of Thirds is pretty essential. Of course, rules are made to be broken, but for me when I break it I do so knowingly and on purpose ie. whatever I have done is more important than observing the Rule. If you run the rule on your layout (I did), it definitely runs afowl (ha! pun intended) of the Rule.

In case you are not familiar with the Rule of Thirds I will try to find a link that explains it and edit this post but the main idea is to divide your page into three vertically and horizontally (I do this by laying a grid set to every 33.33 percent). The focal points should be at the intersections of the grid--this is where the eye first falls or is drawn to. This is a general rule--there are lots of other considerations but if you are new to the game, this is a good one to follow. Even if you just move a few of your elements around (especially big photo) so that an important part of the picture is at an intersection you might be pleasantly surprised by the result.


http://www.silverlight.co.uk/tutoria...se/thirds.html

http://www.palmettobayinc.com/PhotoT...ls/thirds.html

are a couple of links--Google will get quite a few hits.

Oh, this is so great!!! No, this is exactly what I was hoping for...thank you Dianne, Thank you Andy... I'm going to try redoing this scrap a bit as practice. You've given me something to go on... however, "balance" still feels a bit vague to me... I wish it didn't feel so hit or miss...

Can someone draw a diagram that explains "balance"? I tend to learn better visually...

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Sheryl ~ Arcola, Texas
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Oh, Nevermore...this is great also...Im going to go tryout these links...

Yazo

Soem specific links on balance that are worth reading
http://www.typography-1st.com/typo/prnc-des.shtml
http://www.usask.ca/education/course...gn/balance.htm
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/balance/


This book is great because it is aimed specifically at scrapbookers
http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/sho...e&prod_idx=255
and this one too
http://www.simplescrapbooksmag.com/s...65&cat_idx=187

HTH

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Oh ShelleyRae...that helps a lot... wow! everyone has given such good impute...I really thank you all so much. More of us should do this...take a layout we weren't happy with (our own of course), post a thread about it and see what kind of impute we can get to make it better... this has been great for me... I'm going to try redoing it sometime soon and I will link the finished result... I want to know what you think of the difference...

Yazo

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Sheryl ~ Arcola, Texas
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