Balancing a composition involves arranging both positive elements and negative space in such a way that no one area of the design overpowers other areas. Everything works together and fits together in a seamless whole. The individual parts contribute to their sum but don’t try to become the sum.
An unbalanced composition can lead to tension. When a design is unbalanced, the individual elements dominate the whole and the composition becomes less than the sum of its parts. In some projects, unbalanced might be right for the message you’re trying to communicate, but generally you want balanced compositions.
In a design emphasis is how an eye drawn to in a design. As a designer one should determine the page hierarchy and then the emphasis should be applied to the elements.
Your dominant element is the starting point for the story you’re telling. It’s the entry point into your design. It should attract visitors to the first place you want them to look.
This is how you start a conversation with visitors. The dominant element is noticed first and sets the context for what’s seen next. It’s at the top of the hierarchy. It should emphasize your most important information, because it might be the only thing anyone will see. Whatever message you want people to take away should be clearly communicated in or near your dominant element.
Without an entry point, viewers will have to work harder to find their way into your design. They’ll have to pause and think where to look first and think about what’s truly important on the page. A lack of entry point will increase the cognitive load on visitors. Don’t make them think. Provide an entry point into your design.
Rhythm can help control the pace of flow in a composition; it’s patterned movement. Rhythmic patterns are built from elements and the intervals between them, and just as your ear will follow along with the rhythm of a song, your eye will follow rhythm created visually.
A pattern and a rhythm will exist as soon as you add multiple elements to the page. Two of anything implies a structure. It’s going to be there no matter what you do so, again, you should learn to control it.
Repetition creates flow and rhythm through the repeated elements. When the eye sees a red circle it notices other red circles in the composition and seeks to establish a pattern. In addition to repetition you can use alternation and gradation to create rhythm.
There are three primary types of rhythm:
Unity. It’s a very important concept in design and one that is actually pretty easy to achieve. Unity is simply that, the unification of objects within a composition. Unity is the measure of how objects or elements fit together — or don’t for that matter. Its really just a matter of linking elements together to create harmony. This harmony in elements can be accomplished through:
Contrast can be defined as “the difference in visual properties that makes an object (or its representation in an image) distinguishable from other objects and the background.”