Visual Balance

Continuing on with the "science" of achieving balance on a scrapbooking page, we are delving further this week into the different types of balance that can be achieved.

The term “Balance” refers to some equal distribution of visual weight, so that everything works in harmony. However, visual Imbalance is used purposefully by designers to grab attention and to create more energetic impact.

The use of “white space” (irrespective of colour) on a layout represents creating visual balance through the absence of elements. Not only can we achieve horizontal balance (using the left and right hand sides of the page), but also consider vertical balance, where the axis is divided into top and bottom. With our sense of gravity, we are accustomed to seeing more weight toward the bottom. When the main distribution of weight is higher, the image becomes more unstable and dynamic, as can be seen in "Laughter" below.

A lot depends on whether you want a symmetrical or asymmetrical design to your page. In brief – a symmetrical design is evenly distributed across the page – by folding the page in half from left to right, a mirror image could also be formed. This is good for formal layouts – "The Four Seasons of Grace" to follow is an example of a scrapbooking page with symmetrical design elements, with a bit of a twist, where I have balanced the die-cut flowers with the embroidered ones, but put the paint chips on the top right and bottom left to avoid a feeling of "top heaviness".

Asymmetrical balance occurs when several smaller items on one side are balanced by a large item on the other side, or smaller items are placed further away from the centre of the screen than larger items. One darker item may need to be balanced by several lighter items. An asymmetrical design may be more dynamic, because it appears casual and less planned. Very careful planning is required here, because it is often harder to achieve overall balance. "Annie Walters" is a clear example of this type of asymmetrical balance.

There are more interesting examples of achieving asymmetrical balance in art here, represented in classical paintings:

With the increased popularity of circles on pages, radial balance must also be considered, where all the elements have a common central focus point. In this following case, "Katrina's 40th", the photo.

This type of balance is typically associated with circles, but I have used the heart shapes here as well.

Crystallographic balance is defined by having the same visual weight over the whole page – probably a bit harder to achieve with scrapbook pages, because our intention is for the photo to form the focus on the layout. However, I guess the following example is about the closest we could achieve in scrapbooking:

(I shall replace the dodgy scan later!) All these layouts are not recent, so it just goes to prove that we are often employing design principles even when completely unaware!

Now, if it were only as easy to achieve some life balance – but that’s a different topic altogether! Why not have a go and produce something completely different from your normal style - all it takes is a little research and planning - or else - just go for it! Till next week, when we talk about the "Z" principle, and the rule of thirds.

Happy scrapping!

Ali :)