Imagine you went to a restaurant, and all the tables were jammed tightly against one wall. You wouldn’t stay long, would you? Well, the same applies to a layout: if it is massively imbalanced, if everything in the composition is stuck together in a corner or along one side, it is unpleasant to read and the viewer will move on quickly.
In order to achieve good balance, you need to figure out ways to spread the elements around, distribute the text and image in such a way as to create a balanced composition.
Why Use Balance?
In order to be comfortable and functional, a page needs good balance. People are more used to balanced designs and will stick around much longer to actually absorb your message.
A balanced design in one in which the visual weights on all the elements are equally dispersed throughout the layout. Visual weight is the illusion of physical weight of a visual element on a page. A bold headline, for instance, will have more visual weight than the body copy.
Most beginners either clump all the words and graphics tightly together or spread the elements evenly all over the layout as if to fill in all the corners. Both of these tactics result in layouts that lack true organization, which makes it harder for the reader to get through the layout to the message. What is required is a considered and deliberate balanced arrangement of visual elements on the page.
Before you start trying to find the balance in a composition, you need to decide what visual elements should be emphasized and how these elements belong together. Logically group items and place them together on the page: pictures with their captions, maps with their legends, and so on. Once you start to group chunks of information together, you will need to counterbalance it on another part of the page with another element or group of elements.
Symmetrical vs. Asymmetrical Balance
There are two main types of balance you can achieve: symmetrical or asymmetrical. A symmetrically balanced layout is one in which the visual elements are mirrored from side to side or from top to bottom. In order to create one, simply draw a line down the center of the page and arrange identical or similar groupings of visual elements on both sides of the line. That means you have the same visual pattern and weight on both sides of the axis. This is a quick and easy way to create a page design, but it is not always the best. Centered layouts appear formal, dignified, and stable. They have little dynamism, little energy. They are safe, which may not do your content any favors.
If you want a composition with some energy, use the asymmetrical layout. In an asymmetrically balanced layout, visual elements are arranged unequally on either side of the imaginary axis, yet they composition comes together in a harmonious, balanced, way. This means that creating an asymmetrical layout is more challenging because the size, color, and proportion of each individual element must be weighed and considered against the visual weight of everything else on the page. The upside is that the asymmetrical layout tends to have more energy and unpredictability, lending visual interest to the overall piece.
Proportion
Finding the right balance in a page depends a great deal on finding the right sizes for all the visual elements that you need to place in the space. Finding the right size or proportion means you need to decide which elements need to be emphasized as most important. Then you need to carefully orchestrate the rest of the elements around that focal point in a harmonious and visually balanced sort of way. This takes practice, so dive in and start experimenting!
