Using Balance: Part 2

Asymmetrical balance (also known as informal balance) is our topic this week. Again, if we imagine our pages divided evenly in four sections, it is a little easier to work on this. The center point (where the lines meet) is the axis. The goal is to make each section around this axis equal in visual weight. Thinking about the weight of items will help us be able to balance easier as we make pages. As mentioned before, light items are less weighty or dominant than dark items; large heavier than small; patterned or heavily textured items are heavier than non patterned or non textured elements. This can also mean that a small dark item might balance out a larger item that is of a lighter color. Or a textured item of a light color will balance out an item that is darker but without texture. Putting words or thought to this process makes us more aware and will help us create a better balance on our pages.

Let's look at some examples to help us understand this process. If we look at the page in portions and fill up one half of the space with a large picture. Then, in the other half of the paper something of equal weight is placed. In the examples by Isla and Annette in this post, the larger picture is balanced by either several smaller pictures or with journaling.


It might be easier to picture the asymmetrical balance by dividing the page differently than the four equal spaces discussed above. If you think about the page in three portions and still use the same idea of similar weight you might have picture(s) in one section and very different elements in the other sections, but it all balances. Here are a couple of pages that might be easier to see if thought of in three equal columns, rather than the four portions at first. It will work on the four portions as well, but is not as easy to see right off.



Sometimes it is taking items and moving them around and around on a page before the balance becomes clearer. At this time we are only focusing on the pictures and elements on the top of the page. We're trying not to look at the way the paper is put together under it. That will come later in the series. Take a look at billboards and magazine ads this week. See if you can name the way that they acheived balance in their designs. Did they use symmetrical or asymmetrical balance. Did they balance items in an informal style by using the same colors and sizes? How did they use light and dark or textures or sizes of items to acheive balance. If you try a simple assymetrical design this week. Link your examples here if you want. We'd love to see them. Next time we will continue to explore this topic with examples and the building of a page showing the many balance factors mentioned this week.

Using Balance in Scrapbooking

If you have ever taken any kind of art class you probably were given a list of items that make good art - meaning what would make things pleasing to the eye. Items like color planning, balance, scale, emphasis etc. As mentioned last week, we are going to start talking about some of these elements. The topic for this week is balance.

As a principle of design, balance refers to the way the elements of art are arranged or distributed. Good balance creates a feeling of stability in a work; a pleasing distribution that provides equal visual weight on a page.We have all seen balance used in decorating when someone puts two lamps on a table-one at each side.

Visual weight is determined by the color, size, texture or amount of detail of an element. Maybe another way to think of weight is with the word dominance. For example, darker objects are heavier or more dominant that lighter color items, those with more texture of pattern are more dominant than those without it, and larger items are obviously 'heavier' than small items.

Two types of balance are usually discussed-symmetrical and asymmetrical. Symmetric balance, also known as formal balance, occurs when the two sides are identical — they reflect each other, kind of like a mirror. All items are distributed equally around a central axis. In other words, if you divide your page into equally sized portions with imaginary lines horizontally and vertically you would see items equally placed on the page.

This may seem like a lot of jargon, to me balance is something that many people do innately. I also think the way that a person uses balance is specific to that person's preferences. However, even for those who are not born with a sense of balance it is sommething that a person can learn or we can all learn to do better.

Let's use real examples for this topic. A layout that has an even number of pictures put in a square is a balance almost everyone can see easily. In this example, you see that Annette used 9 squares which are lined up evenly. Although each square is not exactly the same thing as in the lamp example, these squares are evenly spaced at the same levels on the page and it provides a very symmetrical looking layout.

Here is another example of a symmetrical layout. This one is even a little more symmetrical than the first example:
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These symmetrically balanced layouts are calming, soothing and very pleasing to the eye, aren't they. I think everyone can easily see how the page looks balanced. Try a symmetrically balanced page this week and see how it fits with your way of scrapbooking. We will talk about asymmetrical balance next week. This is what we all use the most, and it can be difficult at times to acheive such a nice balanced look to our pages using assymetry.

Scrapbooking Basics

Scrapbooking is a visual art. We all want our pages to look good. Granted there is more to scrapbooking than just the pictures, we still want our items to look their best. No matter what type of visual endeavor we try, there are basic principles that define it. In endeavors such as painting, photography, home design, home decor, graphic design, and other visual arts there are terms and concepts that apply to it. It is putting study to what makes things look good. What makes something visually pleasant when we look at it. Granted we all have some variance in what looks good. However, I think reviewing these principles will be a starting place. Each week, we plan to discuss some of the basic terms and concepts as they relate to the scrapbooking or other paper arts & crafts that we do.

I hope most of you will find useful information in the posts. I hope that it will be a learning experience, even for some of the more experienced people. I especially hope it will be helpful to those of you feeling scared or insecure about scrapbooking and increase your confidence as you look your work in this way. It is not specifically scrapbooking 101, but it is the basis of all artistic design and a methodology to learn how to put together even better work. Think of it as the structure of the project.

Starting next week, we will start the discussions on this subject. Be on the watch for posts about principles of design such as balance, harmony, contrast, dominance, movement and unity. Once we see how that goes, we will see about discussing visual design elements such as line, shape, form, value, color and texture. Be sure to give us your thoughts!