As part of Shabaqo Academy, we have an interesting series called Design principles 101. These design principles will help you learn how elements of the design interact and how implementing them is the key to creating engaging visuals. This set of articles is a great opportunity for everyone interested to learn about design especially if you are just starting, but can also be a great reminder for everyone who is a professional at it too.
To learn more about all the Design principles check here. And to follow up on Design principles 101: Contrast click here.
Design principles 101: Balance
So far we covered two parts in our design principles series, Hierarchy and Contrast. We move on to Balance. Equally important as the other two, balance represents the way we distribute the weight of objects, colors, shape, texture, and size visually. It is extremely important to know how elements within the design scale.
Types of balance
Weight of objects
Before we start to introduce the topic through differences, we should know that there are three main types of balance. These are symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial, and crystallographic balance.
- Symmetrical balance
- Asymmetrical balance
- Radial balance
- Crystallographic Balance
What is a Symmetrical balance?
Symmetrical balance is a situation when we place objects of the same weight onto a central line. The elements don’t have to be 100% identical such as a mirror image but it is important that objects are of similar weight on each side.
What is an Asymmetrical balance?
Asymmetrical balance is a situation in which we place objects of the same weight on both sides of a central line, and is achieved by the total weight of the objects. This means that the object on one side has the same weight as 10 objects on the other side.
What is a Radial balance?
Radial balance is a situation in which we play with the weight of the objects across different points (not only the central line). Elements radiate from the center equally.
What is a Crystallographic Balance?
Crystallographic balance is achieved by giving equal weight to a large number of elements. Those elements aren’t of a perfect symmetrical balance but rather distributed.
Balance of colors
The colors in balance could be achieved in many ways. Depending on the designer and his idea, just like with the weight of the objects, colors could play a huge significance in that matter. The balance with colors is achieved by combining small areas with lighter colors and big areas with darker ones. We covered the importance and psychology of colors in our article here. You can also download our short guide here.
Balance of shape
Achieving balance with shapes can be managed by combining many objects of different shapes and complexity while still leaving empty space either above and below or on the sides of some design.
Balance of texture
To make things stand out, you will see a lot of designers using the balance of texture. They tend to combine large empty areas with solid colors and textures to signify their importance.
Balance of size
The balance of size is achieved by gradually increasing or decreasing the size of the elements. When the elements are large the heavier it appears on the visual and vice versa.
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