Welcome to Week 6 in our Design Principles Readers Challenge. Each week we’ll be posting information about a different design concept, together with sketches from Becky Fleck at Pagemaps, and our design team, that work to demonstrate the concept. We’d love you to join in by creating your own layouts, either using any one of Becky’s sketches OR creating your own design that showcases that week’s design principle. This week we are looking at the use of the rule of thirds in design.
Please EMAIL your pages or cards to us by next Tuesday 26 June to appear in our Readers Challenge blog post.
Please try and use products supplied by Aussie Scrap Source brands (you’re quite spoiled for choice there!).
Our favourite layout each week (as voted for by our design team) will win a prize pack of Aussie Scrap Source goodies!
WEEK 6: Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds is a compositional tool used in photography as well as graphic design, and is based on the idea that the most interesting compositions are those in which the primary elements are off-centre.
To achieve this, a photograph or image is divided into nine by two imaginary, equally spaced horizontal and two vertical lines (imagine a noughts & crosses board), and the most important elements of your layout should be placed either along these lines, or at one or two of their intersections.
It is believed that intentionally placing important elements in these positions gives your design more tension, energy and interest than simply centering them.
Janine based her LO on the card sketch for the Rule of Thirds Design Principle. By creating an inverse L shape in her design, Janine has used the top and RH side thirds of the page to cluster all her design elements, allowing a block of white space in the bottom LH area of her page.
Janine set off the design by using the gorgeous Pink Paislee Spring Jubilee range, with lots of fun watercolour techniques for her background paper.
Kim has used My Mind’s Eye Indie Chic Citron range to create this happy layout. She principally used the two horizontal lines from the rule of thirds grid for this layout, but note that she has included one of the photos at the intersection in the bottom left corner of the grid.
As usual we’ve included above a couple of Pagemaps by Becky Fleck for you to use as a guide when designing your layouts. You may choose to use one of these, base your design on one of our design team’s layouts, or make up your own design. It’s up to you!
