Balance

Balance refers to the composition seeming complete and whole, not leading your eye off of the page or leaning or being off kilter. This can be referring to specifically where the objects in the image sit in the frame, or the color placement, font choice, use of value, and so much more. If the image is not balanced, something seems out of place.

The first image is a pretty traditional idea of balance. The subjects are spread evenly across the page, with the background lines framing them in a sort of a triangle. The youngsters are in the middle with an adult on either side, making the piece symmetrical and feel balanced for this image. The way each person is posed helps balance the image, as the mother and father are both leaning in, and the children are as well. The brighter tones of red blend in because they are used more than once, and the little boy's shirt employs red in a more muted tone, which helps it blend in and keep the eye traveling throughout the image, giving it balance.

This second picture also employs balance. There are two main things going on in this image - the object sinking and the impact created at the surface of the water. Although the entire image implies a downward motion, the upward splash creates a balance with this. The viewer's eye does not go off the page, but is compelled to travel around the image to see the motion and interesting things happening. Even the small tints of orange in the surface splash provide a balance to the very orange object surging below.

This is a logo I designed for Cornerstone. I feel like this logo is a good example of balance, and balance is actually something I had to think a lot about while creating this image. The center is pretty equally weighted, with everything falling toward the middle of a circle - and a circle by itself feels quite balanced. However, I wanted to the words to be twisted off-kilter to add interest, but in order to still feel balance the dots going around the rest of the circle are there. The dots are darker as well, because your eye naturally wants to read the words, so bolder dots were needed to pull the eye back and make the image feel right.