Thinky Thoughts Thursday, Images: Visual Placement

[rocsfan.livejournal.com]

Hello! I’m a lurker here on 1 million words, for the most part. Not only am I not a writer, but also I have a Hawaii Five-0 blog that takes up a huge amount of my time. I visit the comm here when I can and always enjoy it!

I was asked if I’d be interested in writing about graphics, because I identify myself as a graphics person much more than a writer. I feel kind of weird doing this because there are so many talented people out there, but this comm seems positive-focused, so I figured “why not?”

I thought I’d talk about one of the basic guidelines of graphic design: the Rule of Thirds. Following this rule can greatly improve your graphics, no matter what you think your level of talent is. It isn’t the only way to make pleasing pictures and layouts, but it’s an effective one.

The rule is straightforward: picture that your virtual canvas is divided into thirds horizontally and vertically, which results in a tic-tac-toe kind of layout, like this.

The strongest points visually are the four places where the lines intersect. The second strongest places are the lines themselves. Place your focal points with this idea in mind.

This is a basic screenshot from Hawaii Five-0. It’s close to the rule of thirds with Steve, but not quite there. (Screencaps are often weird, because they were framed to be part of live action, not still shots.)

I can crop it down and put Steve’s eyes directly on that upper right intersection of the lines, which also put his body along the right line.

Do you think the “after” is more appealing? Is your eye drawn to the focal point? (I won’t even start on how my eye is automatically drawn to Steve because…well, he’s Steve and he’s in uniform).

Here’s another example, a photographer’s portrait of Scott Caan. Again, we’re close to the rule of thirds but  not quite there.

I can crop it with his face hitting on the rule of thirds intersections and lines on the left side of the photo.



This works with icons, too, even though they’re small and square.



I used the rule of thirds in this collage. The focal point is the larger picture of Danny’s hand reaching for the coffee, and it’s situated at the lower left intersection. Hmmm, now that I look at it, I think I got the rule of thirds overlay off center, didn't I? I hope you get the idea, anyway!

These guys are so hot and handsome, though, that any picture of them is appealing, IMHO. So here’s an example with a picture I took of a deer in one of our state parks. It isn’t a great shot, because it was autumn, so I have a brown deer in a brown forest. Plus, the sunlight wasn’t at a good angle, and the silly deer wasn’t will to pose for me! But see how the picture was visually improved when I cropped it following the rule of thirds?

Before


After


With the guidelines so you can see how the deer’s eyes are the upper left intersection and his body falls along that left vertical



I’ve also done plenty of work where I didn’t follow the rule of thirds, and I definitely think they aren’t good. I like this collage, but it could have been so much better! I get carried away with experimenting with colors and textures and whatnot, and I forget the basics. Luckily for me, I still have my day job! (Keep in mind that you don't have to always hit the intersection points. Sometimes keeping to a single horitzonal or vertical line from the grid is enough to  make the graphic visually appealing.)



Here are a few other things I’ve made. What do you think about the placement and visual appeal?  How would you improve it? (Don’t worry, I know some of these quite bad!) :)

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Comments

[thtwzjustadream.livejournal.com]

Very nice job explaining - I'll use my guides in Photoshop more often. Generally I eyeball placement, and use the guides for things like lining up sponsor logos more precisely. I can see how this will help with better composition all around.

One other thing you do well in these examples is bring the subject 'in' a little more. The trick is to make the subject more front and center without losing so much background that the image becomes less appealing. The deer is a good example - go too much further in and you'd lose context and it wouldn't look as good.

Thanks for this, great tips!

[rocsfan.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I tend to eyeball things, too, and sometimes it actually works. I forget to go back spruce up my alignments.

[haldoor.livejournal.com]

Wow, interesting. I wonder if a really good graphic artist does this unintentionally? They probably do, which is why we're impressed with how good the work is.

Thanks for the tips; I'll have a look at making it work for me on the few things I attempt (and don't you worry about not being talented - pshaw! You are WAY better than me)

[rocsfan.livejournal.com]

I suspect that a talented artist does do this by instinct. Much like a good musician will add emphasis and shading when they play, without planning it out first.

Thank you, but I honestly wasn't looking for a compliment! :)

[haldoor.livejournal.com]

I know you weren't, but it deserves to be said! ;-)

*stares at your icon for quite a while a bit*

[alba17.livejournal.com]

This is very interesting. Thanks for the tips! I'm very graphics-ignorant.

[rocsfan.livejournal.com]

Always happy to help, even though I know most people are serious writers.

[galadriel34.livejournal.com]

My teacher said never put the center of the drawings-paintings actually in the center. Move it elsewhere and keep the balance up between the colors (hot-cold, darker-lighter, dark-light, ect.)