4 Basic Ways to Achieve Balance in Your Design

 

Throughout human history, people have always been attracted by symmetry and balance. A study made by the National Library of Medicine looks into how people prefer shapes and landscapes that are symmetrical. As such, for your design and plans to succeed, you’ll need to find the perfect balance in your work of art. Doing so makes it easier for you to gain the attention of several clients and people.

Similar to how the golden ratio is used to achieve the best symmetry possible in an art piece, you can use various methods to ensure that your design looks perfectly balanced and appealing to both the trained and the untrained eye. Mastering the art of symmetry and asymmetry is taking one step closer to fully becoming a great graphic designer. Learning these skills will contribute to your future.

To help you out, this guide will discuss the four basic ways to achieve balance:

Symmetrical Balance

This is the classic way to achieve balance in your designs. It happens when the piece has the same visual weight on both sides. This results in a repetitive or mirrored image, appearing completely and equally balanced. Being the best example of formal balance, this promotes a piece that is highly organized and balanced.

Because of its visual appeal, symmetry is most used to tidy up images that look messy and flawed. It works well with wide areas and layouts, allowing designers to enhance an awkward area of the piece. Use these for a good framing technique for call-to-actions, buttons, or even on physical media like custom stickers.

Asymmetrical Balance

In an approach that is more dynamic than the symmetrical balance type, the visual weight is distributed unevenly while being in equilibrium. In the design, there can be two elements with the same weight but have different shapes. Unlike the ever-consistent symmetry, asymmetrical balance produces images that have varying levels of attractiveness. This generally makes them more interesting. It may seem a bit difficult but with a little practice, the results are well worth it.

This concept is all about having confidence and trying out different colors and elements of the layout. While the image may not be symmetrical, you can still achieve great balance. Asymmetry often feels modern and engaging. While it is nice to have order and organization, experimenting with a different point of view is critical to your piece standing out.

Radial Balance

This is quite an uncommon balance type in art with the main concept being the spiral patterns that you often see in nature. Think of water ripples, rays of sunlight, and the inside of shells. These patterns have an odd, hypnotic quality. Images that make use of the radial balance draw people towards the central focal point, the middle of the spiral.

As we’ve mentioned before, radial balance often occurs naturally within nature - hurricanes, whirlpools, waves, and flower petals are different examples of this beautiful form. In the world of graphic design, using spirals is the best way to create radial balance. These can be used to draw people’s attention towards the center. Sales flyers and promotional stickers often use this principle to mesmerize the viewer.

Mosaic Balance

Going to the opposite side of the symmetrical spectrum, we have mosaic balance. Also called crystallographic balance, it is done by giving equal weight to multiple elements. The result doesn’t produce a perfect symmetrical pattern but a chaotic balance of elements where they combine into one, whole thing. Because the eyes can’t focus on a single image, it is tricked into seeing it as a balanced whole.

If you are planning to use this balance type, you should use designs that are crammed with different elements. If you have something too bare, the eyes will be able to locate the individual items, diluting the intended effect. This is a rather fun and creative way of doing things and will surely catch the eye of people who pass by.

Final Thoughts

Those are the basic ways for you to integrate balance into your designs. Adding these elements to your concepts can give it the edge over others. Not to mention, mastering them will give you more skills to work with. So if you’ve got a client with a specific demand, you will be ready to meet any challenge that may come your way.