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Take a second look at our front cover.
Peek at all we have to offer in this issue.
On Our Cover
Cute as a Bug
The Design Experiment
The Leftovers
Fiery Passions
Summer's To Do List
Not-So-Secret Crush
Going Places
Card Corner
The Showroom
Discovery Drive
Design Square
Cluttered Blvd
Chic Street
Street Maps
Pet Park
Unique Boutique--new!
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Digital Kit
Pixel
Place
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Past Issues |
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Design
Square
Janneke Smit
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Balance in a three dimensional object is easy to understand; if balance isn't achieved, the object tips over. In a two dimensional composition, like a scrapbook page, balance is the concept of visual equilibrium or stability. There are two forms of balance: symmetrical and asymmetrical.
Symmetrical Balance
The word symmetry comes from the Greek roots syn, meaning with or together, and metron, meaning measure. Symmetrical balance can be described as having equal "weight" on
opposite sides of a centrally placed fulcrum. When the elements are arranged equally on either side of a central axis, the result is
bilateral symmetry. This axis may be horizontal or vertical.
A symmetrical composition can have more than one axis of symmetry. Biaxial symmetry has two axes of symmetry; a vertical and a horizontal axis. Snowflakes and kaleidoscopes have three axes of symmetry. Radial symmetry uses any number of axes, since the image seems to radiate out from a central point.
Symmetry means that the sides are exact mirror images of each other. But since objects in the real world are not truly symmetrical, perfect symmetry can only be achieved in abstract images. When symmetry occurs with equivalent but not identical forms it is called approximate symmetry, or near symmetry. When the sides become too different, symmetry ceases to exist and balance depends on asymmetry, which we will discuss on the next page.
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Editor’s
note:
You can easily see the
mirror image about the vertical axis. The
two halves are not exactly the same however;
the photo and the title are not completely
symmetrical, and Katey switched the colors
of the shapes which makes the design more
interesting.
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Father by Katey
Green. Digital Supplies:
Paper: Aged and Antiqued
by Handmaid Designs, Tuscany by Debbie
Pearson, Elements: Aged and Antiqued
Furbelows by Handmaid Designs, Font: Port
Credit.
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Journaling:
up the stairs - climb the first cargo net - across the metal grate bridge - up the second cargo net - around to the front - down the two-story corkscrew slide - race back to the stairs – repeat. The playground at the Boneyard, Dinoland at Animal Kingdom, WaltDisneyworld.
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Dino-Sized Fun by Janice Badger. Digital Supplies:
Paper: Naturally Krafty, Autumn Medley and Simple Comforts by Katie Pertiet, Almost Spring and Urban Butterfly by Dana Zarling, Digital Overlay: Out of a Box Overlays by Katie Pertiet, Digital Brushes: Dinofabulous brush set by Anna Aspnes (all at Designer Digitals), Software: Adobe Photoshop Elements5.0 and Lightroom, Fonts: Century Gothic, Cry Kitty.
Design note:
I love Anna's dinosaur brushes, they're so realistic! But for my page I wanted them to have skin, not to just be a pencil sketch. To create the dinosaur stickers, first I added the paper for that dinosaur as a layer on my layout. Then I stamped the dinosaur brush in a new layer over the desired paper. With the dinosaur layer selected in the layers palette, I used the magic wand tool to select the area outside the dinosaur. In the layers palette, I changed the selection to the paper layer and hit the delete key. Then I merged the brush layer and the paper layer, and placed the dinosaur sticker where I wanted it.
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Editor’s
notes:
From the three examples on
this page, Libby’s layout is the least
symmetrically balanced. Her page still has a
symmetrical feeling because the total block
is centered on the page and smaller blocks
and elements inside the large block are well
balanced (but not symmetrically).
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Live by Libby Mac Neilly. Supplies:
Papers, Chipboard, Tags, Stickers, Buttons: Rusty Pickle, Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, Floss: DMC, Paint:
Plaid, Ink: Stewart Superior.
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© ScrapStreet, 2008
All Rights Reserved
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