Visual Organization

• Not directing an audience through a design is misdirecting them 

Eye Movement 

• The typical eye moves left to right and top to bottom
• Controlling eye movement within a composition is a matter of directing the natural scanning tendency of the viewer's eye 
• The eye tends to gravitate towards the areas of complexity first
• In pictures of people the eye is always attracted to the face and particularly the eyes
• Light areas of the composition will attract the eye, especially when adjacent to a dark area
• Diagonal lines or edges will guide eye movement

Optical Center

• The spot where the viewer's eye tends to enter the page; slightly above, or exact, mathematical center and just to the left
• It takes a very compelling element to pull your focus away

Z Pattern

• Our visual pattern makes a sweep of the page, generally in the shape of a "Z"
• Effective page design maps a viewer's route through the information; the designer's objective is to lead the viewer's eye to the to the important elements or information

Fonts

• Use no more than 2 fonts on a page or in a composition
• Make sure the fonts used compliment each other
• Avoid all uppercase letters unless it is absolutely necessary
• Choose the right font 
• Calligraphy shouldn't be used as body text
• Use www.typography.com/email/2010_03/index.htm to help pair fonts

• all design involves problem solving

• all the elements must come together to solve problem

The Grid

• organizing content on a page using any combination of margins, guide lines, rows, and columns
• can assist the audience by breaking info into manageable chunks and establishing relationships between text and images
• instituted by modernism
• a grid consists of a distinct set of alignment-based relationships that act as guides for distributing elements across a format
• every design is different; therefore every design will require a different grid structure - one that addresses the particular elements within the design
• a grid is used to help clarify the message being communicated and to unify the elements
•