Graphic Design the New Basics Reading

The first section talks about Rhythm in relation to balance, time, and pacing. Balance is a fundamental human condition and allows us to go about our daily lives. In design, balance acts as a catalyst for form. Rhythm is a strong, regular, repeated pattern. There are many ways of achieving balance. Symmetry is not the only way, as asymmetrical design is typically better. In asymmetrical design, balance is achieved by placing contrasting elements in counterpoint to each other. In relation to time, rhythm can be shown by a repetition of elements. Rhythm and pacing should work together in design to keep the viewers interest, and add elements of surprise, and involve variation.

The importance of scale in design is discussed in the next section. Scale objectively is literal dimensions of a physical object or literal correlation between a representation and the real thing it depicts. Scale subjectively is one's impression of an objects size. Size and scale is very important in design, because it can make or break it. An design on the computer may look great until it is printed out because of scale. A design whose elements all have similar  looks dull and lacks contrast in scale.

Time and motion are very big parts of design. Any word or image that moves functions both spatially and temporarily. The big idea here is CHANGE. We need to imagine how to make an image move across a page or screen, and how to show this change. Think about elements over time. The reading talks about the persistence of vision, which is how the brain retains images for a split second longer than the images are actually before us resulting in the illusion of movement. When animating type, legibility is very important. It is crucial to keep the text on the screen long enough to read but not too long to drag on. Context of the text is also important