Balance Practice

Principles of Design

If the elements of art are your ingredients, then the principles of design are your recipes for how to use those elements of art.

Unity (same)

Repetition
Alignment/Margins
Balance:
- Formal/Symmetrical
- Informal/Asymmetrical

Variety (different)

Contrast
Rule of Thirds
Emphasis
Hierarchy/Movement

Balance

An even distribution of visual weight to look and “feel” stable
Elements can be balanced by size, complexity, color, and direction

Formal/ Symmetrical

Same visually on both sides (mirrored)

Approximately symmetrical
Radially symmetrical
Quiet and static

Informal/ Asymmetrical

Different visually on either side

dynamic, engaging, creates a sense of energy and movement

How to Create Balance

Establish an axis
Decide if you want to use approximate formal/symmetrical balance or informal/asymmetrical balance
- For formal/symmetrical: mirror each side
- For informal/asymmetrical:
  - Use knowledge, perception and “feeling” (requires practice)
  - There is no right or wrong way

Find Template in Shared Drive

Open Finder
On the left side, scroll down to "Locations" and click "Google Drive" (NOT "My Drive")
Click "Shared drives" > "Graphic Design 1 Templates"
Double-Click "Balance Practice.ai" to open.

Save as A Creative Cloud File

Go to "File" > "Save As..."
Click "Save to Creative Cloud"
Click "Save"

Zoom Out

Zoom out so you can see the group of elements (photos/text) and 2 artboards
- To zoom out, on your keyboard hold down the "command/cmd" key and click the "-" key.
- To move your view around, hold down the spacebar on your keyboard and click and drag around.

Use a Rectangle to Make 1/2 Inch Margins

Click on the first blank artboard (a slim black border will show up)
Select the Rectangle Tool
Click on the artboard to bring up the "Rectangle" pop-up
Adjust:
- Width: 7.5 in
- Height: 10 in
Click OK
In the "Properties" tab, under Align, click the third and sixth icon to "Horizontal Align Center" and "Vertical Align Center"
Right-click on the rectangle and lcikc "Make Guides"
Repeat for the other blank artboard.

Use a Rectangle to Make a Center Axis

Use the Rectangle Tool to create a rectangle to fill your whole artboard.
With the rectangle selected, click "Object" > "Path" > "Split Into Grid..."
Change:
- Columns:
  - Number: 2
Click "OK"
Right-click on the grid and click "Make Guides"
Repeat for the other artboard.
In your "Properties" panel, click the middle icon next to "Guides" to lock your guides in place.

Create Backgrounds

Go to the "Layers" panel
Select the "Background" layer
Double-click on the "Fill" color swatch square at the bottom of the toolbar to open the Color Picker
Choose a color for your background, and click "OK"
Select the Rectangle tool
- Click the 5th icon down or click "M" on your keyboard
Click and drag from the top corner to the bottom corner and create a background for each of your artboards.
In the "Layers" panel click the empty area to toggle the lock on so that the "Background" layer is locked.

Create Text Hierarchy

Zoom in on the text ("cmd" + "+" then hold the spacebar and drag around)
Create text hierarchy using the 50% guideline:
- Select the "AirPods" text box and change the size to "100 pt"
- Select the "(3rd generation)" text and the "$169.00" text boxes
- Change the size to "50 pt"
- Leave the "Lightning Charging Case" text box at "24 pt"
- Select the last three text boxes and change the font to "12 pt"
- This creates a 100, 50, 24, 12 pt. text size hierarchy.

Change Text Color (Optional)

Select all the text boxes.
Double-click on the "Fill" color swatch square at the bottom of the toolbar to open the Color Picker
Choose a color for your text, and click "OK"

Move/Duplicate Text to Both Artboards

Select all your text boxes and drag them over to the first artboard.
With them still selected, on your keyboard, press "cmd" + "c" to copy.
Click on your second artboard
Press "cmd" + "shift" + "v" to paste in place.

Choose Images to Use

Choose which AirPod image you would like to use for each poster.
- You may only use one image per poster
- You can use the same image for both posters ("cmd" + "c" to copy / "cmd" + "v" to paste)
- Or you can use a different image for each poster
Drag your chosen image over to the posters

Artboard 1: Create Approx. Formal/Symmetrical Balance

Zoom into your first artboard ("cmd" + "+")
Adjust the alignment of the text and objects and arrange them to create approximate formal/symmetrical balance

Reminders:

- Text Align Center: select the text box and click the second icon under "Paragraph"
- Align Objects Center: select objects and click on the second icon under "Align"

Artboard 2: Create Informal/Asymmetrical Balance

Zoom into your second artboard ("cmd" + "+")
Adjust the alignment of the text and objects and arrange them to create informal/asymmetrical balance

Reminders:

- Text Align: select the text box and click on the icons under "Paragraph"
- Objects Align: select multiple objects and clikc on the icons under "Align"

Mrs. Hodges' Examples:

Save

Because your file is saved on Creative Cloud, it will be a ".aic" file - this means Illustrator saves your file every 5 minutes.

If you see an asterisk (*), that means there are unsaved changes.
To save, in the top menu, click "File" > "Save"
- If "Save" is grayed out, it means your file has already been automatically saved.

Save as a PDF File

Go to "File" > "Save As..."
Click "Save on your computer"
Click the down arrow to the right of "Where"
Choose "My Drive" > "Graphic Design" > "5 - Principles"
Change the Format to "Adobe PDF (pdf)"
Click "Save"
Click "Save PDF"

Submit Google Drive Link to Canvas

In Finder:

Right-click on "Graphic Design" and click "Copy link to clipboard"
Paste the link in Canvas.

"I'm Done"

If you have more time in class, check out the "I'm Done" page.

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