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AWAKE Wild About Art

Using Visual Principles of Design

1. Items placed on diagonals have a greater sense of movement than those in a vertical or horizontal position.
   
2. Placing items in the upper half of the picture plane gives them a sense of freedom or triumph. The bottom half of the picture plane is heavier or more weighted down.
   
3. By not placing main items in the center of a picture, more dynamic movement will be brought to the piece. Main items in the center of the page seem more static.
   
4. Light backgrounds look safer than dark backgrounds.
   
5. The bigger an object is, the stronger it looks.
   
6. Sharp points on items look scarier than rounded edges.
   
7. Items of the same color are associated with one another more so than items of the same shape.
   
8. Space can be created using perspective in a picture. Two effective techniques are overlapping and vertical stacking (items further back in a picture plane are higher vertically, and get relatively smaller the further up they are).
   
9. Contrast between dark and light help us see a picture and its components better. For example, black and white are the most contrasting colors.