10 rules of composition all designers live by

You could have the most beautiful graphic elements in the world, but if your composition isn’t up
to scratch, all of that goes out the window.

So, it’s safe to say that composition is pretty important. So, what exactly is a composition?
Well, in very simple terms, it’s the part where all the separate elements come together to form
a whole. When all of your type, your images, your graphics and colors, come together to form
one cohesive design.

A successful composition means that you have arranged, distributed, aligned and compiled your
design in a way that not only looks good but is also highly functional and effective. So, let’s run
over a few tips, tricks and techniques that will have you mastering composition in no time.

01. Find Your Focus

Just like we were all told in school, having focus is a very important thing. A key element to any
good composition is a strong focal point, as it helps your viewers’ eyes naturally settle on the
important pieces of your design first.

When choosing your focal point, keep in mind that the main goal of any design is communica-
tion. Whether you’re communicating an idea, some information, or simply a feeling or emotion,
your design is telling a specific story, so be sure to choose a focal point that helps this story get
told in the strongest, most effective way.

Some ways to draw focus are through techniques like scale, contrast and leading lines, all of
which we’ll discuss in depth later on. But for now, let’s analyze an example.

This example by Matthew Metz is for fashion retailer Nordstrom, so the focal point of this piece
is the model and her clothes. So, she has been placed centrally, has type and a block of color
positioned in a way that highlights and draws attention toward her face and then to her outfit,
and leading lines direct the eye down her frame and gradually toward more information.
 Matthew Metz

Similarly, this poster design by Shauna Lynn Panczyszyn puts the focus on the photograph of
the man. The design orients the focus to this image by placing him centrally, framing him with
the graphics, and using the doodled graphics to lead the eye in toward the photograph.
Shauna Lynn Panczyszyn
02. Direct the Eye With Leading Lines
Just like you point at something when you want people to look at it, by positioning certain lines
and shapes in certain ways you can control the viewpoint of your design, aka where viewers’
eyes go when they see your design.

A common use of leading lines that you might be pretty familiar with is within flowcharts.
Flowcharts use lines to direct your eye from one point to the next in an obvious way. Check out
this save the date card by Paper and Parcel that uses flowchart leading lines to present the
information in a fun, unique way.

Paper and Parcel

Leading lines can also guide you to various tiers or points of information. As previously dis-
cussed, you want the eye to first land on the main focal point, but then where does it go? By
positioning and adjusting your leading lines you can not only direct the eye to the focal point
of your design but also throughout the rest of your design.

For example, check out this poster design by Design By Day that uses strong leading lines to
first guide the eye toward the main focal point (the title), and then to various rungs of infor-
mation.
 Design By Day

Of course, not every design you create will have such obvious lines for you to adjust to direct
viewpoint, but this doesn’t mean you’re up the creek with no paddle. Find shapes and lines
within your images and graphic elements and use them to direct the eye in certain ways.
An example of this is seen in this poster from 1 Trick Pony that uses the line along the man’s
left arm to draw the eye to and from the logo and then down the rest of the image. In this way,
the shapes of the image have been used to direct the eye.

1 Trick Pony
03. Scale and Hierarchy
Scale and visual hierarchy are some of those creative fundamentals that can really make or
break your designs, so it’s important to have a good hold on them to maintain a successful com-
position.

In a very brief explanation, hierarchy is the arrangement and design of elements in order to
visually signal importance. So, you might make a more important element bigger and bolder
than a less important element which might be smaller and fainter.

Hierarchy is particularly important when it comes to type. For a much more comprehensive
and detailed discussion of typographical hierarchy, be sure to check out why every design
needs three levels of typographic hierarchy.

Why Every Design Needs Three Levels Of Typographic Hierarchy

Scale is often used to help communicate hierarchy by drawing attention toward and away from
certain elements, thus signifying their importance to the communication.

For example, this poster design by Jessica Svendsen uses a scaled-up image as the largest ele-
ment, which helps it attract the most attention and focus. The title is the boldest, largest piece
of type as it is the most important piece of written information for this specific communication,
and the body copy is much smaller. So, scale has been used to signal the focal point, and to
maintain typographical hierarchy.
 Jessica Svendsen

Scale is also an incredibly handy tool for giving your design proportion and a sense of size. You
can make things seem incredibly detailed, intricate and tiny, or you can make them big and
grand.
For example, this poster design by Scott Hansen uses a scaled-down, small silhouette of two
people to help communicate the massive scene in front of them. This instantly gives viewers a
sense of the grandeur and size of the scene.

Scott Hansen
By contrasting a small scale element next to a large scale element in your composition, you can
create a number of different effects.

04. Balance Out Your Elements

Balance is a pretty important thing in many regards, and your designs are absolutely no excep-
tion.

But how do we strike that perfect balance within our designs? Well, let’s run over two common
types of balance and how to master it.

First, we have symmetrical balance. Symmetrical balance does what it says on the tin – it bal-
ances your design using symmetry. By reflecting certain design elements from left to right or
top to bottom, you can create a strong sense of balance.

Here’s an example of symmetrical balance. This wedding invitation design by Jennifer Wick
uses a symmetrical composition by reflecting the positioning of type and graphic elements. By
using symmetry, this design is made elegant, clean, and beautifully balanced.
 Jennifer Wick

Another kind of balance, and an arguably more common type is asymmetrical balance. Asym-
metrical balance is also a fairly self explanatory term, in that it concerns creating balance with-
out symmetry.

Here’s an example of successful asymmetrical balance. This poster design by Munchy Potato
employs asymmetrical balance by dispersing and scaling elements purposefully.
 Munchy Potato

In the above design, the three central circles are the largest elements in the design, but they
are balanced out both by the type, the fine line graphics, and the small, heavily textured circle
in the bottom corner.

A good technique for mastering asymmetrical balance is to think of each element as having a
‘weight’ to it. Smaller objects might ‘weigh’ less than larger objects, and heavily textured ele-
ments might ‘weigh’ more than flatly colored elements. Whatever the case for your design, bal-
ance these weighted elements out until you reach an effective equilibrium.

05. Use Elements That Complement Each Other

You’ve heard of complementary colors, but what about complementary design elements? One
key element to a successful and effective composition is taking the time to carefully and pur-
posefully select each element of your design so that each part complements the whole.

A common error in compositions is using images that don’t complement each other. So, when
using more than one image in your composition, try to make sure that they all look effective
and cohesive when grouped together. There are a lot of different ways to achieve this, here are
a few pointers.

Use photos from the same photoshoot. This is an easy way to ensure your photographs look
cohesive as they were likely all under the same art direction and photographic style. Check out
this magazine spread by Jekyll & Hyde and Elena Bonanomi that does just this to create a beau-
tiful layout.

Jekyll & Hyde and Elena Bonanomi

Color your photos similarly. With the prevalence of filters and image adjusting tools, you are
able to color and adjust your photos to have more cohesive and complementary palettes. Check
out this poster design by A is a Name that runs a monochromatic filter over each photograph to
tie each image together in a more natural way.

A is a Name

Choose photos that are shot in similar ways. Try to choose images that have similar aesthet-
ics and styles, for example, if one image is heavily minimal, choose others that are minimalist-
inspired to complement that. Have a look at this website design example by Feint that has
chosen images that all have a certain ruggedness to them with plenty of texture, wood grain
and cooler tones.
 Feint

Creating a cohesive layout also means pairing type and imagery that complement each other.
Each different typeface when used under the right circumstances has certain tones and ideas
associated with it – a detailed, cursive typeface with lots of swashes and curls for instance
might signal elegance and sophistication. So, choose your typeface with purpose and intention.

For example, this poster by Adam Hill is for an event “celebrating the inextricable link between
tattoos and good old fashioned rock ‘n roll.” and the use of traditional vintage-inspired imagery
is complemented by a bold cursive title and bold slab serif body copy. A clean, thin, and mini-
mal sans-serif typeface wouldn’t fit the rougher, rock and roll vibe the imagery and concept
have developed.
 Adam Hill

06. Boost (or Reduce) Your Contrast

Contrast is an incredibly useful tool for both highlighting and hiding certain elements of your
design. By upping the contrast or using a high contrast feature color, you can help an element
stand out and draw attention. Likewise, by lowering the contrast, you can make an element
fade into the background.

This example by Thebault Julien uses high contrast colors to frame and highlight the focal
images, and uses bolder typefaces to highlight the key pieces of information. But also uses
lighter, thinner type to push the other elements out of the spotlight a little.
 Thebault Julien

While the vibrant color in the previous case works to highlight the design, this next example
uses a vibrant color to hide an element of the design.

This poster by Melanie Scott Vincent uses a yellow paperclip on a yellow background, creating
a low contrast difference between the object and backdrop. While this is usually a thing to
avoid, in this case it reinforces the event name ‘ignored everyday’.
In this way, contrast can also be used to ‘hide’ certain elements of your designs as well as cre-
ate meaning within them. So, use contrast with purpose with your design, whether it’s to
adjust focus toward an element or away from it.

07. Repeat Elements of Your Design

Repeat after me: “Repetition makes for successful compositions.”
To maintain consistency and a logical layout, try to take specific elements from one section of
your design and apply it to other sections. Maybe a style of type can be applied to more than
one section of your design, or perhaps a graphic motif can be used more than once. So, try to
tie your design together with repeated elements.

Repetition is a key factor when it comes to multi-page layouts. Repeating elements of your lay-
out and/or design helps each page flow into the next, creating a cohesive set of pages.

For example, check out these magazine spread designs by Mauro De Donatis and Elizaveta
Ukhabina. In this design, each layout’s composition is similar, the only differences being in the
written content, colors, and use of imagery. This repeated composition helps readers quickly
recognize the format and therefore familiarize themselves with the information much quicker.
 Mauro De Donatis and Elizaveta Ukhabina

For more tips, tricks, and examples, be sure to check out this designer’s checklist for creating
multi page layouts.
Repetition is also a key factor when it comes to designing single page compositions. By repeat-
ing graphic elements you can keep your design strong and cohesive just like this event poster
by Jessica Hische is.

This poster repeats certain type stylisations, graphics, and line weights throughout to maintain
a cohesive and effective design. If it were to suddenly use a thick, bold, pink line-based graphic
somewhere in the middle, the cohesion would be lost. So, by keeping the font palette and color
palette small and the graphic styles simple and alike, the design is kept beautiful and strong.
 Jessica Hische

When designing, keep a record of the typefaces, line weights, colors, etc. that you use, and try
to repeat them somewhere else throughout your design to tie the piece together as a whole.

08. Don’t Forget the White Space

The easiest way to offend white space is to refer to it as ‘empty space’. Emptiness implies that
it should be full of something, that it’s not doing its job, but this is not quite the case.

White space when used strategically can help boost your design’s clarity and overall look by
balancing out the more complicated and busy parts of your composition with space that helps
your design to breathe.

For example, check out this design by Cocorrina that uses white space to balance out the image,
texture and type to keep the design clean and sophisticated.
 Cocorrina

So, how do we use white space in our designs?

Scale down your graphic elements. By scaling down your imagery, type, graphics etc. you can
create some luxurious white space around your focal points while staying within the frame of
your original graphic. For example, check out this recipe card design by Serafini Creative that
scales down the central design to create a beautiful frame of white space around the design.

Serafini Creative
Don’t fill up every space with content. As mentioned just before, white space is not empty
space, it’s doing its own job and serving its own purpose, so don’t feel the need to fill any white
spaces you have with more content.

For example, have a look at this website design by Creative Web Themes that uses one image to
represent the product, one bold title, two small lines of copy, and then a link to further infor-
mation. Thanks to this simple layout, and the way that not every space has been filled with
content, there’s plenty of room for white space to do its thing and let each element breathe
neatly and effectively.
 Creative Web Themes

When designing your piece, ask yourself if each element of your design is 100% necessary. Do
you need all of that type, do you need the bright blue title, do you need 3 different images? By
subtracting the unnecessary bits and pieces of your design, you can create a more direct design
that makes the most of white space.

09. Align Your Elements

When designing a composition that has many elements in it, don’t just throw them all on the
page and call it a day, because aligning these elements is a quick and easy way to transform
your design from shabby to chic.

Having trouble aligning your elements? Canva will erase that trouble for you in no time with a
super handy automatic alignment tool. Just drag your element around the page and Canva will
align it with your other elements and snap it into place, just like magic.

Check out this example of a beautifully aligned magazine spread by Huck. The strong degree of
alignment between its elements creates a sharp, neat and effective layout that is easy to navi-
gate and is pleasing to the eye.
 Huck

Aligning your elements in a strong and logical way also helps you create order amongst many
elements. So, if you’re using a lot of images, a lot of type and/or a lot of graphic elements,
alignment might just be your very best friend.

Alignment is also very important when dealing with type. There are many ways to align your
type, but a good rule of thumb for longer pieces of copy is to stick with left alignment as this is
the easiest for the eye to navigate and make sense of.

20 Design Rules You Should Never Break

10. Divide Your Design Into Thirds
The rule of thirds is a simple technique where designers divide their designs up into three rows
and three columns, and at the points where the vertical and horizontal lines meet is where your
focal points should be.

Designer William Beachy plays by this rule with his designs as you can see in the example
below. By placing focal points at each line intersection, his design is made striking and effec-
tive. Beachy also notes that “By avoiding a centered design you add some motion and interest.”

Go Media

Using the rule of thirds is a great way to kick off your design’s composition as it gives you a
quick and guide to positioning and framing your elements.

Check out this website design by Gajan Vamatheva for National Geographic and take a moment
to imagine where the rule of thirds lines would intersect. You might notice that the lines would
intersect over the focal point of each image – the two hikers in the first timage, and the largest
bird in the second. The lines would also intersect at points around the text boxes, drawing the
eye to these points.
Gajan Vamatheva
A great way to get started with your design, particularly if you’re going to employ the rule of
thirds is to start out with a grid. Grids can help you align your elements in a more logical way
and have a clearer understanding of where the focal point/s of your designs will lie. Be sure to
check out this tutorial on using Canva’s grid tools to give your designs a little more structure
and order.

Using Canva Grids

When you find a design that you think is very effective, try to mentally break it down and look
for the underlying structure that it was built on. Did it use the rule of thirds? Or maybe it used
a specific grid layout. Either way, dissect inspirational examples and take a leaf from their
books wherever you can.

Over To You
There are a lot of things to consider when putting together your design’s composition. Particu-
larly if you’re a beginner, it might take you some effort, and a lot of time spent moving things
around, resizing elements and then moving them around again, but keep at it.