Balance the Weight of Graphic Elements

The "weight" of a graphic element is related to both its size and its density. To a lesser extent, weight is determined by color, with darker colors adding more weight than lighter ones. If a page contains many elements of many different shapes, sizes, and colors, achieving an agreeable balance can be difficult. One solution, in keeping with other principles, is to simply reduce the number of graphic elements. Otherwise, a trick of the trade is to squint until all of the graphic elements blur slightly, reducing insignificant "noise" such as ragged paragraph borders and randomly distributed "light" elements. The resulting blurs are much easier to balance. Include everything on a page—titles, page numbers, etc.—in your considerations of balance.