Where you place things matters

1st of 3 Lessons

Where you place things contributes to unity, movement, and balance, and directs emphasis.

How position interacts with and affects Your design Decisions

Balance, unity, and movement are the three principles that must be in sync to achieve a satisfying design, and position is a subtle but effective way to achieve this goal.

Position works in concert with other elements to organize the design, establishing significance and hierarchy. Use it to direct the eye and increase or diminish emphasis.

Because it is a subtle element compared to something like color or shape, it is easy to overlook its mighty impact. Whether directed by shape, contrast, or color, our eye responds to the location of a component. Position controls the strength of the effect.

Position choices to affect your design:

Placement of the focal point at the center is static; off-center is dynamic
The distance away from the center a component is placed affects its importance; moving pieces away from the center stimulates movement.
Create larger shapes by closely grouping smaller units
Scattered spacing of similar elements equalizes the importance of individual units
Layer the units to imply importance; items on top or in front gain prominence.

Positioning Negative Space

The center is the strongest, most stable position in a design. It is a typical arrangement in jewelry often seen when a central gem dominates the layout. It can also be boring, fixing the gaze with no desire to explore the design.

Both brooches depicted above are quite wonderful, but the differing position of the negative center space illustrates the variation in movement and emphasis created by this design decision.

The open center of Gralnick's piece dominates this spare design. The radiating lines and arrows in the outer margins accomplish movement, drawing the eye toward the edges, if only for a moment.

The negative space in Pulvertaft’s piece has less power due to its off-center location, offering balance with the remaining area's heavily textured surface.

Sandra Enterline

Enterline stabilizes this brooch using a centrally located negative space in the bottom component, and the widely spaced bars along the edge of the crescent contain balancing weight.

Position Influences Emphasis

These brooches by Isabell Kellner use similar compositions and share a radial symmetry, but the effect is quite different.
L. Placing the smaller pieces away from the center brings attention to them.
R. The small, quiet negative space positioned in the center gives it emphasis, creating balance.

Another design utilizing a centrally located focal point, effectively a negative space, is this brooch by Lin Stanios. This dominant component is balanced by locating the small textured elements far from the center on the outer edge, giving them weight and creating movement.

Position Influences Emphasis

Attention is drawn to the pearl by placing it away from the center. This position helps balance the larger textured disc by emphasizing a smaller and quieter component.

Group components to create larger forms and give emphasis

The green mass in Faris’ brooch becomes a new shape by grouping the many small components. Its contrasting color and location away from the center add movement.

Schmitz uses scattered spacing of similar elements to equalize the importance of the individual units and create texture or pattern.