Principles of Design - Assignment 1

Jacci included a few example exercises at her about.com site. One of them is to suggest changes to an advert, considering each one of her principles of design.

Starting here, this is what I came up with:

• Balance - the original design is symmetrically balanced. This doesn't lend to focusing on the text, though, but rather two lawn mower elements flanking the text. I'd remove the mower on the right, make the one on the left bigger, and stretch it down the left side of the page. This will focus the reader down toward the contact info (bottom of the ad).
• Contrast - the bright color title is good, but the low-contrast contact info is probably not a good idea. Better to have both primary in color (red!). The phrase "big & small, mow them all" doesn't really stick out, either - better to have it in bold.
• Alignment - The symmetrical setting keeps everything vertically aligned, but that makes the page seem stable and settled. Those probably aren't good for this setting. Instead, mis-balancing the image and the text will help.
• Proximity & Unity - putting the contact info closer to the business title will bring those two together. Also, the mower image should probably be closer to the actual title (Bradley's), to link those two.
• White space - Not enough white space in the original; that makes this hard to read. Removing one of the mowers gives a little more flexibility. This has no easy fix since the ad space is likely limited.
• Repetition - The list of services could be presented in a more interesting way ... but I'm a little lost at exactly how with the limited space. Put them in front of and behind the mower, like grass being cut?? Dunno.

This is what she suggested. We agree on a bunch of stuff, and she added some text changes. I'll admit I thought the text was redundant. Good call on using one type face to unify the text and make it more clear.

Moving right along ...