L1: Symmetry & Asymmetry

● Symmetry
– many natural organisms are symmetrical
– Ex: Human being - legs keep us balanced
– Leaf outgrows outward in a symmetrical pattern

– called radial symmetry

– Symmetrical layouts are inherently stable and balanced and that’s why
designers, gravitated towards centered layouts

– in a symmetrical design, I should be able to draw a line top to bottom and it’s the
same on either side or I could draw a line through the center, and it’s the same
above and below
● Asymmetry
– In design, is distributing elements so that moving them around until they feel
balanced.

– matter of intuitive perception

– Nature is full of asymmetry

– it has a tree growing up in the courtyard

– the flush left type anchors the compositions towards the left but there’s enough
activity on the right to keep each design balanced.
– the layouts feel alive yet balanced

– when we use the term dynamic asymmetry, what we’re really referring to is
design that really moves and changes, - design in which the viewer’s eye is
actively moved around and through a design.

● symmetrical layouts can be dynamic, too

– you can vary the size of the elements or you can crop them on the page in a way
that suggests tension and movement and growth

– Centered type seems like a very traditional composition, but here,

– …by making it large, by pushing it together, compressing the line spacing.

– so, the composition may be centered, but it’s very active
– …created out of typography and then there’s a burst of type, a disruption of
type on the left side that upsets the perfect symmetry of the design.

● A layout and a book or a magazine is always symmetrical because of that strong

central spine down the middle

– …a series of photographs right through that spine, right through the center of
the book and he’s also created typography that plays very actively with the spine
of the book.
– …it’s yellow on one side and white on the other. The designer has taken his Web
design and applied it to a print publication.

– …that becomes the kind of book within the book.

– It’s very centered but it’s also dynamic and playful.
– It engages the reader.
– in this poster series, some solutions are strongly symmetrical and some are
asymmetrical.
– in every case, the designer has introduced tension and movement through
contrasting colors, shapes, and patterns.

● tool: symmetry vs. asymmetry

– you can look at any piece of design and ask, “Is it the same, left and right, or is it
different?”

● Symmetry
– balanced
– Makes sense
– But we have to harness it in a creative and dynamic way not just the dumb thing
right in the middle

● Asymmetry
– it energizes the page by encouraging the viewer’s eye to move all the way
organically through the page in a much more exciting way.