dbp01 test skills 3
Design Beautiful Pages— Rectangular Grid Test Your Skills Challenge 3 by Linda Sattgast
Trapped Space What is trapped space? According to the Design Basics lesson: “Proximity happens when you place related accents close together so the eye processes them as one unit. This is a good principle to follow when working with clusters of elements or cluster of photos. You want to try to avoid what we call trapped space, which is an illogical break between two things that should go together.”
Take the Quiz So let’s test our skills. I’ll show you a series of images, and for each one you need to answer the following question: Is there trapped space?
Page 1
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
The answer is no because the space between the grid pieces are uniform and expected, and the space around the outside is connected. Example 2: Is there trapped space?
Page 2
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
The answer is yes. When I remove the center piece, we suddenly have an empty space where we don’t expect it. This space is trapped in the middle of all the other pieces. This space actually might work, though, because my mind sees a frame outline, which is logical and not entirely unexpected. But usually there’s something in the middle to frame—perhaps some journaling or element, or a cluster of elements, or a title. Example 3: Is there trapped space?
Page 3
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
When I see this grid, my mind recognizes that the middle piece belongs. It’s less stable than a perfectly straight grid, but tipping the piece gives it energy, and that can be exactly what the page needs, as long as the tip isn’t too drastic. Tipping a little is good, but if you tip a lot it’s much harder to make it look good. The verdict? There is no trapped space here even though the amount of space between the tipped grid piece and the other grid pieces isn’t the same. Example 4: Is there trapped space?
Page 4
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Answer: No. There is no trapped space. The empty space in the corner connects with the surrounding space around the grid. You could put something there (a cluster or some journaling), but you don’t have to. Example 5: Is there trapped space?
Page 5
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Yes. The space between the two bottom pieces is distracting. It’s the first thing my eye is drawn to. Even though it connects with the outside space on one end, it’s bound by three other sides. It needs something to fill it—probably a mat under the right photo that extends to the left a ways. Or you can simply move the photo further to the left.
Page 6
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Example 6: Is there trapped space?
Page 7
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Yes. There is space between the title and the grid. The title is “floating.” It’s better to bring the title down close to the grid. Here’s a little tip about titles. If you have a long title, use two different fonts and make the main word or words stand out. But mostly, buddy it up to the focal point of your page. By the way, the small space between the “p” and the “g” in the word Spring isn’t enough to be a problem. And remember, on a rectangular grid the title usually looks best if it lines up with one of the edges. Here the left edge of the title is flush with the left side of the grid. Fonts used: Alex Brush and Orator Std. You can see that trapped space is closely related to proximity. When there’s trapped space, two things are close but not close enough.
Page 8
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Example 7: Is there trapped space?
Page 9
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Let’s look at the cluster in the lower right corner first. There is no trapped space. The elements are closely connected with each other and the cluster as a whole is aligned and connected to the edge of the page. The principle of Proximity says that items on your page shouldn’t be random. They should be aligned to something, either to the focal point, in this case the grid, or to the edge of your page or to a paper or journaling mat, etc. The cluster as a whole is aligned with the edge of the page, and within the cluster the elements are aligned to each other. What about the bird? It isn’t really aligned to anything, is it? It’s just hanging out there in space. A bird is an unusual element because we expect a bird to be flying freely. Same with butterflies and bees. So I would say that the trapped space rule is much more loose for these kinds of elements. But even if that’s the case, proximity often looks better. What if we aligned the bird with the title? This looks very nice and still keeps the diagonal flow from upper left to lower right.
Page 10
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
What we’re trying to avoid is a random effort to fill the space with elements that aren’t aligned with anything and photos that create trapped space. “Random” is not a design. It’s the lack of design. Don’t feel bad if you catch yourself doing this. I did it when I first got started! But now you know better and you can look to see if your photos and elements are in Proximity with no trapped space.
Page 11
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Let’s go back to the designed page. Whew! I feel more peaceful already. Credits Challenge by Linda Sattgast Elements from: Under the Pier by Kellie Mize 4 Seasons by Micheline Martin Mother Is A Verb by Krystal Hartley Celebrate by Julie Billingsley
Page 12
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Trapped Space What is trapped space? According to the Design Basics lesson: “Proximity happens when you place related accents close together so the eye processes them as one unit. This is a good principle to follow when working with clusters of elements or cluster of photos. You want to try to avoid what we call trapped space, which is an illogical break between two things that should go together.”
Take the Quiz So let’s test our skills. I’ll show you a series of images, and for each one you need to answer the following question: Is there trapped space?
Page 1
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
The answer is no because the space between the grid pieces are uniform and expected, and the space around the outside is connected. Example 2: Is there trapped space?
Page 2
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
The answer is yes. When I remove the center piece, we suddenly have an empty space where we don’t expect it. This space is trapped in the middle of all the other pieces. This space actually might work, though, because my mind sees a frame outline, which is logical and not entirely unexpected. But usually there’s something in the middle to frame—perhaps some journaling or element, or a cluster of elements, or a title. Example 3: Is there trapped space?
Page 3
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
When I see this grid, my mind recognizes that the middle piece belongs. It’s less stable than a perfectly straight grid, but tipping the piece gives it energy, and that can be exactly what the page needs, as long as the tip isn’t too drastic. Tipping a little is good, but if you tip a lot it’s much harder to make it look good. The verdict? There is no trapped space here even though the amount of space between the tipped grid piece and the other grid pieces isn’t the same. Example 4: Is there trapped space?
Page 4
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Answer: No. There is no trapped space. The empty space in the corner connects with the surrounding space around the grid. You could put something there (a cluster or some journaling), but you don’t have to. Example 5: Is there trapped space?
Page 5
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Yes. The space between the two bottom pieces is distracting. It’s the first thing my eye is drawn to. Even though it connects with the outside space on one end, it’s bound by three other sides. It needs something to fill it—probably a mat under the right photo that extends to the left a ways. Or you can simply move the photo further to the left.
Page 6
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Example 6: Is there trapped space?
Page 7
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Yes. There is space between the title and the grid. The title is “floating.” It’s better to bring the title down close to the grid. Here’s a little tip about titles. If you have a long title, use two different fonts and make the main word or words stand out. But mostly, buddy it up to the focal point of your page. By the way, the small space between the “p” and the “g” in the word Spring isn’t enough to be a problem. And remember, on a rectangular grid the title usually looks best if it lines up with one of the edges. Here the left edge of the title is flush with the left side of the grid. Fonts used: Alex Brush and Orator Std. You can see that trapped space is closely related to proximity. When there’s trapped space, two things are close but not close enough.
Page 8
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Example 7: Is there trapped space?
Page 9
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Let’s look at the cluster in the lower right corner first. There is no trapped space. The elements are closely connected with each other and the cluster as a whole is aligned and connected to the edge of the page. The principle of Proximity says that items on your page shouldn’t be random. They should be aligned to something, either to the focal point, in this case the grid, or to the edge of your page or to a paper or journaling mat, etc. The cluster as a whole is aligned with the edge of the page, and within the cluster the elements are aligned to each other. What about the bird? It isn’t really aligned to anything, is it? It’s just hanging out there in space. A bird is an unusual element because we expect a bird to be flying freely. Same with butterflies and bees. So I would say that the trapped space rule is much more loose for these kinds of elements. But even if that’s the case, proximity often looks better. What if we aligned the bird with the title? This looks very nice and still keeps the diagonal flow from upper left to lower right.
Page 10
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
What we’re trying to avoid is a random effort to fill the space with elements that aren’t aligned with anything and photos that create trapped space. “Random” is not a design. It’s the lack of design. Don’t feel bad if you catch yourself doing this. I did it when I first got started! But now you know better and you can look to see if your photos and elements are in Proximity with no trapped space.
Page 11
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
Let’s go back to the designed page. Whew! I feel more peaceful already. Credits Challenge by Linda Sattgast Elements from: Under the Pier by Kellie Mize 4 Seasons by Micheline Martin Mother Is A Verb by Krystal Hartley Celebrate by Julie Billingsley
Page 12
Design Beautiful Pages—Rectangular Grid © 2017 Qwiklearn.com, all rights reserved.
