"Visual Organization"

• Not directing the audience through the design is misdirecting them
• Eye movement: the typical eye moves from left to right and top to bottom; controlling eye movement within a composition is the matter of directing the natural scanning tendency of the viewer's eye; the eye tends to gravitate towards areas of complexity first. 
• In pictures of people, the eye is always attracted to the face and particularly the eye
• Light ares of a composition will attract the eye, especially when adjacent to the dark area
• Diagonal lines or edges will guide eye movement
• Optical center: the spot where the human tends to enter the page; it is slightly above mathematical (or exact) center and just the left
• It takes a compelling element to pull your eyes away from this spot
• Z Pattern: our  visually pattern makes a sweep of the page, usually in the shape of a "Z"; maps out the way the viewer's eye moves throughout the design; objective is to lead the eye to the important things 
• Use no more than two fonts on a page and make sure the fonts complement each other
• Avoid all uppercase letters unless it is necessary  
• Choose the correct font; make sure you work with the a tone or feeling that goes with the design
• topography.com/email/2010-03/index.htm
• Effective page design maps a viewer's route through the info; lead the eye to the important parts of the design
• Visual Hierarchy: it will establish focal points based on their importance to the message that is being communicated
• A crucial part of the design process is to establish an order of elements
• Ask yourself...What do I want my viewer to look at first...second...third?
• All designs involve problem solving; all th elements must come together to convey a message
• The Grid: way of organizing content on a page using any combinations of margins, guide lines, rows and columns; originated by Modernism
• The grid can assist the audience by breaking info into manageable chunks and establishing relationships between text and image; consist of a distinct set of alignment-based relationships that act as guides for distributing elements across a format 
• Every design is different therefore every design will require a different grid structure...one that addresses the particular elements within the design