Composition and layout

Member lesson

The margin as a system

Lesson 7 of 27 in Composition and layout.

3 Rules for Better Composition in Your Art · Artwod
Lesson

The interesting decision is often at the edge.

the hole is the figurethe disc is the figure
The same shape read as object or as background.
Two hands measuring the margins of an open decorated book with a steel ruler, with pencil ticks on a scrap of paper beside it.
Hands lay a ruler across an old book to measure the space around the text. Margins follow proportions you can measure and then repeat on every page.
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  1. Question 1, locked

    The Mughal folio sets its bird against a flat gold-brown field instead of a sky. What does that choice achieve?

    • It adds atmosphere and a sense of weather
    • The black-and-white bird leaps out against it
    • It makes the bird look further away and smaller
    • It lets the margin and the picture blend together
  2. Question 2, locked

    You put a ruler on the margins of a page you admire. What does the lesson say you will usually find?

    • All four margins are exactly equal
    • The top is larger than the bottom
    • The inside margin is larger than the outside
    • The top is smaller than the bottom
  3. Question 3, locked

    You have measured the margins of an album you admire and written them down as numbers. What does the lesson say this lets you do?

    • Hand the system to someone who has never seen it
    • Copy the album's artwork into your own work freely
    • Skip the logo sheet entirely in your brand guideline
    • Prove the album was made by a single hand

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