Composition and layout

Member lesson

Rule of thirds

Lesson 17 of 27 in Composition and layout.

Square Grids & The Rule of Thirds (Ep 4) | Foundations of Graphic Design | Adobe Creative Cloud · Adobe Creative Cloud
Lesson

Divide the frame into thirds horizontally and vertically and put the important things on the lines or their intersections. It is the first compositional rule most people learn and it is genuinely useful, mainly because it stops the beginner's habit of centring everything.

on theintersectionnot the centre
A frame divided in thirds with the subject on an intersection.
A woman crouching on a beach holds up a phone whose screen grid places a sailboat on the right-hand line and the horizon on the lower line.
A photographer lines up a small boat on one of the grid lines her phone shows. The rule of thirds is mainly a cure for putting every subject dead centre.
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  1. Question 1, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Dividing the frame in three each way and placing interest on the lines.”

    • Rhythm
    • Rule of thirds
    • Saccade
    • Module
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “A more elaborate system of proportional division built from rectangles and their diagonals, set out by Jay Hambidge around 1920.”

    • Squint test
    • Breakpoint
    • Rhythm
    • Dynamic symmetry

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