Balance and composition in lettering layouts

1Where the words sit

The same words can look calm and dignified, or lively and modern, depending only on where they are placed on the page. A school certificate, a memorial plaque and a wedding invitation usually have every line centred, which feels formal. A concert poster or a magazine cover often lines everything up on one side and leaves bold empty space, which feels energetic. Composition is the arrangement of all the parts of a design, and balance is the sense that the arrangement is stable, that no side is too heavy.

2Visual weight

Every block of lettering has a visual weight, like the weight of a child on a see-saw. Big, bold, dark or brightly coloured letters are heavy; small, thin, pale letters are light. A heavy block near the centre can balance a lighter block further out, just as a heavy person sits nearer the middle of a see-saw.

3Two kinds of balance

• Symmetrical balance: every line is centred on one vertical axis, so the two halves mirror each other. It feels calm, formal and traditional: certificates, invitations, plaques, book title pages.
• Asymmetrical balance: the parts are placed off-centre, often all lined up on the left, and balanced by visual weight and empty space. It feels lively and modern: posters, magazines, websites.

4Alignment

• Centred: each line is centred; both edges are uneven.
• Flush left: every line starts at the same left margin; the right edge is uneven (ragged). The easiest to read for more than a few lines.
• Flush right: lines end at the same right margin. Use only for a few short lines.

Choose one main alignment for a layout and keep to it. Mixing several alignments at random looks untidy.

5Margins and the optical centre

• Leave margins (empty borders) round the edge so the lettering does not look squeezed. Keep the two side margins equal.
• If you place a word exactly in the middle of a page, it looks slightly too low. Designers lift it a little to the optical centre, so the bottom margin is a little bigger than the top one.
• Use white space (empty space) on purpose: a few words with generous space around them look confident; a page filled edge to edge looks crowded.

6Composing the lines

• Break lines at natural phrases: "PROTECT OUR / ENVIRONMENT" reads better than "PROTECT OUR ENVIRON- / MENT".
• Avoid a single short word alone on the last line of a paragraph; rewrite or rebreak the lines.
• Use a simple grid: faint pencil lines dividing the page into equal columns and rows. Start blocks of lettering on the grid lines so their edges line up.

7Centring a line by hand

1. Letter the line lightly on scrap paper, using the same height and spacing as the final.
2. Measure its length.
3. Starting point = (width of the space − length of the line) ÷ 2, measured in from the left margin.

Worked example: a welcome sign

Niyonzima letters MURAKAZA NEZA ("welcome") on a board 60 cm wide and 30 cm tall, in capitals 5 cm tall on two lines, centred.

1. Line 1, MURAKAZA (8 letters): he estimates an average capital as three quarters of its height, 0.75 × 5 = 3.75 cm. Letters: 8 × 3.75 = 30 cm; gaps: 7 × 0.8 = 5.6 cm; length 35.6 cm. Start: (60 − 35.6) ÷ 2 = 12.2 cm from the left edge.
2. Line 2, NEZA (4 letters): 4 × 3.75 = 15 cm; gaps 3 × 0.8 = 2.4 cm; length 17.4 cm. Start: (60 − 17.4) ÷ 2 = 21.3 cm.
3. Vertical position: two lines of 5 cm with a 2.5 cm gap make a block 12.5 cm tall, leaving 30 − 12.5 = 17.5 cm. Exactly centred would be 8.75 cm above and below. For the optical centre he makes the top margin 8 cm and the bottom 9.5 cm.
4. Check: after lettering the scrap version he measures the real lengths, which are a little different from the estimates, and adjusts the starting points before lettering the board.

8Make it: one sign, two balances

1. Choose the text for a class door sign, for example your class name, your class teacher's name and a short motto.
2. Letter it on A4 in symmetrical balance: every line centred, with the optical centre and equal side margins.
3. Letter it again in asymmetrical balance: everything flush left on a grid line, with the heaviest words at the top and open space on the right.
4. Pin both up, look from three metres away and write which suits the class better, and why.

9Look again

• The 1796 playbill in the last lesson is a clear example of symmetrical balance: every single line is centred on one axis, which gives the crowded sheet a calm order.
• The Greek inscription in the first lesson of this unit shows an early grid: its letters are carved at regular intervals, so they line up in columns as well as rows.

Practice