ABSTRACT
The principles of design are what you do with the elements - think of the formal elements as the ingredients and the principles of design as the cookery. The design principles are defined variously depending on the context; graphic designers, artists and photographers have different needs. Visual balance can be hard to picture. With painting, the classical test was to divide the canvas down a central vertical line and judge balance between the two sides with respect to size of shapes, use of light and dark. Balance can be from side to side or top to bottom, but there is also the important balance in the depth of an image between foreground and background elements. Symmetrical balance means features of equal visual mass are equally spaced around the pivot. Asymmetrical balance means a lighter or smaller object can be farther away from the visual pivot. Movement is really the potential for an element to move.
