What's The Rule of Thirds in Graphic Design?

What is the rule of thirds?

The rule of thirds is a guideline for positioning the most important elements in your design.

It's good practice to use the rule of thirds when designing because visuals that follow this rule are more interesting and pleasing to the eye.

The rule of thirds is based on the idea that the human eye is naturally drawn to intersections where imaginary lines created by dividing an image into thirds both horizontally and vertically intersect.

By positioning your most important elements along these lines or at their intersections, you are creating visual interest and guiding a viewer's eye across your design as they take it in.

Why is the rule of thirds important?

The Rule of Thirds is important because it helps you create a balanced and visually appealing design.

A well-balanced design means that all the different elements are proportional to each other. This leads to a more aesthetically pleasing design that isn’t dominated by a single element and looks more natural.

When you use the Rule of Thirds, you can make sure your main subject doesn’t take up too much space in your image. By positioning it on or near one of the lines or their intersections, you can draw attention to your subject without dominating the composition.

If you want to create designs that catch people’s eye, then the Rule of Thirds can help with this too.

The human eye naturally gravitates toward intersections, so by positioning your subject there, you can help guide people’s eyes around an image and draw them in from the first glance!

Why is this method popular?

The rule of thirds is popular because it’s a simple design principle that can be easily understood (and therefore applied) by both amateurs and professionals alike.

It’s also easy to explain to others, making it great for sharing with co-workers. Of course, the fact that it allows you to create beautiful designs that are pleasing to the eye is the main reason why many designers use this method.

How do you use it?

It can be tempting to use the rule of thirds as a crutch for choosing a layout, but this is not a good idea. It's better to use the rule of thirds as a tool that helps you think about how you want your design to look, rather than taking its suggestions for layout and imagery for granted. This way, the rule of thirds can help you create more interesting compositions in which your content is more easily accessible.

While it may seem like using the rule of thirds would automatically mean your design will be symmetrical (not a bad thing!) or that all objects on your page should have one third on each side (a good thing!)—it doesn't work this way.

The rule of thirds is designed specifically with visuals in mind, not text or layout. So while it may make sense to center an image on one half of your webpage or tile it into perfect thirds across several columns…this isn't necessary if you're trying to put together an interesting graphical composition.

It's important to remember that just because something seems like it would look nice based on the 'rule of thirds' does not necessarily mean that it will look good when put into practice—and vice versa!

Learn how to use the rule of thirds in your next design project.

What is a grid system?

A grid system is a structured layout that helps you achieve visual consistency across your design. The system breaks your design down into rows and columns and uses these divisions to align elements, both vertically and horizontally.

Why are grid systems important? Two simple reasons:

• Consistent styling
• Organized content

We've talked about the importance of grid systems in helping you create balanced, harmonized designs.

You can use grids to divide your page into columns and rows in which to place content.

Grids are invaluable for creating a solid foundation for any design project, but what if there was another tool—a “rule”—that could help guide you through the placement of visual elements so they're more engaging and better balance out your design?

Enter the rule of thirds.

This simple rule will help you keep everything aligned within your grid while also adding a little extra oomph to your designs by telling you where it's best to position visual elements (like text or graphics) on the page.

Conclusion

Now that you know the basics of the rule of thirds, you're ready to apply it to your next design project!

Whether you’re building a website, designing an infographic, editing a photo, creating content for social media, or creating thumbnails for YouTube, you can use the rule of thirds as a guide for where to place important elements. With some practice, the rule will become second nature and you'll be able to navigate it with ease. The best part is that once you've mastered the rule of thirds, you'll be able to use it across all types of graphic design.