Day Seven - Gradation

Day 7! The last design principle to explore is Gradation.

Gradation is the use of a series to form successive stages.

The eye naturally views a picture (or layout) from the bottom or the side. It then moves along the light spots or dark values in the layout, depending on which is dominant, resting on the focal area.

Gradation is one way to guide the eye around a layout! Gradation of size and direction produce linear perspective, while gradation of colour from warm to cool and tone from dark to light produce aerial perspective.

Gradation can also add interest and movement to an individual shape. A gradation from dark to light will cause the eye to move along the shape.

In the layout below I used Gradation of the honeycomb shape to guide the eye across the page by making the design narrow from 5 to 1 as it crossed the page. I also used Gradation of color within the design by using dark brown on the left and gradually moving to white on the right. This automatically draws your eye to move from the left to the right, while stopping to view the pictures and journaling along the way!

I challenge you to create a layout using Gradation! Load it to the Croppin Paradise gallery and then link it up to the Day 7 Challenge Thread for a chance to win a RAK! - You have until November 15th to complete all of the Design Element Challenges!

We hope you have enjoyed the Design Series this week! We hope reminders of these simple design principles will help you to create pages that "wow" every time! We cannot wait to see your work!

Thanks for joining us!

xoxo

Trish