Hi Folks
I haven’t written a blog post for a few day so it is time
I used to run a live webinar called ‘Fresh’ and I am going to continue this tradition, However I have tried to access D Tube today without any success
Sooo, you get it in writing
Today I am going to talk about a design element called The Rule of Thirds –
This is a well known concept in the world of Photography and the world of Visual Artists.
This is a design principle that is tried and tested and is one that everyone should apply to their marketing promotions, eg; Splash Pages, Capture Pages etc
We are always trying to find that page that pops, that page that attracts attention and that page that quite simply, ‘looks good’
So the Rule of Thirds – People love things in threes – eg, everyone starts a competition with 3, 2, 1 and we love our ABC’s
The rule of thirds was the creation of painters in the Renaissance and then adopted by photographers. Renaissance painters found that when someone is looking at a work of art that their eyes want to roam, they want to take in a context to the work, in essence the work needs to tell a story and the Rule of Thirds allows for that story to take place,
If your main subject/ call to action, is in the middle of the page it means that your viewer will not look elsewhere and the subject becomes static, the message is click here first and foremost and the rest becomes faded into the peripheral.
This is why you place your main subject matter closer to one of the edges, it allows the opportunity to look around, it allows the eye to wander. This will allow people to linger longer on your splash page getting better understanding of what the page is about
Divide your blank page into a block grid of 9 before you even start to add anything else, then allow your information to spread out and work with it until it looks well balanced and attractive to the viewer to take it all in.
Create your header attracting line in the top 3rd row, allow it to move from the top third column to the middle. More information can then be placed into the middle row, this can spread out across the columns, but this is not your main call to action
The call to action should be placed in the bottom row, take it to the edge, Let your viewer travel towards it.
Look at this example of a splash page that utilizes the Rule of Thirds
The splash page below shows an example of how the page is basically split into 3 rows and 3 columns
It is not about putting everything into the center, it is about taking your audience on a journey and allowing them to travel within the page to then reach the call to action.
People love to be a part of what they are watching and letting them go on a journey gives them ownership and will most likely get a click through as they have come to the end of their journey already involved.
Information is placed into each section but not restricted to that section
Nothing is centered and the message starts in the top left and travels to the bottom right
This is a natural reading pattern of those in the western world and is the reading pattern that most are familiar with.
This page becomes a journey, it becomes a story and it becomes one that you the viewer becomes invested in, as you are the story receiver and the story teller.
When you create your next splash page, experiment with the Rule of Thirds, and experiment with telling that story and treat it as a journey that you want your viewer to take.
Oh and remember, Split Testing is a must, and that is a story for another post
Have fun on your journey and keep it Fresh