For those of you who need design lessons. Squint at Pam's and imagine it without the strip of dark tape at the bottom. It would be nice - but that strip of dark adds so much to the overall design of the envelope.
And here is the kicker....notice how there are three things lined up to the right and white space on the left. It is IMHO so much nicer than if strip of tape had been in the left corner and there was a strong diagonal from corner to corner. There are no hard and fast rules - but I have a very strong preference for things that do not lead your eyes into opposite corners.
The kids facing east also contributes to the harmony and balance of the right justified layout. The cancel adds to the design. I find that I am frequently pondering how an envelope will look after it is canceled. Not that I can control it - but it's fun to see cancels that work well with the other elements.
The dark strip is annoying. I covered it with a piece of white paper and it worked better. Without it the eye travels smoothly along the inverted backward S. But only IMHO. I like the 3 and 1 rule at play too. However, those blues pop, and the stripes are repeated x3 in the cancelation mark, the boy's shirt and that strip at the bottom. SMH to clear my eyes. I dislike critiquing people's work because I often see things I don't like among all the good that I DO like. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteThe threes play well on Eric's envelope also. Gosh! I can't stop seeing them now! LOL. You've created a monster. :D
I had to look up SMH - shaking my head.
DeletePersonal preference is a big part of deciding how to arrange the elements. It's nice to have another designer weigh in on how she sees things.
One of my favorite parts about teaching is asking people to tell me why things are the way they are - as they are working on a piece. With the envelopes on the blog - too much time passes - and I don't think people can remember what they were thinking about....but if Pam is reading this -- and remembers how she made her decisions -- it would be fun to hear from her.