Patterns and order. That is what the eye seeks to find in random placement.
Susan says, “Here a flock of birds has landed in a small copse of leafless trees creating a random pattern. Our eye is compelled to explore this photo trying to find order, balance and rhythm, anything that can create order out of random bird placement. Because no color is present to guide us, we rely on the lines created by the tree branches and the black oblong shapes of the birds to find order or a hidden message. In this case, the search is hopeless, because there is no pattern. The same will happen with your presentation slides if you haven’t created a logical design for your audience to follow. Gradually the viewer will give up trying to create order from chaos and may, in fact, give up on your content, too. Our human minds will try to untangle and make sense of disorder. Your audience may become frustrated if your design has no discernible pattern or any internal logic. It pays to help your audience follow your presentation by showing them where images, text or data can be found from slide to slide. You can introduce new ideas by breaking the expected pattern or using an unexpected placement of your slide elements.”
Lucia says, “Yes, I agree, there is total chaos in this scene. But I saw an opportunity to create an abstract. Was I successful in my efforts? It depends on your point of view. You could see it literally – a tree full of blackbirds in silhouette against the late afternoon sky. Or you could see the big picture as shapes and lines: the major shape of the tree created by individual lines (branches) and splotches (blackbirds), dividing the scene with a wave-like edge against the blue background. The result is a quasi-abstract. How do you see it? Do you see something else?”
