Rules of Design

bottom to the top panel, while the outer two bars stop at the top of the center panel. To my eye, the bars affect the visual weight. All three bars start in the bottom panel, but only the center bar (with the visual aid and support of the outer two bars) reaches all the way to the top of the top panel. This has the visual effect of placing more weight in the bottom panel (see image 3-24). If this doesn’t make sense—stay tuned, I will get into this in the next chapter.

Before I move on, I want to drive home once again that—as shown in this Greene and Greene piece—rules are nothing more than training wheels. If you endure the rules too long, they become inflexible. They can gain control and leave little opportunity for true creativity. I do not try to apply the rules in my work, but I am often aware of their presence—they are too ingrained in me. I never concern myself with ratios, and I never say to myself, “I cannot do that because the rules say so.” The rules are no longer an intellectual exercise for me. Instead, I just feel them—and they do not rule me!