Selection of Elements. When you look at the design of an image, reflect on both the elements included and their organization.

In Figure 14.2, the shapes and colors are arranged so that the building’s interior looks like daytime — bright, safe, warm, and cozy — which accentuates the cold, dark, and dangerous night outside. The bright areas in the middle of the photograph are surrounded by shadowy spaces with Batman sitting on the edge between the two. In this way, the image balances light and dark. Batman has come in for a few moments, but the photo’s organization still connects him with the inhospitable world outside.

Relationship of Elements. Visual elements may be related to one another or to written text that appears with them. In Figure 14.2, for instance, the sign identifies a familiar, everyday location. However, the four big plate glass window panels, stretching across the front of the shop, suggest the way that drawings in a comic book march across a page, separated into neat rectangular frames. But here, no “thought balloon” emerges from Batman’s head, allowing viewers to share his thoughts and learn why he is out of context. The photograph is arranged to raise, not answer, the question of what Batman is doing here. It invites viewers to interpret what is happening, to insert their own thought balloons over Batman’s head. At the same time, it makes the point that we rarely know other people’s stories, thoughts, and interior lives. When we see strangers in public settings, they are essentially unknowable, as this figure is.

Use of Space. An image may be surrounded by “white space” — empty space without text or graphics — or it may be “busy,” filled with visual and written elements. Effective white space provides relief from a busy layout or directs the reader’s eye to key elements. The image in Figure 14.2 uses the white-tiled wall above the counter and the white blinds to set off the shadowy darkness. Figure 14.6 specifically uses empty white space to call attention to the Volkswagen’s small size. When this advertisement was produced back in 1959, many American cars were large and heavy. The VW, a German import, provided consumers with an alternative, and the advertising emphasized this contrast.