- Tension is a difficult concept to explain.
There's no scientific or mathematical perfect way
of making tension.
There are no hard-line rules that will make it work.
It's often more of a feeling.
But specific approaches can give the composition
a sense of energy
and create a particular response from the viewer.
We can tell when something has no tension.
The layout is expective and comfortable.
Now I'm okay with comfortable on a sofa,
but in design, it translates to forgettable.
Tension adds a sense of discomfort.
It's the point when the elements may,
or may not, connect or collide.
Tension forces the viewer to make this determination.
This creates energy.
Consider how tension works in film.
You feel tension when you're aware of the danger,
say, the zombies outside.
But the actors in the scene
don't know the zombies are that close.
When the zombie crashes though the window,
we're startled,
knowing what would happen, but not that fast.
In composition, we can use the same effect.
The viewer knows what something should be,
but you alter the expected in some way.
We know that typography should coexist nicely
with an image.
We expect a photograph of a person and headline below,
but we can create tension when we change that relationship.
Changing the rules and running the headline
through the image, conveys a message
of something hidden and ominous.
It's also vaguely annoying,
because we want to move the typography out of the way.
Typography can intersect with the image
in a way the viewer won't expect.
Surprising interaction
doesn't equate to poor typography.
This is more of a disconnect
between the way something should be
and the way you've presented it.
Another approach is to skew our expectations
of how the world exists.
For example, we want the world to be right side up.
It's what we're used to and works fairly well.
Simply rotating the image 180 degrees
is enough to create the unexpected
and sense of uncertainty.
It creates tension for the viewer
who is now uncertain as to which way is up.
Is the typography upside down or the image?
A designer can create the same, if not more, tension
by challenging the viewer with the content.
This ad by Lou Danziger for an advertising agency
pressures the viewer to imagine the next second
when the egg is either crushed
or the shoe steps off of it.
Add to this the headline, The Light Touch,
which is contrary to the massive black shoe.
These combine to make an image
that is memorable and compelling.
The message that the ad agency
knows precisely how to manage an account and campaign
is clear.
When you create tension with pure layout,
as opposed to a concept, look to physics.
In a comfortable arrangement, large forms are on the bottom.
And light, delicate structures sit on the top.
If we swap these and increase the contrast
with color and scale,
we demand the viewer pay attention.
Nobody feels comfortable with a giant object pressing down
on the helpless typography.
Tension creates anxiety.
Hopefully, your solution isn't so tense
as to drive the viewer to madness.
The right amount of stress
makes a layout taut and memorable.
We remember events or things we have seen
when we experience a visceral or emotional response to it.
You can achieve this
with either the concept or composition.
And the best instances use both.