Visual Organization

-not directing the audience through a design is misdirecting them

eye movement:
-the typical eye moves left to right and top to bottom
-controlling eye movement within a composition is a matter of directing the natural scanning tendency of the viewer's eye
-the eye tends to gravitate towards areas of complexity first
-in pictures of people, the eye is always attracted to the face and particularly the eye
-light areas of a composition attract the eye, especially when adjacent to a dark area
-diagonal lines or edges will guide eye movement

optical center:
-the spot where the human eye tends to enter a page
-slightly above the center and just to the left
-takes a compelling element to pull your eyes away from this spot

z-pattern:
-visual pattern makes a sweep of the page, generally, in the shape of a "z"
-maps a viewer's route through the information

font guidelines:
-use no more than 2 fonts within a page (make sure they complement each other)
-avoid all caps unless it's necessary
-choose the right font (according to theme or tone of composition)
-don't overuse fancy and complicated fonts

www.typography.com/email/2010_032010_03/index.htm

visual hierarchy: establish focal points based on their importance to the message thats being communicated

-what do i want the viewer to see first?

The Grid:
-way of organizing content on a page, using any combination of margins, guidelines, rows, and columns.
-instituted by modernism
-can assist the audience by breaking info into manageable chunks and establishing relationships between text and images
-distinct set of alignment-based relationships that act as guides for distributing elements across a format
-used to help clarify the message and to unify the elements