Composition & Layout
📋 What it is
Composition arranges elements so the eye travels where you want — using focal points, the rule of thirds, and visual hierarchy.
🗣️ Coach says
Composition is directing the viewer’s eye. Put your main subject on a “rule of thirds” line, make it the biggest or brightest thing (a focal point), and lead the eye with lines. Good composition means people see what you want, in the order you want.
🧠 Memory hook
Guide the eye: focal point + rule of thirds + hierarchy.
😂 Giggle
Why did the artist break up with their canvas?
It was too much of a stretch!
😲 Whoa!
The “rule of thirds” — placing subjects a third of the way in — is used by photographers, painters and film-makers alike.
🖼️ Curate a “Guide the Eye” hall — choose 4 composition tools.
You're the curator. Choose 4 pieces, write a placard for each, then open your hall. There’s no single right set — curate with a reason.
0 / 4 chosen
The one thing the eye lands on first.
Place the subject a third of the way in, not dead centre.
Size/brightness show what matters most.
Lines that steer the eye toward the subject.
Empty area that gives the subject room to breathe.
Something in the scene frames the subject.
Cutting the edges to focus on what matters.
Before you open your hall, check your own work — no grade, just a curator’s eye:
🎉 Your hall is open! Every piece has a placard and a reason. Curate another →
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Look at a photo and find its focal point — the first thing your eye lands on.