Balance addresses the visual relationship between a document's design objects and its white space. A document's balance may be meaningfully symmetrical or asymmetrical, depending on its intended effect.

Design objects carry relative visual weights within a document based upon their prominence and position:

• Design objects of a larger size carry greater visual weight.
• Design objects placed in more visible positions or grouped together carry greater visual weight than others.
• Design objects with color, particularly in contrast to a grayscale context, carry greater visual weight.
• Design objects with a highly contrastive orientations or shapes carry greater visual weight.
• Textual design objects with bolder, larger, more visible fonts carry greater visual weight.