Chapter 6: the meaning of composition

This chapter discusses the relationships that different elements have based on their relative location to one another within the image. According to Kress and van Leeuwen, there are three main qualities to visual elements: information value, given to the elements depending on where they are placed within the image; salience, which refers to how much an element stands out or catches the viewer's attention, based on placement, relative size, and contrasts/sharpness/etc.; and framing, which is the presence or absense of visual devices that set elements apart or group them together.

In discussing information value, the authors discuss the messages that the placement of an element convey based on several different directional flows. The first one discussed is the left-to-right movement, wherein the left side of an image represents the "old," while the right side represents the "new." The authors present this as being the case both for images with two key elements (one on either side), as well as three-panel layouts, where the left panel represents the old, the right panel represents the new, and the central panel represents the connection between the two.

Alternately, image composition can be presented using the top-down model, wherein the top represents the ideal, while the bottom represents the real (in three-panel images, the middle panel is once again an element (or elements) joining the other two; alternately, it may be a visual element that connects the image by spanning from top to bottom).

The chapter also addresses center and margin, in cases when the principal element is at the center, with subordinate elements in the margins around it. This form of composition is less common in western imagery, although it is more popular in certain Asian cultures. Elements within the margins may have equal value, or they may be distanced from the center in gradients.