Rule of Thirds in Playmat Design

A little different from the usual competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! posts, this article is simply a personal opinion on how the Rule of Thirds concept has been applied to various playmat design to create a more aesthetic and dynamic composition.

Stylistic taste and preference is after all subjective, but a good composition goes a long way in creating a strong lasting impression.

 

 

The Rule of Thirds is a basic concept in photography and visual design whereby the image is divided by two imaginary lines along each axis such that it is split into thirds both vertically and horizontally. Aligning the subject along these imaginary lines and their intersections creates a pleasing and balanced composition.

In the above Shaddoll OTS playmat, the two imaginary lines along each axis are drawn in white, while their intersections are circled in red. Notice how El Shaddoll Winda is positioned close to the top right intersection and El Shaddoll Wendigo is positioned close to the bottom left intersection. Though not directly on the intersection, both are positioned near enough to the intersections to take advantage of the Rule of Thirds.

 

 

In the Europe Judge 2015 Playmat, Nekroz of Unicore is positioned along the right vertical line.

In the Korea National Championship 2015 Playmat, Nekroz of Brionac is positioned along the right vertical line as well.

Both playmats follows the Rule of Thirds.

 

 

In the Latin America WCQ National 2015 Playmat, Nekroz of Trishula is positioned along the left vertical line, while Nekroz of Brionac is positioned along the right vertical line.

In the America Judge 2015 Playmat, Dance Princess of the Nekroz is positioned along the left vertical line, while Nekroz of Gungnir is positioned along the right vertical line.

Both playmats follows the Rule of Thirds.

 

 

In the Yu-Gi-Oh! Open Tournament – Singapore 2015 Playmat, Nekroz of Brionac is positioned too far left from the left vertical line, while Nekroz of Gungnir is positioned too far right from the right vertical line.

The event logo is also too far off in the bottom left corner, creating an off-balance composition.

In the Korea National Championship 2015 Playmat, Nekroz of Trishula is positioned too far left from the left vertical line, while Nekroz of Gungnir is positioned too far right from the right vertical line.

Unfortunately both playmats do not follow the Rule of Thirds. If the subjects on the left and right had been just 1/4 grid closer to the middle, they would had been able to take advantage of the Rule of Thirds.

 

 

The Rule of Thirds can be seen applied in various playmats to achieve an aesthetically pleasing and attractive composition.

However, the Rule of Thirds is not the be-all-end-all of visual composition.

In the Japan Ranking Duel 2015 Spring Playmat below, Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon is positioned right in the middle. By using a shallow Depth of Field, the focus is concentrated on Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon, drawing attention to it.