The Gutenberg diagram is a concept that maps out something called reading gravity. Reading gravity describes a habit of reading in the western world: left to right, top to bottom.

via smashingmagazine.com

“It suggests that the bottom left area of the page will get least attention as our eyes scan the page from top left to bottom right and that our glance would end up in the lower right portion of the page. How can we utilize this concept? Buttons and calls to action could be placed in bottom right instead of bottom left, as this is the place where the visitor’s glance is likely to alight.”

The Gutenberg diagram applied to blog design

If we apply the diagram to the post/comment section, this would mean the submit comment button would logically be placed on the right. Where it would be calling for action to communicate with the author and other readers. While this seems logical there is something els going on. Most blogs have the submit comment button aligned to the left, resulting in most people being accustomed to this in blog layouts and designers keeping it this way.

So while the theory is nice, should we ignore it for parts that we have become accustomed to style in a certain way?

If we apply the diagram to the blog as a whole, this would mean the right bottom of the footer is where you can call for action. My blog has the ‘follow me’ and ‘subscribe to rss’ calls to action in the bottom right footer. Most blogs have these in the top right part of their widget bar, which aslo seems like an logical option. The reader would land there when scanning the header, categories menu and title of the first post. I do wonder if those give an good enough impression to get someone to subscribe, probably someone will only subscribe when visiting the page for a second time and then the visitor would be able to quickly find it at the top of the page.

So it seem there are multiple options to implement the theory, but still a great tool to develop your web designs.

As a generalist I try to diversify my knowledge as much as possible. This results in finding opportunities and writing about innovative concepts and ideas on this blog and communicating them to my readers and followers on twitter. On the about page you can find a more detailed description of the topics I’ll be writing about on the blog.

I want to thank Jepson for allowing me to give feedback on the beta of the Meta-Morphosis wordpress theme. Currently I’m useing a modified version of the theme. I specificly choose this theme for the layout, where comments are placed next to the blogpost. Giving the communication with my readers and the feedback I receive from them a more central role than traditional blog layouts.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading my blog, please subscribe to my rss feed or follow me on twitter.