# Practical Exercise — Day-04: The Eye-Path Redesign

**Module:** M02 — Design Fundamentals
**Instructor:** Ali Akbar Shah
**Time:** 40 minutes
**Tools:** Notebook, pen/pencil, ruler.

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## Exercise: Rebuild a Poster So the Eye Travels Correctly

**Goal:** Take a layout with broken hierarchy and rebuild it using grids,
the Z-pattern, and the rule of thirds.

### Steps

1. **Draw the "BROKEN" poster** (8 min). A tuition center poster, A4
   portrait, with these deliberate flaws:
   - "ABC Tuition Center" tiny at the very bottom.
   - Phone number "0300-1112222" HUGE at the top (bigger than anything).
   - "Admissions Open" medium text lost in the middle.
   - A book drawing dead center, small, crowded by text on all sides.
   - Address squeezed into a bottom corner in tiny writing.
   - No grid — elements at random angles and positions.

2. **Map the broken eye-path** (7 min). Number ①②③ where YOUR eye goes in
   the first 3 seconds. Write one line: "The eye lands on ___ first, but
   the real message is ___. This fails because ___."

3. **Write the fix plan** (10 min):
   - New hierarchy 1-2-3: 1st = "Admissions Open", 2nd = "ABC Tuition
     Center + classes", 3rd = phone/address.
   - Grid choice: 3×3 (rule of thirds).
   - Focal point: the book drawing, enlarged, placed on a top power point
     in negative space.
   - Z-pattern map: headline top-left → book top-right → details diagonal
     → contact bottom-right.

4. **Draw the "FIXED" poster** (15 min) on a fresh gridded page following
   your plan exactly. Keep generous negative space around the headline
   and focal point.

### Expected Result

- 1 BROKEN poster sketch.
- 1 written eye-path diagnosis (①②③ + failure line).
- 1 written fix plan (hierarchy + grid + focal point + Z-map).
- 1 FIXED poster sketch on a visible grid.

### How to Verify Your Work

- In the FIXED version, "Admissions Open" is unmistakably the biggest
  element (not the phone number).
- The book sits on/near a marked power point, not dead center.
- Finger-tracing a Z across the poster flows headline → visual → details
  → contact with no jumps.
- A 3-second test with another person returns "admissions open" as the
  first answer.