: how to spot a great image :

Design Advice from a Writer: the first in a one-part series.

You have a strong urge to run, don’t you? Totally understandable. Advice, especially the unsolicited variety, is always unwelcome. Besides, I’m utterly unqualified, so why should you listen to me? Well, you shouldn’t, obviously.

But lately, I’ve noticed certain things routinely catch my eye when I’m searching for an image. These characteristics draw me in like a magnet. Odd as it sounds, the frivolous inessentials are what get me. The insignificant, easily overlooked details that barely make an impression. Turns out I’m a sucker for quirky subtleties; they melt my heart.

For example, this image:

See the saucy curl? The poky little knees and elbows? And, most irresistible of all, those skinny ankles rising from itty bitty loafers. Oh, my gosh, they made me swoon. One look and I was besotted; I clambered to download a copy for my own. I’d no use for it, but I adored that picture — couldn’t live without it. My hard drive is packed with similar images, of all kinds. Jugglers and fairies and dogs, toe shoes. Dumpsters.

My choices are nothing if not unpredictable. And my advice is nothing if not dicey. Ew, a pun. Sorry,