Lessons
Movement, Counter-Movement
This first one is an important case of movement and counter-movement. In this case the white flower at the bottom is pushing in the opposite direction
Partial vs Full Feature
A common design decision is about partial vs full inclusion of an element when there are multiple elements. I don’t know what general rules exist, but this one seems to suggest one possibility of a very balanced design - at least one element, ideally centered, is fully featured while others are cropped.
Anti-patterns include when all are cropped and a cramped feeling results. Or when there is a duo and only one subject is fully featured; in this case the pattern seems to simple and uninteresting.
Another aspect of that works here - in terms of partial vs full - is that there are a variety of ways in which the flowers are partially included. I.e. most are occluded by other flowers and not only the frame.
Border Negative Space Purpose
It is also an example of border negative space being used to create depth and support movement and direction.
Balancing Motion, Internal Negative Space
The second to last image has an example of pretty strict parallelism. If there was no negative space internally, regardless of how much activity was in the subject, the image would be weak. In this case there is some internal negative space that benefits the image.
I assumed removing the parallelism would address the issue, it only made the negative space situation worse. The straight triangle of the corner is the problem. Scrubbing out background elements to remove the straight line was also problematic. The negative space is too large. What is more problematic - and perhaps the problem to begin with is the unbalanced motion. There is in fact some motion and counter-motion, but the counter-motion is so minor as to be totally overwhelmed. Altering the image until the motion is more balanced - both the motion of the negative space and the positive space - creates the most satisfying image.
