Imagine a group of objects, type and elements. If I use software to "align on centers", visually the topmost element appears off center due to the weight of other elements. It's not off center. It's properly inline. This is merely a visual oddity.
In the image below, grey objects are type elements. Using software alignment, all horizontal groupings within the layout are aligned "on center" to each other. However the rule/banner across the top, to me, seems off-center. I've double and triple checked, it is indeed on-center.
I can "eyeball" that top element to try and make it feel more centered:
There's no math or precision to the placement of that top grey box in the image directly above. It's completely my "gut" feeling about alignment to try and visually balance things more in my perception. While it is now off-center, my brain doesn't perceive it as off-center, unlike the first image.
So, my question...
Is there some precise methodology to visually align elements on center when actual alignment appears unbalanced? Or is it always a matter of simply "eyeballing" things?
Also willing to accept that my eyes are "wonky" and the top image is fine.
Somewhat irrelevant, but in this case I'm using Adobe Illustrator. This issue is slightly more apparent when viewing the actual type. Unfortunately, I can't share the actual type.
:)
Maybe not a "here's how" answer, but an answer. Actually I may delete this because it's kind of a duplicate of your link to a large degree unless someone responds with something new.