A design layout recommendation system is disclosed that evaluates layouts of design elements generated based on aspect ratios and relative areas. In an embodiment, the system enumerates possible arrangements of the design elements into columns or rows based on a layout preference. The system can then construct layouts of the design elements for each enumerated arrangement of the design elements based on relative areas of the design elements. The layouts of the design elements are in column-oriented reading order or row-oriented reading order based on the layout preference. The system can then recommend at least one layout of the design elements based on selection criteria.