For those of us who make cutting boards consisting of many different kinds of woods or multiple lengths glued together side-by-side: When you lay out the board, align the pieces--to the extent you can, consistent with your creative vision--such that the grain of each board is all "flowing" in the same direction--uphill or downhill. If you intend to flatten the board with a planer or hand-plane, having the grain flowing in the same direction will dramatically minimize the amount of tear-out you'll have if the grain on one board is flowing uphill and the next is flowing downhill since you always want to be planing with the grain flowing uphill and you can't do that if the grain is running in opposite directions. Ask me how I know. (Or, my orbital sander. Which was responsible for cleaning up the subsequent mess.) 