Elements of Desing

8/16/2019 Elements of Desing

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Elements of design

The elements are compononents or parts which can be isolated

and defned in any visual design or work o art. They are thestructure o the work, and can carry a wide variety o messages.

The elements are:

• Point

• Line

• Form, shape and space

• ovement

• !olor

• Pattern

• Te"ture

Point#ven i there is only one point. $ne point one mark on

a blank page there is something built into the brain that willsmeaning or it, and seals some kind o relationship or order, i only to use it as a point o orientation in relation to the outline o the page. %t there are two points. %mmediately the eye will make aconnection and &see' a line. % there are three points, it isunavoidable to interpret them as a triangle, the mind supplied the

connection. This compulsion to connect parts is described asupping or gestalt. (estalt is the undamental tool the designer or artistuses to build a coherent composition. The e"ample o a studentsel)portrait seen on the let demonstrates how images may bebuilt rom points, with the variations in density producing theillusion o orm. The involuntary will)to)order that we impose on acollection o points can be clearly seen when we e"amine the

series o aces presented on the right *to see the distortionsproperly, you will need to click on this small image to bring up thelarger version+. t what stage do the apparently random points o value become identifable as a ace- t point do they become aspecifc ace-

The Elements: line



line is a mark made by a movingpoint and having psychological impact according to its direction,weight, and the variations in its direction and weight. %t is anenormously useul and versatile graphic device that is made to

unction in both visual and verbal ways. %t can act as as asymbolic language, or it can communicate emotion through itscharacter and direction.

Line is not necessarily an artifcialcreation o the artist or designer it e"ists in nature as a structuraleature such as branches, or as surace design, such as stripingon a tiger or a seashell.

%t can unction independently to suggestorms that can be recogni/ed, even when the lines are limited ine"tent. This can be seen in drawings such as the 0aul 0teinberg

illustration shown here, or in le"ander !alder1s minimal wiresculptures, which convey a great deal o inormation about thefgure with the most limited line. Line can be combined with other line to createte"tures and patterns. This is common in engraving and pen andink drawings such as the one on the right * click and enlarge tosee linear detail +. The use o line in combination results in thedevelopment o rom and value, which are other elements o design.

2owever line is not always e"plicit . it can e"istby implication, as the edge o orms. s young children we usuallybegin drawing landscapes by making outline or earth, sky, andother ob3ects. (radually we learn that ob3ect do not have suchoutline and we let colour changes defne the edges o shapes,creating line. Thus we can speak o a hori/on &line' or the &line'o a car or a ashion silhouette, even though we know there is noliteral line present.

Expressive Qualities of line

!ertain arrangement o line is commonlyunderstood to carry certain kinds o inormation.For e"ample, calligraphy is recogni/able as a

representation o words, even when we do not know thelanguage. !alligraphic imagery is oten used by modern artistssimply because o the mysterious messages implied in the &code'o unknown language.



Line in the rom o maps is readily recogni/ed as asymbolic representation o a place. The place may be a localneighborhood, or the entire world. %t may be a careully measuredrepresentation, on a styli/ed diagram, such as a subway map. %n

either case, we understand it to be a device by which we canunderstand the relationship between places how to get rom&here' to &there'. Floor plans are a speciali/ed kind o map, acommonly understood device which describes a building. Thislinear language can be understood even when the building is asunusual as this one, which was to be constructed o a sprayedorm material in a decidedly unconventional orm.

Line also communicates emotion and states o mind though its character and direction. The variations o

meaning generally relate to our bodily e"perience o line anddirection.

2ori/ontal line suggests a eeling rest orrepose. $b3ects parallel to the earth that rest in relation to gravity.

Thereore compositions in which hori/ontal lines dominate tend tobe 4uiet and restul in eeling. $ne o the hallmarks o rank Lloyd5right1s architectural style is its use o strong hori/ontal elementswhich stress the relationship o the structure to the land.

6ertical lines communicate a eeling o lotiness

and spirituality. #rect lines seem to e"tend upwardsbeyond human reach toward the sky. They otendominate public architecture. From cathedrals tocorporate head4uarters. #"tended perpendicular linesuggests an overpowering grandeur, beyond ordinaryhuman measure. 7iagonal lines suggest a eeling o movement ordirection. 0ince ob3ects in a diagonal position are unstable inrelation to gravity, being neither vertical nor hori/ontal, they are

either about to all, or are already in motion, as is certainly thecase or this group o dancers. %n a two dimensional compositiondiagonal line are also used to indicate depth, an illusion o perspective that pulls the viewer into picture) creating an illusiono a space that one could move about within. Thus i a eeling o



movement or speed is desired, or a eeling activity diagonal linecan be used. 2ori/ontal and vertical line in combinationcommunicates stability and solidity. 8ectilinear orms stay put in

relation to gravity and are not likely to tip over. This stabilitysuggests permanence, reliability and saety. %n the case o theman in this amily group the lines seem to imply stability to thepoint o stodginess.

7eep acute curves. $n the other handsuggest conusion turbulence, even ren/y, as in the violence o waves in a storm, the chaos o a tangled thread, or the turmoil o lines suggested by the orms o a crowd. The complicated curvesused to orm the mother in the amily group shown above suggesta ussy, rivolous personality.

!urved lines do vary in meaning, however.0ot, shallow curves suggest comort, saety, amiliarity,

rela"ation. They recall the curves o the human body, andthereore have a pleasing, sensual 4uality. The 4uality o the line is in itsel aundamental visual language, to an e"tent that cannot be claimedor any other single element. %ts use is so universal that we are allprooundly sensitive to it. #ven without an training. 5e cane"tract considerable meaning orm the kind o line used in a

drawing. %t is possible to recogni/e the sot, irregular lines o a4uick sketch orm lie as seen in this study o a lion.

$n the other hand the crisp careullyplaced line o the rhinoceros are typical o a more studied,scrupulously worked studio drawing. The line suggest that thiswas not drawn orm lie but orm hearsay. This is also evidentorm the act that 7urer drew this rather inaccurate image infteenth century. #urope when he could only have known o thisrican animal rom travelers tales.

The 4uality o line in itsel contributes to themood o the work, and or the master artist the 4uality o line is aundamental e"pression o his9her style. This drawing o a nudeby atisse demonstrates his ability to create his image though aminimal number o e"pertly placed lines)lines that by theirplacement and movement on the page identiy this work with thisartist as surely as a signature.



Form, Shape and SpaceForm and shape are areas or masses

which defne ob3ects in space. Form and shape imply spaceindeed they cannot e"ist without space.

There are various ways to categori/e ormand shape. Form and shape can be thought o as either two)dimensional or three)dimensional. Two)dimensional orm haswidth and height. %t can also create the illusion o three dimensionob3ects. Three)dimensional shape has depth as well as width andheight. Form and shape can also be described as either organicor geometric. $rganic orm such as these snow)covered boulderstypically are irregular in outline and oten asymmetrical. $rganicorms are most oten thought o as naturally occurring. (eometric orm are those which correspond

to named regular shapes, such as s4uares, sect angles, circles,cubes, spheres, cones and other regular orms. rchitecture, suchas this e"ample by rank Lloyd 5right is usually composed o geometric orms. Then orms are most oten thought o asconstructed or made. % you are interested in the visualpossibilities o geometric orm in the conte"t o mathematics, youmind wish to look at this web site or at least at thismathematically generated pattern. 2owever not all made ob3ects are geometric

many designed orm have irregular contours. lthough thiskimono is geometric in its construction the surace design isorganic in orm.

or are all naturally occurring ob3ectssnow;akes and soap bubbles are among many geometric innature. % you are interested seeing other visual e"amples o geometry in nature you might en3oy looking at this site, created atthe laboratory o atomic and solid state physic, hearer at !ornell.

These images o e"amples o microphotography are also worth

looking at. There are some other teems commonly used todescribe orm and shape in composition these have to do withwhat kind o representation the orms have. % we can recogni/eevery day ob3ect and environments. 5e reer to the images asbeing realistic, or naturalistic 2owever. % the images are di<cult



or impossible to identiy in terms o our normal daily visuale"perience we may reer to the images as abstract.

There are several kinds o abstract images. (enerally, abstractionare &abstracted' or derived orm realistic image) perhaps even

distorted, but perhaps in such a ways that the source is notimmediately apparent. n e"ample o this would be one o gestalt1s Paintings o a detail orm a ;ower. This kind o abstraction in art is reerred to as an ob3ective image that is it isderived rom an actual ob3ect rom some abstract art images arebased on a pure study o orm, line and do not reer to any real)world ob3ect or seen such art work sometimes reerred to as non)ob3ective images. !aricature is a special instance o abstraction in which realistic images are distorted to make a

statement about the people places or ob3ects portrayed. This isprobably the kind o abstraction we are most amiliar with as it isconstantly presented to us via all sorts o popular media. 2oweverit is important to remember that had not the more di<cult)to)understand convection o abstraction in the fn arts not brokenground with e"periments in distortion we would not be able tomake senses out o some caricature images. century ago therewas really nothing e4uivalent to our modern carrions. $ur perception o shape and orm are a=ected

by several actors. The position or viewpoint rom which we seean ob3ect will emphasi/e or obscure certain eatures, andthereore a=ect the impression it makes. s you can see in thisseries o photographs all eaturing the same wooden artist1smanne4uin, the character o the space around the diminish theimportance o the ob3ect while a plain background draws attentionto it.

The character and source o light also changesthe perceived character o the ob3ect. Lighting in a photographicportrait or e"ample can make the sub3ect look older, youngerdramatic, or rather abstract.

Two dimensional forms Two) dimensional orm is the oundation o

pictorial organi/ation or composition in painting, photography andmany other media. %t is created in a number o ways.%t can be



defned by line in all the ways described above line othere"pellant or implied provides the contour o orms. 6alue *the relative lightness or darkness o acolure+ can also defne rom. 0trong contrasts in value within a

composition may defne the boundaries o orm. (radations o value or shading can also crate the illusion o contour volume. %nthe same way hue and value remain essentially consistent.2owever most typically orm is fned by a combination o theseactors as is the case in this print by a" #rnst.

Form in relation to positive negative space Form and shapes can be thought o as positive ornegative. %n a two dimensional composition the ob3ects constitutethe positive orms. 5hile the background is the negative space.For beginning art and design students e=ective use o negative

space is a an especially concept to be mastered. This e"ercise incut paper re4uired are student to work with the same compositionin black ion while and while on black simultaneously. This makes itdi<cult to ignore the background and treat it as merely emptyspace. The e=ective placement o ob3ects in relation to thesurrounding negative space is essential or success incomposition.

0ome artists play with reversal o positive spaceto create comple" illusions. The prints o . !. #scher oten

eature interlocking images that play these illusions o positiveand negative images to even greater lengths, hiding imageswithin images. Perception o orm and shape are condition by ouringrained 'instinct' to impute meaning and order to visual data.5hen we look at an image and initially orm an impression theseis a tendency to latch on to that conclusion about its meaning andignore other possible solutions. This may make it hard to see theother images. Training the eye to keep on looking beyond frstimpressions is a crucial step in developing true visual literacy.

Movement ovement is the design element thatoperates in the ourth dimension time. ovement is the processo relocation o ob3ects in space over time. 5e can speak o movement as literal or compositional. The physical act o movement is part o certaindesigned ob3ects we are speaking here o literal movement.



0ometime the physical movement is signaled by symbolic ormsthat suggest speed and motion. For e"ample, cars, when frstinvented met their movement unction but the orm did notsuggest movement. #ven ater the mass production o

automobiles began, the design had little to do with the act o movement. The engineering concepts o aerodynamics in the

>s originally developed in connection with the airplane, weretranserred to automotive design as well, particularly as carsbecame aster, and marketing o cars become more competitive.

The result was orms that suggest movement and speed we haveall come to recogni/e aerodynamic orms as a symbol or speedymovement. The invention o motion pictures also introduced

the element o movement to visual language. For the frst time wehad an art orm that literally moved. For e"ample i yourcomputer can handle video. ?ou can watch some buster @eatonclips, or this snippet o the silent horror flm. 0he who must beobeyed. Aoth the development o the car and o motion picturesin early BC The century created a romantic ascination with speedand movement many artists began to ocus on movement assub3ect matter. The 4uestion or painters and other working instatic media was how to capture the sense o implied movement

in the f"ed image that could not literally move. Finally, le"ander !alder began sculptures thatactually moved, which the called mobiles subse4uently manyartists have used movement involving mechanical or electronicmeans that bridged the worlds o art and engineering.

7ance is probably the oldest art orm that involvesmovement. %t is the ultimate e"pressive use o the element o movement o ob3ects through space in time. nother way to thinkabout movement is to consider how the viewer1s eye movesthough the composition. This is what we reer to as compositionalmovement. %n this use we are not concerned with presence *orlack o + implied motion in the image. 5e are concerned insteadwith how the viewer perceives the composition how thecomponents relate and lead the viewer1s attention.

!ompositional movement may be classifed asstatic that is, movement o the eye that 3umps and hope between



separate components o the images, attracted by similarities andsimple shiting to shapes with related shape or color compositionse"hibiting static involvement are characteri/ed by repetition o closed isolated shapes and contrasts o color and or value.

ovement may also be classifed as dynamic.7ynamic movement is characteri/ed by movement o the eye thatclassifed as dynamic. 7ynamic movement is characteri/ed bymovement o the eye that ;ows smoothly rom one area o thecomposition to another, guided by continuations o line or orm,and by gradations o colour or orm. 7ynamic movement ischaracteri/ed by open shapes or shapes that closely relate toad3acent shapes. The eye will always move though thecomposition in some way, so there is always some sort o compositional movement. ll compositions can be described in

terms o one or the other o these concepts or both.Colour, alue and !ue

!olour is one o the most powerul o elements. %thas tremendous e"pressive 4ualities. Dnderstanding the uses o colour is crucial to e=ective composition in design, and the fnearts.

The word colour is the general term which appliesto the whole sub3ect red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, blackand white and all possible combinations thereo. 2ue is the

correct word to use to reer to 3ust the pure spectrum colures. nygiven colour can be described in terms o its value and hue. %naddition the various physic cognomina and psychological e=ectscombine to a=ect our perceptions o a colour.

alue and !ue6alue is defned as the relative or lightness or

darkness o a colour. %t is an important tool or the designer9artist,in the way that it defnes orm and creates spatial illusions.!ontrast o value separates ob3ects in space while gradation o

value suggests mass and contour o a contiguous surace. %n thedrawing on the right. 6alue contrast separates the artichoke ormthe background, and the separate leaves and one another, whilegradation suggests the curved o leave suraces and o the wholeorm.

2ue also has value. 5hen contrasting hues aremade similar in value, the spatial e=ects are ;attened out. %n the



colour image o the ashion model the coat draws our attentionsthough contrast o hue although the skin tones blend with thebackground *remember the ob3ect o the image is to sell the coat,not the model+. 2owever it also seems to be sotly blending with a

background that seems 4uite close and is very similar to the coatin value. The ace tends to blend with the background which issimilar in both hue and value. %n the black and white version,however the coat virtually disappears, since only values not hueare available to distinguish it, and the value are 4uite similar.2owever the strong value contrast o the eyes and hat draw ourattention to the ace, even though the contours o the ace seemto melt into the background. Thereore the black and whiteversion emphasi/es the model more than the garment. To summari/e i value are closes shapes will seem

to ;atten out and seem closely connected in space, none willstand out orm the other. % value contrast, shapes will appear toseparate in space and some will stand out rom the other. Thisworks whether the colors1 are 3ust black, white and grey orwhether the hues are involved.

2ue is the term or the pure septum colures commonlyreerred to by the &colour name' red, orange, yellow, blue,green, violet which appear in hue circle or rainbow. Theoreticallyall hues can be mi"ed rom three basic hues, know as primaries.

5hen pigment primaries are all mi"ed together, the theoreticalresult is black. Thereore pigment mi"ture is sometimes reerredto as subtractive mi"ture.The primary colour consists o threehues orm which we can theoretically mi" all other hues. Thereare two commonly used defnition o primary colour.

Painter1s primaries) red, blue, yellow: Thistraditional defnition o primaries dose not in act mi" to cleargreens or purples it is based on Eth century theories. Painter1s primaries)magenta, cyan *tur4uoise+,yellow: This defnition o primaries mi"ed to clear colour acrossthe entire spectrum. %t is used as the basis or colour printing. Thecomputer screen probably dose not give you a true tur4uoise thecolour should be a blue)green) because o di=erences betweencolour mi"ture in pigment and colour mi"ture in light.

?our computer screen mi"es colour as light,and thereore ollows additive colour mi"ture rule. This means



that the depiction o subtractive mi"ture shown here is less canideal, particularly or the cyan *tur4uoise+ and magenta o theprinter1s primaries. % you want to see some ama/ing animations o

hue and value relationships. Try going to this link. 5hich will alsotake you to a good descriptive e"planation o hues and or aries.For a more technical discussion o how we see hue, and how itcan be measured, try this link to a scholarly paper. Therepresentation o colour metrics and mappings in perceptualcolour space.

They are many systems or classiying hue,developed so that researchers can measure and defne colour4ualities, and so that designers, industry, and marketing peoplecan communicate colour ideas over distance. This link will

introduce you to some o the most common o these colourcommunication systems.

!omplements are colours that are opposite oneanother on the hue circle. 5hen complements are mi"ed with oneanother in paint, the result is muted tones desiderate or dull hues.0uch opposite pairs can also be compared in their relative warmthand coolness. 5arm)cool contrast o hue can cause images toappear to advance or recede. %n this EG th century painting, ore"ample, the warm reds o the man1s doublet and his son1s cap

reinorce the cues o placement to make these fgures seem veryclose. $n the other hand, the cool tones o the sea and skysuggest great distance. ter image is another, more specifc defnition o complements consisting o a stimulus colour and its physicalopposite generated in the eye by e"posure to the stimulus colour.terimage colour tends to make each other appear more intense,and have vibrating boundaries.

Colour illusions

0ome o the e=ects o colour occur only in theeye and brain o the viewer, and are not physical properties o light waves or pigment. These illusions, however, are verypowerul and have enormous impact on our responses to colour.

!olour proportion reers to the impact o therelative 4uantity o a given hue or value used in colourcompositions. %n order to achieve over all unity and or create



emphasis, one should make a clear decision as to which colourshould be assigned the HHH. Lesser areas. Then colourproportion choice will also a=ect the impact o the HH.!omposition. This can be seen in the set o panels shown here.

The very same colours are used in each panel. ?et depending onthe choice o dominant colour the H. $ the composition and eventhe appearance o each colour is altered.

0imultaneous contrast is the phenomenon whichoccurs when a colour appears to change when seen against adi=erent background. set o principles were frst laid out in theEth century by chervil a dye master or the goblin tapestry work,who become an important colour theoretician. 2is principals statsthat changes in the value, saturation *purity o hue+, and area o abackground colour will alter the appearance o the selected

colour. The print shown here is made up o wavy bands o colour.0ome o the bands e"tend rom the centre panel to intrude intoareas o contrasting hue in the side panels. These e"tended bandsare in act the same hue value throughout, but appear to changerom let to right. % you are interested in urther inormationabout how our visual response to colour may very see thissection on optical e=ects in colour.

$ptical mi"ture is the phenomenon which

occurs when small particles o di=erent colours are mi"ed in theeye this type o mi"ture di=ers orm pigment mi"ture in that it isbased on light primaries. 2owever optical mi"ture di=ers romlight mi"ture in which the primaries will mi" to while and pigment,in which the primaries mi" to black. %n optical mi"ture there is anaveraging o hue value, resulting in grey. $ptical mi"ture ise"perienced when observing many te"tiles, such as this e"amplea detail rom a hand woven tapestry. %t can also be seen in naturalob3ect, colour television and printed colour pictures.

Ps"chological implications of colourarket researchers have done e"tensive studiese"plotional the emotional responses o people to colour. 0ome o these responses seem to be powerul and airly universal.2owever much o this inormation is culturally biased. 5e knowthat cultural traditions endow colour with powerul meanings thatcan di=er greatly rom place to place. For e"ample, i #urope and



the united states, black is the colour o mourning. %n manytropical countries and in #ast sia white is the colour o death. $nthe other hand, white is the colour worn by merican brides, whilebrides in much o sia red. % you would like to participate in a

worldwide survey on colour symbolism, try this link. eanwhile,we know that the ollowing associations are ound to hold in #uro)merican societies.

8ed is associated with blood and with eelingthat are energetic, e"citing passionate or critic. ost colour carryboth positive and negative implication. The downside o redevokes aggressive eeling suggesting anger or violence.

?ellow is the colour o sunshine. This colour is optimist, upbeat, modern. The energy o yellow canbecome overwhelming. Thereore yellow is not a colour that tends

dominated ashion or long periods o time. (reen in its positive mode green suggests nature*plant lie, orests+ lie, stability, restulness and naturalness. $nthe other hand green in some tones or certain conte"ts *such asgreen skin+ mind instead suggest decay *ungus, mould+ to"icityand artifciality. Plume suggests coolness, distance, spirituality orperhaps reserved elegance. 0ome nude o blue is ;attering toalmost anyone. %n its negative mode, we can think o the blues

the implication being one o sadness, passivity, alienation ordepression.

6iolet is the colour o antasy, playulness,impulsiveness and dream states. %n its negative mode, it cansuggest nightmares or madness.

arket research on colour is also done to establishcolour trends. !olour recasting is accomplished by surveyingconsumer presences and other indication o conges in taste.!olour orecasting frms then issue pro3ection defning palettes o colour that can be e"pected to rise, all or monition popularity incoming seasons. The design industries then develop their newline with these pro3ections in mind. 0ome ma3or companiesemploy their own colour orecasters to research and pro3ectcolour trends or their industry. $n the whole, colour trendschange more rapidly or ashion than or interior design probably



because changes in home urnishings entail a more seriousfnancial investment.

PatternPattern is an underlying structure that organi/es

suraces or structures in a consistent regular manner. Pattern canbe described as a repeating unit o shape or orm but it can alsobe thought o as the & skeleton ' that organi/es the part o acomposition.

Pattern e"ists in nature as well as in designed ob3ectsit is useul to look at the parallels. 2arvard biologist namedpeter 0. 0tevens has published a book entitled &patterns innature' in which he claims that there are only a fnite number o ways that patterns can be structured. 2e starts with the idea o agrid as the oundation or any structure or images. 2e presents a

set o ways in which the points o a grid can be connected. Thesemodes o connection become classes o pattern, which he claimscan be seen in any situation, in nature and in made images, andorm the microscopic to the cosmic scale.

The modes he describes include the ollowing whichare described here in terms o e"amples rom nature. 2owevereach o these mode can also be seen in e"amples o designedob3ects and work o art.

Flow all things ;ow ollowing parts o resistance, ;ow

can be seen in storms, and the growth o trees. eanderpatterning is reared to the idea o ;ow, red is built on the reactiono an undulation line. %n this details rom a te"tile hanging madeup o knotted threads, the meandering colour line resulting romthe techni4ue 4uite naturally create this type o pattern.

Aranching is an obvious rom o patterning in the plantworld, but it can also be seen in geological ormations such asrive deltas and certain crystalline ormation.

Packing and cracking reers to the way in which

compacted cells defne each, other1s shape. densely packedcluster o mushrooms will grow together, deorming the circularorm o each cap because o crowding. %n the same way a clustero soap bubbles deorms each bubble rom the perect sphere o the isolated bubble, according to rules that govern the suracetension o soap bubbles. 0uraces *like mud or old paint+ that



shrink may e"perience cracking, resulting in similarly cellularpattering.

0imilar types o patterning can be seen in manydesigned ob3ects. #ven comple" works art e"hibit an underlying

structure or pattern grid, although the mode o patterning mayvary over the surace o a comple" composition.

Texture Te"ture is the 4uality o an ob3ect which we sense

though touch. %t e"ists as a literal surace we can eel, but also asa surace we can see, and imagine the sensation might have i weelt it. Te"ture can also be portrayed in an image, suggested tothe eye which can reer to our memories o suraces we havetouched. 0o a te"ture can be imaginary.

Te"tures are o many kinds:

Aristly, round and hard)) this is what we usuallythink o as te"ture, but te"ture can also be smooth, cold and hard,too. 0mooth, sot, and or warm and wet or dry are also Te"tures inact any tactile sensation we can imagine is a te"ture.%n otherwords, all suraces can be described in terms o te"ture. anyartists and designers make use o te"ture as a dominant elementin their work. This is particularly evident in crat mead, such asfbers, metal, wood and glass, where the tactile 4ualities o thematerial are a ma3or eature.

!reation o the illusion o te"ture is also animportant element in many paintings, drawings, te"tile designs,and other surace designs. This can be observed and discussedseparately rom the tactile 4ualities o the actual materials andsurace o the work.

Principals of design

The principles are concepts used to organi/e or arrange

the structural element o design. gain the way in which these

principles are applied a=ects the e"pressive content, or the

massage o the work.



The principles are:

• Aalance

• Proportion

•

8hythm• #mphasis

• Dnity

#alance

Aalance is the concept o visual e4uilibrium and

relates to our physical sense o balance. %t is a reconciliation o

opposing orces in a composition that results in visuals stability.

ost successul composition achieve balance in one o two ways:symmetrically or asymmetrically. Aalance in a three dimensional

ob3ect is easy to understand i balance isn1t achieved, the ob3ect

tips over. To understand balance in a two dimensional

composition, we must use our imagination to carry this three

dimensional analogy orward to the ;at surace.

0ymmetrical balance can be described as having

e4ual &weight' on e4ual sides o a centrally placed ulcrum. %t

may also be reerred to as ormal balance. 5hen the elements arearranged e4ually on either side o a central a"is, the result is

Ailateral symmetry. This a"is may be hori/ontal or vertical. %t is

also possible to build ormal balance by arranging elements

e4ually around a central point, resulting in redial symmetry.

There is a variant o symmetrical balance called

appro"imate symmetry in which e4uivalent but not identical orm

are arranged around the ulcrum line.

symmetrical balance, also called inormal

balance, is more comple" and di<cult to envisage. %t involves

placement o ob3ects in a way that will allow ob3ect o varying

visual weight to balance one another around a ulcrum point. This

can be best imagined by envisioning a literal balance scale that



can represent the visual &weights' that can be imagined in a two

dimensional composition. For e"ample, it is possible to balance a

heavy weight with a cluster o lighter weights on e4ual sides o a

ulcrum in a picture, this might be a cluster o small ob3ect

balanced by a large ob3ect. %t is also possible to imagine ob3ect o e4ual weight but di=erent mass *such as a large mass o eathers

versus a small mass o stones+ on e4ual sides o a ulcrum.

Dne4ual weights can even be balanced by shiting the ulcrum

point on our imaginary scale.

5hether the solution is simple or comple", some rom

o balance can be identifed in most successul compositions.

Proportion

Proportion reers to the relative si/e and scale o the

various elements in a design. The issues the relationship between

ob3ect, or parts o a whole. This means that it is necessary to

discuss proportion in terms o the conte"t or standard used to

determine proportions.

$ur most universal standard o measurement is the

human body that is our e"perience o living in our own bodies.5e 3udge the appropriateness o si/e o ob3ects by that measure.

For e"ample, a soa in the rom o a hand is startling because o

the distortion o e"pected proportion, and becomes the centre o

attention in the room. rchitectural spaces intended to impress

are usually scaled to a si/e that dwars the human viewer. This is

a device oten used in public spaces, such as churches or centers

o government. The same principle is oten applied to corporate

spaces through which the enterprise wishes to impress customswith its power and invincibility.

%n contrast, the proportions o a private home are usually

more in scale with human measure, and as a result it appears

more riendly, comortable, less intimidating.



Dse o appropriate scale in surace design is also

important. For e"ample, an overly large te"tile design can

overwhelm the orm o a garment or a piece o urniture.

surprising aspect o proportion is way idealproportion can vary or the human body itsel. 0tyles change in

bodies as they do in clothing. Prior to the EIth century, orm

e"ample the emale body)ideally had large hips and belly. $nly

later was a small waistline stressed.

%n the EJ th century and many other period, the ideal

body was much heavier than we would accept today.

$ course in the last BG years the ideal personifed

by the ashion model has ostered a standard which ideali/es

e"ceptionally slender body proportions or women. %n this century,

sports have provided models or ideal male body proportion.

Aeginning with the rise o televised ootball in the EIC1s and the

subse4uent ftness boom, an increasingly muscular silhouette has

presented as the ultimate male rom. This ideal is 4uite di=erent

rom that presented in earlier periods.

%n addition, artists re4uently take liberties withthe natural proportions o the human body to achieve their

e"pressive goals. well know classic e"ample is ichelangelo1s

7avid, in which distortions o proportion are used by the artist to

depict both the youthulness o the boy 7avid, together with the

power o the hero about to con4uer the giant goliath. The

surrealist painter agritte oten used distortions o proportion to

create striking e=ects.

$h"thm

8hythm can be described as timed movement

though space an easy, connected path along which the eye

ollows a regular arrangement o motis. The presence o rhythm

creates predictability and order in a composition. This link will



take to a short movie o a 5est rican playing the &talking

drum' i you try it, pay attention to the way in which sound,

movement, and gesture all work together to support the idea o

rhythm.

8hythm depends largely upon the elements o

pattern and movement to achieve its e=ects. The parallels

between rhythm in sound9 music are very e"act to the idea o

rhythm in a visual composition. The di=erence is that the timed

&beat' is sensed by the eyes rather than the ears.

8hythm can be created in a number o ways. Linear

rhythm reers to the characteristic ;ow o the individual line.

ccomplished artists have a recogni/able manner o putting downthe lines o their drawings that is a direct result o the

characteristic gesture used to make those lines which, i

observed, can be seen to have a rhythm o its own. Linear rhythm

is not as dependent on patted, but is more dependent on timed

movement o the viewer1s eye.

8epetition involves the use o patterning to achieve

timed movement and a visual &beat'. This repetition may be a

clear repetition o composition, or it may be a more subtle kind o

repetition that can be observed in the underlying structure o the

image.

lteration is a specifc instance o patterning in

which a se4uence o repeating motis are presented in turn

*short9long at9thin round9s4uare dark9light+.

(radation employs a series o motis patterned

to related to one another through a regular progression o steps.

This may be a gradation o shape or colour. 0ome shape

gradations may in act create a se4uence o events, not unlike a

series o images in a comic strip.

Emphasis



#mphasis is also reerred to as point o ocus or

interruption. %t marks the locations in a composition which most

strongly draw the viewers attention. Dsually there is a primary, or

main, point o emphasis, with perhaps secondary emphases in

other parts o the composition. The emphasis is usually aninterruption in the undamental pattern or movement o the

viewers eye though the composition, or a break in the rhythm.

The artist or designer uses emphasis to call

attention to something, or to vary the composition in order to hold

the viewers interest by providing visual &surprises'.

#mphasis can be achieved in a number o

ways. 8epetition creates emphasis by calling attention to therepeated element though sheer o number. % a colour is repeated

across a map, the places where certain colour cluster will attract

your attention, in this instance graphing varying rates o motility

rom cardiovascular disease.

!ontrast achieves emphasis by setting the point

o emphasis apart rom the rest o its background. 6arious kinds

o contrasts are possible. The use o a neutral background isolates

the point o emphasis.

• !ontrast o colour, te"ture, or shape will call

attention to a specifc point.

• !ontrast o si/e or scale will as well.

• Placement in a strategic position will call attention

to a particular element o a design.

Prolonged visual involvement though intricacy

*contrast o detail+ is a more unusual rom o emphasis, not as

commonly used in #uro)merican design, though it is common in

many other cultures. %n this case, many points o emphasis are

created that are to be discovered though close attention to the

intricacies o the design.



%nit"

Dnity is the underlying principle that summari/es all

o the principles and elements o design. %t reers to the

coherence o the whole, the sense that all o the parts are workingtougher to achieve a common result a harmony o all the parts.

Dnity can be achieved though the e=ective and

consistent use o any o the elements, but pattern that is,

underlying structure is the most undamental element or a strong

sense o unity. !onsistency o rom and colour are also powerul

tools that can pull a composition together.

2owever, unity also e"ists in variety. %t is notnecessary or all o the elements to be identical in orm providing

they have a common 4uality o meaning or stale. For e"ample,

ashions orm a specifc period share common eatures o

silhouette, materials, and colour that identiy the style o the day,

or the look o a particular designer.

Dnity can also be a matter o concept. The

elements and principle can be selected to support the intended

unction o the designed ob3ect the purpose o the ob3ect unifesthe design.

Documents

Elements of Desing