//////////////////////////////////////////// THE ELEMENTS & PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN ////////////////////////////////////////////
THE ELEMENTS OF DESIGN The fundamental items that make up a composition.these are forms and figures that are used to articulate space. COMPOSITION the artistic arrangement of the parts of a picture POINT, LINE & PLANE SHAPE VALUE TEXTURE COLOR
POINT
LINE LINE is the path of a moving point. OBLIQUE LINES diagonal lines, neither vertical or horizontal, create dynamism and movement in a composition.
PLANE The path of a moving line or a flat surface extending in height and width. Can be flat or skewed, or recede into space.
SHAPE A plane with edges A shape can be organic or geometric. ORGANIC curvy or freeform, corresponding with shapes in nature GEOMETRIC an angular or hard edged shape with regular mathemetical measurements on all sides
VALUE The relative lightness or darkness of an object. Differences in value can make an object more visible/readable or less. Value can indicate importance or emphasis. Your eye goes to darker objects on a light surface.
TEXTURE Texture is defined as the surface characteristics of a material that can be experienced through the sense of touch or the illusion of touch. ACTUAL TEXTURE when the surface of an object is actually raised. i.e. the leather texture of a book jacket IMPLIED TEXTURE when visual elements are used to suggest the illusion of texture (this is more frequently used in digital design) VIRTUAL TEXTURE includes photographs of real textures. The surface is not actually raised, but is a realistic representation of a raised surface.
COLOR PRIMARY COLORS: blue, red, yellow SECONDARY COLORS: created by mixing any two primary colors Primary Colors: blue, red, yellow SECONDARY COLORS: created by mixing any two primary colors orange, green, and purple TERTIARY COLORS: created by mixing a secondary color and a primary color i.e. red + orange = red orange In digital design we talk about two types of digital color: RGB CMYK
Color to grayscale equation
THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN Principles for organizing the elements of design. BALANCE SCALE EMPHASIS HIERARCHY RHYTHM MOVEMENT UNITY
BALANCE Visual balance is the state of objects in a composition having equilibrium. It occurs when the weight of one or more things is distributed evenly or proportionately in space.
SYMMETRY When a composition has the same weight of elements on either side of a central axis. A symmetrical composition will feel stable. Each side is a mirror image or close to a mirror image. If you folded a piece of paper in half, each half would be similar.
BALANCE: SYMMETRY
BALANCE: ASSYMETRY When the two sides of a composition have different weights but still maintain a sense of equilibrium. For instance a small item on one side of the composition may be balanced by a larger one on the other side. However the composition still maintains a feeling that one side has more weight than the other.
BALANCE: ASYMMETRY
BALANCE: RADIAL
SCALE The size of an object, particularly in relationship to the composition or to other elements on the page. Emphasis and balance can be achieved through by experimenting with scale.
EMPHASIS Also known as focal point. When one item draws your attention more than others through the use of scale, color, or balance.
MOVEMENT The visual properties of a compositional element that provide the illusion of movement. Items that are skewed or distorted can suggest movement. The placement or repetition of items on a page can also suggest movement. Blur motion or frozen motion
MOVEMENT
RHTHYM A type of visual or actual movement in an artwork. It is created by repeating visual elements in a regular beat or order. Rhythms can be described as regular, alternating, flowing, progressive, or jazzy. A regular rhythm is a one-beat repetition such as one the same shape being repeated over and over again. An alternating rhythm repeats a set of visual elements, for example, a circle, a triangle, a circle, a triangle, and so on.
Karl Blossfeldt Richard Avedon
RHYTHM: PATTERN
UNITY Unity is the overall harmony of a composition. Unity is achieved when all elements of a composition seem related and as though they work together as a team or when particular elements are repeated throughout a work to make it feel unified.
UNITY