2009
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Principles of Design
The Principles of Design The principles of design should be the basis of all art and design. The way a designer applies these principles, usually determines how effective it will be in the long run. The principles should be able to help a designer convey a message, by making it appear attractive and there are often many correct ways to apply each principle. These principles also include elements of design can be thought of as the things that make up a design, whether good or bad.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_elements_and principles
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/designprinciples/l/ aa_pod1.htm
http://www.bluemoondesign.com/art-lessons-9.asp
www.classjump.com/skinner/documents/Repetition_ handout.pdf
www.Ithinktoo.com/Design/Alignment/alignment/html
http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/Designprin1/Start.htm
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Unity
Unity is the hallmark of a good design. It’s the final result in a composition when all the design elements work
Movement
Proportion
Space
Contrast
Repetition
Proximity
Alignment
Balance
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harmoniously together giving the
painting.
Emphasis
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also serve some functional purpose
complement the key theme and must
selected for use in a composition must
been correctly applied. Everything
contrast, proportion and space) have
movement, emphasis, visual economy,
all of the design principles (balance,
the key theme being expressed in a
design elements and relates them to
reinforce the relationship between the
than compete for attention. It serves to
design complement one another rather
been achieved when all aspects of the
and relationship. You know unity has
viewer a satisfying sense of belonging
Unity in a composition is achieved when
Unity
within the design. Achieving unity in your compositions will only result from
Contents
practicing, knowing and selecting the right visual elements and using the best principles of design to relate them.
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Balance
so that no one section is heavier
arranging elements on the page
Visual balance comes from out.
get equal billing, emphasis is canceled
attention. Where several components
of balance to create tension or a
intenionally throw elements out
with its subordinates, or emphasis can
is by contrasting the primary element
The second way to create emphasis
than the other. Or, a designer may
certain mood. It can be either symmetrical or
tone or line.
direction, size, shape, texture, color,
be created by a sudden change in asymmetrical depending on if the
and don’t give a feeling of being
dominant focal points are balanced
Balance also refers to a sense that
but a good composition is one in which
the attention. Emphasis is necessary,
emphasis it should never demand all
No matter what element is chosen for
right or left side is identical or not.
pulled too much to any part of the
all the elements work together for a unifying effect.
Without Emphasis
design. Balance lighter colors with darker colors, balance neurtral colors and patterns with synthetic colors, balance bold colors with light neutrual colors. For example, colors with high contrast in a room may be more visually pleasing.
With Emphasis
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Emphasis
Emphasis is the stressing of a particular area of focus rather than the presentation of a maze of details of equal importance. When a composition has no emphasis nothing stands out. However the effective use of emphasis calls attention to important areas of the painting. By placing emphasis on certain areas of the composition, an artist creates elements of interest which causes the eye to return to again and again. One way of achieving emphasis is by creating center of interest, a.k.a. a focal point. A focal point is an area where the eye tends to center. It is the focus of the viewer’s attention. A focal point is created by making one area of element of the painting dominant, or most important visually with all other areas contributing but subordinate. The focal point may be the largest, brightest, darkest, or most complex part of the whole, or it may get special attention because it stands out for some other reason. No more than one component should vie for primary
Focal Point
Asymmetrical
Pattern
Symmetrical
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Alignment excitement to a boring design.
read. Alignment also helps bring
layout easier or more difficult to
to each other can make your
graphics on a page and in relation
How a designer aligns type and
similarity or near-likeness. Actually,
duplication either, but it does mean
Repetition doesn’t always mean exact
sometimes creating a visual rhythm.
are repeated regularly or irregularly
which have something in common
In horizontal alignment left and
1. Horizontal Alignment
touching or not and is an easy way to
tie thing together whether they are
will add interest. Repetition tend to
slight variations to a simple repetition
right margins are exactly or visually
achieve unity.
Rhythm is created through repetition.
Variety through alternation and contrast.
Repetition with variety.
Repetition
equal. Horizontal alignment can be across the page or within columns. It doesn’t necessarily mean center alignment. A block of flush left/ ragged-right text can be aligned horizontally. Even though individual lines of text are not perfectly aligned on each side, careful attention to the amount of rag (white space at the end of the line) can result in a visually balanced amount of margin on each side of the block of text. 2. Vertical Alignment In vertical alignment the top and
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Movement unity in the artwork with eye travel. This
purpose of movement is to create
when we look at a work of art. The
Movement is the path our eyes follow
portions of the page.
can be the full page or within
visually equal. Vertical alignment
bottom margins are exactly or
work together by relating the various
rhythm, and action. Movement ties the
objects along their top, bottom, left,
Edge alignment lines up text or
3. Edge Alignment
can be achieved by using repetition,
components of a work together.
in a certain way, an artist controls and
Center alignment may be
4. Center Alignment
or right edges.
forces the movement of the viewer’s
horiztonally or vertically aligned, or
By arranging the composition elements
eyes in and around the composition
Bad Alignment
both.
Good Alignment
with the painting. For example, the eye will travel along an actual path such as solid or dotted line, or it will move along more subtle paths such as from large elements to little elements, from dark elements to lighter elements, from color to non color, from unusual shapes to usual shapes, etc. Graduation of size, and repeated shapes and size of related elements subtly leads the eye as well. The use of repetition to create movement occurs when elements
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Proximity
In design, proximity or closeness creates a bond between people and between elements on a page. How close together or far apart elements are placed suggest a relationship (or lack of) between otherwise disparate parts. Unity is also achieved by using a third element to connect distant parts. Proximity is used to organize the materials on the page. They tell your eyes where to stop. You can use proximity to indicate a relationship between items. The principle of Proximity tells you to put related items close together physically. Things that aren’t related should be farther apart. The amount of separation between items or groups tells your reader how the material is organized.
Bad Proportion
Good Proportion
Positive Space
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Proportion
When the principle of proportion is applied to a work of art it is usually in the relationship of size. That is, the size of one element of the composition as compared to the size of another related element. In the instance of a relationship of size a comparison is made between the: -height, width and depth of one element to that of another -size of one area to the size of another area -size of one element to the size of another element -amount of space between two or more elements Proportion is usually not even noticed until something is out of proportion. When the relative size of two elements being compared seems wrong or out of balance it is said to be “out of proportion�. For example if a person has a head larger than their entire body, then we would say that they were out of proportion.
Good Vs. Bad Proximity
Elements that are closer together will be perceived as an object. In this example the same dots are used but their proximity creates two lines.
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Repetition
The principle of repetition states
your work. When you make headlines
recognize.You already use repetition in
be anything that a reader will visually
format, spatial relationships, etc. It can
color, design element, particular
font, a thick rule (line), a certain bullet,
The repetitive element may be a bold
design throughout the entire piece.
dimensional by giving a feeling of
dimensional artwork appear three-
space can be used to make a two-
feeling of depth. However, the same
lie on the same plane. There is no
flat because all the objects and forms
example below, the image appears
no depth, only length and width. In our
flat surface such as a canvas. It has
Two-dimensional space is found on a
our composition.
all the same size and weight, when
depth. Three-dimensional space has
that you repeat some aspect of the
you add a rule a half-inch from the
width, height and depth.
Positive Space
bottom of each page, when you use
Negative Space
the same bullet in each list throughout the project- these are all examples of repetition. What beginners often need to do is push this idea further- turn that inconspicuous repetition into a visual key that ties the publication together. Repetition can be thought of as “consistency�. As you look through an eight-page newsletter, it is the repetition of certain elements, their consistency, that makes each of those
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Space
impacts on and affects the reading of
complementary to one another. One
dimension and three-dimension art and
composition. They occur in both two-
factors to be considered in every good
and negative space are important
positive and negative. Both positive
There are two types of space in art:
if a piece looks interesting, it is more
power of the visual interest of a page-
visual interest. Don’t underestimate the
of repetition is to unify and to add
its cohesive look and feel. The purpose
page 6, then the entire newsletter loses
repetitive elements carried over from
same newsletter. If page 7 has no
eight pages appear to belong to the
likely to be read.
the other. Positive space is the “occupied� areas in a work of art that is filled with something such as, lines, colors and shapes. It is the primary subject matter of a painting; the animals, plants, building, mountain, vase, people, etc., that forms your area-of-interest. It dominates the eye and is the focal point in a composition. Negative space (a.k.a. whitespace in page layout), is the unoccupied areas that surround the subject matter. It is more passive in nature and is defined by the edges of the positive space it surrounds. It is what gives definition to
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Contrast
contrast. Contrast adds variety to the
greater the difference the greater the
two related elements are different. The
Contrast in art and design occurs when
contrast are by creating differences in:
The most common ways of creating
make sure the differences are obvious.
The key to working with contrast is to
and helps to guide the viewer around
draws the viewer’s eye into the painting
• alignment
• shape
• size
total design and creates unity. It is what
the art piece.
components in any design becomes
of contrast. Too much similarity of the
Most designs require a certain amount
Contrast in art also adds visual interest.
• texture
• type
• color
• value
• movement
• direction
monotonous. In other words the use of too little contrast can cause a design to be bland and uninteresting. On the other hand too much contract can be confusing. Just the right amount of contrast engages the viewer’s participation in comparing various components of the work. For instance, the viewer will compare light and dark areas of a painting, wide lines and thin lines, light-weight forms and heavy forms, filled spaces and unfilled spaces, etc.
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