The Principles of Design

 

Design is both a verb and a noun, a process and a product.

Design is the qualities of balance, emphasis, proportion & scale, rhythm & repetition, and unity & variety.

 

Balance:

           

Symmetrical Balance:

 

            -Absolute symmetry: each side is

exactly the same

-Bilateral symmetry: each side is

almost the same (e.g. human face & body)

 

Asymmetrical Balance: not the same on

either side of an axis (but not necessarily

out of balance)

           

Radical Balance: a balance in which everything radiates outward from a central point.

 

Emphasis and Focal Point:

 

Focal point: the area in a pictorial composition which artists can employ emphasis to draw attention.

 

Afocal: no focal point which deletes a specific point of emphasis, but provides no place for our eyes to rest.

 

Scale and Proportion:

           

Scale: a word we use to describe the dimensions of an art object in relation to the original object (that it depicts or in relation to the objects around it).

           

Proportion: the relationship between the parts of an object and the whole, or to the relationship between an object and its surroundings.

 

Cannon: an ideal proportion of the various parts of the body (human and animal).

 

Golden Section: a traditional proportion which is supposed to express the secret of visual harmony. (a rectangle whose sides measure 1 to 1.618, or roughly 5 by 8: the height vs. the width)

 

Repetition (Pattern) and Rhythm:

 

Pattern: a repetitive motif or design

Rhythm: an effect achieved when shapes, colors, or a regular pattern of any kind is repeated over and over again.

 

Unity (coherence) and Variety

           

The sense of disjunction, the sense that the parts can never form a unified whole, is what we have come to identity as Postmodernism