seven design components

Week 5, MM1B03, McMaster University

Design Components

From A. White, Elements of Graphic Design

7

UnityGestaltSpaceDominance

HierarchyBalanceColour

Design Components7

• Unity in design exists when all elements are in agreement.

• Unity requires that the whole design be more important than any subgroup or individual part.

• Unity is the most important aspect of design.

Unity

Without unity a design becomes chaotic and unreadable BUT without variety, a design becomes inert and lifeless.

Unity

A BALANCE needs to be found between the two.

UnityFormal relationships must be created so that unity among the parts is achieved. • Proximity

• Similarity

• Repetition

• Theme with Variations

• Also called “Grouping or “Relative Nearness.”

• This is the simplest way to achieve unity.

• Elements that are physically close together are seen as related.

ProximityUnity

Last Week’s Kickass Tip #13 “Be Decisive, Do it on purpose or not at all.”

(A great deal of the process of understanding visual material is the ability to distinguish the difference between things.)

This week it is an example of “Proxemics in Unity.”“The further apart an element, the more is seems separated.”

YAY BRANDON!

• Also called “Correspondence.”

• Elements that share a similarity of colour, shape, position, or texture seem alike.

• Alignment is an especially significant aspect -- elements that line up with one another seem related.

SimilarityUnity

Here is an example of “Similarity in

Unity” in photographic

choices/interior design.

“ Elements that are physically close together

are seen as related.”

YAY SAMANTHA!

• Related to similarity.

• An idea that is repeated provides unity.

• Repeated idea may be positioning, size, colour, or use of rules.

• Repetition produces RHYTHM!!

RepetitionUnity

Rhythm

• Rhythm is a pattern created by repeating or varying elements.

• Think music where there is a sense of movement from one sound to another.

Unity

• Simple repetitions without variety can become boring in sameness.

• Alteration of a basic theme retains connectedness while providing interest.

Theme with VariationsUnity

Last Week’s Kickass Tip #13 “Symmetry is the

Ultimate Evil.”

This week it is an example of

“Variations on a Theme.”

“Alteration of a basic theme retains connectedness while providing interest.”

Yeah

MIKE!

• Coined at the Bauhaus, Weimar in 1920s.

• Describes a design’s “wholeness” or the way each part of a design is affected by what surrounds it.

• The observer receives the total images as the result of the interactive among the components.

Gestalt

Gestalt“We see the various components, the shapes and colours and the relationship between them .... The observer receives the total image as the result of the interaction.”Rudolf Arnheim, Visual Thinking

GestaltThe techniques for facilitating a complete perception include the four Unity factors plus:

• Figure/ground

• Closure (completion)

• Continuation

• The relationship between the subject and its surrounding space.

• Confusing the foreground and background is a visually stimulating technique.

Figure/GroundGestalt

Last Week’s Kickass Tip #8 “Negative Space is Magical.”

This week it is an example of “Figure/ground Gestalt.”

“ Confusing the foreground and background is a visually stimulating technique.”

YAY MEAGAN

Also an example of “Figure/ground

Gestalt.”“ Confusing the foreground and background is a visually

stimulating technique.”

YAY THOMAS

• Also known as completion

• The viewer’s natural tendency is to try to close gaps and complete unfinished forms.

• Encourages active participation in the creation of the message.

ClosureGestalt

Last Week’s Kickass Tip #6 “Treat type as an image.”

This week it is an example of “Closure in Gestalt.”

“ The viewer’s natural tendency is to try to close gaps and complete unfinished forms.”

YAY ANDREW.

• Also known as completion

• The viewer’s natural tendency is to try to close gaps and complete unfinished forms.

• Encourages active participation in the creation of the message.

ClosureGestalt

• Also known as completion

• The viewer’s natural tendency is to try to close gaps and complete unfinished forms.

• Encourages active participation in the creation of the message.

ContinuationGestalt

Last Week’s Kickass Tip #19 “Look to History, don’t repeat.”

This week it is an example of “Continuation Gestalt.”

“ The eye follows a path, whether real or implied.”

YAY PAUL

SpaceConsider negative (white) space in relation to the other design components.

SpaceTo avoid a stale approach, look at a blank area and think of displacing the emptiness with graphic elements.

SpaceStay conscious of the remaining empty areas and use it to guide attract, and arouse the viewer to become engaged.

Last Week’s Kickass Tip #1 “Have a Concept.”

This week it is an example of “Displacing Emptiness.”

Last Week’s Kickass Tip #18 “MOVE IT.”

This week it is an example of “Displacing Emptiness.”

YAY ROSANTH.

• Created by contrasting size (scale), positioning, colour, style, or shape.

• Every design should have a single primary visual element called a focal point.

• Scale can be used to attract attention by making the focal point life size or even more dramatically, larger than lifesize.

Dominance

Focus the viewer’s attention on one important thing first and then lead them through the rest.

Last Week’s Kickass Tip #18 “Use a 1-2 Punch.”

This week it is an example of “Dominance.”

Scale can be used to attract attention

Last Week’s Kickass Tip #19 “Look to History, Don’t Repeat.”

This week it is an example of “Dominance.”

• Balance or equilibrium is the state of equalized tension.

• Three types of Balance are.

Balance

• Symmetrical

• Asymetrical

• Overall or Mosaic Balance

Symmetrical• Also known as “formal” balance

• Vertically centred and visually equivalent on both sides.

• Symmetrical designs are static and evoke feelings of classicism, formality.

Balance

Last Week’s Kickass Tip #8 “Negative Space is Magical.”

This week it is an example of “Symmetrical Balance.”

“ Formality, classicism, constancy.”

YAY MEAGAN

Asymetrical• Also known as “informal” balance

• Requires a variety of element sizes and careful distribution of negative (white) space.

• Attracts attention and is more dynamic.

• Evoke feelings of modernism, forcefulness, vitality.

Balance

Last Week’s Kickass Tip #13 “Symmetry is the

Ultimate Evil.”

This week it is an example of the

same thing!“Asymmetry evokes

feelings of modernism,

forcefulness, vitality.”

Here we go again

MIKE!

Mosaic Balance• Often used by retailers who want to

pack maximum information into their advertising space.

• It is easy for this type of organization to look “noisy.”

Balance

Here is an example of “Overall or

Mosaic Balance” in retail advertising.

Many things being focussed on the

same page.

YAY SAMANTHA!

Here is another example of “Overall or Mosaic Balance” in magazine cover

art.

Many things being focussed on the

same page.

• Partly artistry but mostly science and common sense.

• Good colour is a raw material to be used strategically for a clear purpose.

• Colour contrast has the same potential for communicating heirarchy as typeface, type weight and size or placement contrasts.

Colour

Helps organize• Establishes character through consistency.

• Plan colour use from the start.

• Use colour consistently. A unique colour scheme can be an identifying characteristic.

Colour

Last Week’s Kickass Tip #6 “Pick Colours on Purpose.”

This week it is an example of “Organizing through Colour.”

“ A unique colour scheme can be an identifying characteristic.”

Gives emphasis• Ranks elements in order of importance.

• Every element has a perceptual emphasis that must be considered.

• People gravitate to whatever looks different on a page.

Colour

Ink Holdout• Printed colour is affected by ink holdout

or “dot gain” which is the absorbancy factor of paper stocks.

• Coated papers have ink holdout, newsprint has extreme dot gain.

• Software provides colour specifications to adjust dot gain depending on the paper stock chosen for a print job.

Colour

Unity, gestalt, space, dominance, hierarchy, balance, and colour are sliding switches that help achieve visible, effective design.

Using the 7 design components

Think of shapesSubconscious operatives

• We read from left to right.• We start at the top and work down the page.• Pages in a publication are related to each other.• Closeness connects, distance separates.• Big/dark is important, small/light not.• Fullness should be balanced with emptiness.• Everything has a shape, including emptiness.

Using the 7 design components